Letters to the Editor
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Cringe-inducing (somewhat)
There were several reasons why Jane Fonda's fondling of Stephen Colbert was cringe-inducing, at least for me:
(1) Fonda seems genuinely smitten with Colbert—"You are so cute, man. And I'm not kidding—you have the best lips"—so, although she is clearly "in" on the joke, at some level, it seemes a bit too "real," and Fonda (to Colbert's discomfort and ours) is unaware of that.
It's easy to confuse that discomfort at the "realness" with prudishness but it's not—if Fonda were feigning a fight with Colbert and, partway through, she started to appear be genuinely angry with him (and was unaware of showing it), it would engender the same type of discomfort. All of a sudden, what was thought to be a joke perhaps isn't and we're witnessing someone inadvertently reveal something—it's easy to feel embarrassed in that situation.
Someone like Bette Midler, with a twinkle in her eye and an absurdly broad grin, would have had us in on the joke because she'd be in on the joke—fully—herself.
(2) As MarieA (and others) have said, Fonda isn't a comedienne. The initial moments were funny but after that Fonda really did not do much to build or sustain any comedy "momentum." In that sense, it did go on too long.
(3) Colbert's discomfort, I think, comes from both those reasons. He's playing a character and Fonda is, well, sending "mixed signals" and she doesn't exhibit any of the give-and-take of improv so he's uncomfortably stuck. There isn't much he can do. Sure, watching Colbert squirm is funny (to a point) but it is also unsettling because the scenario feels vaguely "unsafe." We're not sure where Fonda is going with it—she doesn't know herself, really—and Colbert can't salvage it.
There is a level on which the segment works, of course—Fonda playing into Colbert's persona's fatuous irresistibility and taking control. But I agree, Joan, there's a level on which it is cringe-inducing.