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Politics and Activism

John Oliver's Reaction To The Paris Attacks

This issue is a tough one for a comedian to address, but John Oliver handled it perfectly while getting viewers fired up and unified.

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John Oliver's Reaction To The Paris Attacks
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I am Late Night obsessed. I watch these guys religiously, and if I can't stay up late enough to catch them live, then I spend hours in the morning catching up on the sketches from the night before.

If I ever scored a job just mopping the floors of any Late Night studio, I would react similarly to if I had cured cancer. I either want to marry Jimmy Fallon, or somehow make him become my dad, I’m not sure which one yet.

I want to be one of Seth Meyers many female best friends and gossip about our times at SNL together. I cry laughing at Jimmy Kimmel's pranks, I think Trevor Noah is a political and comedic genius, Colbert is hysterical--but the reason I am ranting to you all about my love for these boys is that our British host, John Oliver, recently did a bit that caught our attention.

This whole ISIS thing is scary—okay, horrifying, and if you’re not the president, or in the FBI or something, odds are you’re feeling pretty terrified and powerless in a situation that seems sensitive, but also seems to need a solution ASAP.

After the attacks in Paris, we were left speechless with the feeling of being punched in the gut. Such a horrendous event is hard to talk about and hard to respond to if you're just a regular citizen. There is truly not much we can do besides love one another, show our support to those who lost loved ones or witnessed attacks, and change our profile pictures to have the France filter.

After these attacks, I don't know about you, but I was looking to all of my daily news sources to see how they would respond. This is one of the most universally difficult issues to discuss that has happened in quite some time, and I wanted to know how my Late Night boys were going to address it.

These guys are comedians, and the ISIS attacks are pretty much impossible to make light of. The event wasn't exactly avoidable in the monologues either--when you're talking about the news, it is tough to dance around an event that directly affects every other possible subject.

So, I was expecting something similar to what Jimmy Fallon did, simply saying that our hearts are with those affected, but what John Oliver decided to do was unexpected and much needed.

In Oliver's episode of Last Week Tonight following the tragedy, he did a bit at his desk and passionately utilized the benefits that come with being on HBO--he cussed his little British heart out. Oliver said what we were all thinking in a way that we could laugh with, in a way that united us, and in a way that got us fired up to make a change.

All he did was call ISIS a bunch of a**holes, say that France is impossible to mess with in a culture war for obvious reasons, they're too chic for anyone, and use extremely colorful and enthusiastic language to say that whatever these people are trying to do, it is not working.

He brought together viewers in a necessary and positive way. After watching Oliver speak so passionately while still making me laugh about a very unfunny situation, I can confidently say that there are more of us then there are of them, and we are fired up and ready to defend the good of humanity.

Here is the clip from the episode of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.


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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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