tt_refugees (original) (raw)

Stephan Colbert is amazing, we all know it. His tongue-in-cheek slant on inflated pundits and right wing radicals is brilliant, and I don't think anyone can deny he's got balls, not after the 2006 correspondent's dinner. He brings the pain, to their faces. But after over 3 years of performing this character; the ego-maniacal, controlling fool that believes he has the whole nation's eyes and ears upon him, it's getting increasingly obvious that the joke is getting serious.

The country has responded alarmingly well to Colbert's character, honoring him in humorous and non-humorous ways. As part of the character, he believes he controls the "Colbert Nation", and often orders them to take action on certain things. While funny, it's not ignorable that the Colbert Nation is no longer just a joke, it does actually exist now, and more and more it seems to be taking Colbert seriously. If Colbert instructs the Colbert Nation to do something, regardless if he's joking or not, they do it.

In a way, this is good sometimes. Colbert's "bumping" actually does have an impact on popularity. Also, Colbert has occasionally auctioned-off certain items on eBay (his own wrist cast for one) for charity, which sell big due to his popularity. Other times, Colbert's legions of fans take aim on target Colbert picks. Regularly, Colbert changes facts on air for a laugh, which prompts the Colbert Nation to vandalize Wikipedia (on a few occasions Colbert jokingly instructs them to do this). Other times he instructs them to write letters or sign petitions, visit places or websites, comment on things, all for the sake of causing upset or chaos, most of which is good spirited or at the most un-damaging. There's no doubt in my mind, had Colbert been allowed to run for president, his influence would have significantly upset things. He's the most powerful prankster in the world, and all he has to do is sit at his C shaped desk.

But recently, the Colbert Nation again acted on Stephan's whim, but this time, I can't help but feel a bit uneasy. Since early November, Colbert's character has been shamelessly plugging his Christmas special "A Colbert Christmas" at every turn. His interview space is currently filled with DVD boxes of the special, which he talks about constantly, calling it the Greatest Gift of All, and suggesting people buy it for all their friends. The gag carries over into the special itself, which ends with Santa giving Colbert a DVD copy of the special they're currently acting in (similar to the scene in Spaceballs). It all fits Colbert's character perfectly; that's the joke and I'm not suggesting Colbert is seriously being this ridiculously pig-headed. I'm sure the DVD is selling no better or worse than any other, and I doubt the real Stephan Colbert is hung up on it like his character is.

However, Monday, on a segment on his show, Colbert pointed out that the soundtrack to his christmas special was then ranked #16 on iTunes, while Kanye West's new album sat at #1. Colbert instructed his Nation to take action and told them to collectively buy his album at 5PM on the coming Wednsday to boost it from #16 to #1. Sure enough, they did. Though his album never hit #1, it did make #2, while Kanye's album was pushed down to #4. Colbert celebrated on his show on Thursday by dancing to a song from Kanye's album and saying, "Wow, that was a great song. Whoever wrote that is a genius." As I write this, Colbert's soundtrack has sunk back to #4 while Kanye's is #3. This is nothing new for Colbert, his Nation does stuff like this a lot. This time, however, it should be mentioned that the Colbert Nation gave not just some of their spare time and effort to follow Colbert's instructions, this time they gave their money. Each person willingly paid money to rocket Colbert's album up past Kanye's, regardless if they even liked the album or not. They've paid money for Colbert before, but in charity auctions on eBay. This time the money they gave went directly to Colbert, iTunes, and Comedy Central.

I'm sure that Colbert isn't as greedy and selfish as his character, and perhaps if he didn't have to split the album's earnings he would give them to charity. But what surprised me is how many people actually paid to appease Colbert's character's whim. The Colbert Nation is massive and devoted, far more than I ever expected, and maybe more than Colbert realizes. He may be joking, but the Colbert Nation isn't. Tread carefully Mr. Colbert.