The problem with Jane Fonda is that she's the quintessential Baby Boomer; she has absolutely no convictions. She does whatever is trendy at the moment to get her what she wants. When "sex kitten" was hot, she was Barbarella. When anti-Vietnam got her publicity and made her the darling of the up-and-coming, she was anti-war. When feminist was newsworthy, she was a feminist. Almost a decade later she's decked out in high-cut leotards in Playmate-style shots selling workout videos, calendars, books, etc. pushing aging boomer women to look sexy and fight nature (while carefully keeping mum about her cosmetic surgery & photo enhancements). When "greed was good" and workouts were worth less, she became nothing but a "trophy wife" and arm ornament to Ted Turner. Now that she's been traded in on a younger model, she's back to acting and acting up as a slut --er, sex kitten.

No, Joan, you're not a prude. You're a woman with self-respect and intelligence who's rightly embarrassed to see a 60-year old woman prostituting herself.

Fonda is the precursor, the beta version if you will, of Paris Hilton. Except that at one point Fonda had talent which she has squandered for celebrity and a grab for a shallow form of financial security. I haven't been able to watch her for years and have actively boycotted her products. Give me Barbara Jorden, not Barbarella.

Jane Fonda will be 70 years old this fall; I know because we are the same age. She is in better shape than I am, but she still did not act appropriately. I was uncomfortable with her performance here. She was taking sexual advantage of a younger colleague, which is not acceptable behavior anywhere.

to bring her out of her shell. It's funny, but she really hasn't been known for doing anything outrageous since the Viet Nam war. Let's all just be thankful that Osama Bin Laden doesn't have his own show on Comedy Central.

What made Fonda's move creepy for me was how long she went on.

The ambush was hilarious at the beginning, and had she stopped after the first minute or so, it would have been enough.

But like a drunken relative who won't relinquish the microphone after a wedding toast, and continues on weepily, she just made a fool of herself.

Fonda's fondling is just as demeaning and embarassing as your own public professions of "love" for a TV "person"ality.

Colbert, to his credit, is clearly uncomfortable with such inappropriate demonstrations of what (to the casual viewer) looks less like affection than sluttish "availability."

As for you and Fonda: Each of you is diminished by such behavior.

Whether over 60 or under 40, the lesson is clear: Grow Up!

---

PS I'm not a fan of either Joan or Jane.

I find Colbert amusing on occasion, but he's no John Stewart.

And I'm commenting on this nonsense only 'cos I saw the show, and there's nothing engaging on Salon to respond to.

If I see the word cringe-making or cringe-inducing once more I'm going to have a FIT.

What is it with all this cringeing? It doesn't seem like any writer can do an article or think a thought without cringeing these days. And I'm beginning to discern a pattern. Last week a NY Times writer was cringeing and embarrassed all over by the two women who wrote that old Silver Palate cookbook. I've been complaining for days on my usual crying-shoulders about how all this cringeing in the press is giving me the creeps, and now I think I'm seeing that it tends to be younger women journalists writing about older women. Has anyone else been tracking the cringe phenom? Can my hunch/generalization be supported? Will some anal cybersleuth NEXIS the recent appearance of all this cringeing? The psychoepedemiology of this nightmarish bit of BAD WRITING needs to be explored by someone a bit less excitable than myself. There, I feel better already. I'll just stop now.

Mark Shulgasser

Put me in the 'loved it and laughed' column. I thought he was adorable and she was on point for her agenda. And I much prefer Rebecca's take. I don't for a second buy that Colbert was upset/annoyed/anything like that. When she showed her belly, he looked. And no, he's not worried about his wife. Given to whome she's married, the wife probably has a sense of humor. Joan's take vs Rebecca's - an age thing? A pop culture thing? A sense of humor thing?

Amazing how Jane Fonda sitting in Stephen Colbert's lap has so many people discombobulated. Can't you just enjoy a funny prank in which one person crosses another person's (fake) boundaries to change the dynamic of a couple minutes' entertainment?

To you Jane Fonda haters (especially the guy a few posts up who equates "sex kitten" with "slut"): You're committed to taking that '70s-era hate all the way to your grave, aren't you? How can anybody fault Fonda for releasing a popular exercise video (one that emphasizes good health), or marrying a powerful and visionary man? How can Fonda be faulted for having a little fun on a show?

Some say Fonda's shtick went on too long. I think that made it a better prank. If she had gotten up and returned to her seat, it would have rendered the lap-cuddling as a momentary goof. She would have had to "break" and back away, reverting to a "normal" Jane, deflating the joke. Instead, she stayed, fully committing to the scene she was creating, making it all that more uncomfortable and amusing. I thought for what it was, it was terrific.

Mind you, I am not a Jane Fonda fan (hell, Bridget has probably contributed as much to the world of cinema as she has). But I find it ugly how people seem to get off on hating her. Jane Fonda really seems to tap into people's fear and hatred in a strangely irrational, pathetic way. For chrissakes, she's just an actress.

Plus, you have to admit, she looked great.

I'm probably making too much of a few minutes on a satire news show,

Yeah, you are. Colbert delights in pushing things to the edge. Fonda gave him some of his own medicine, and Colbert almost flinched...then he took it and ran with it.

It was two fine performers riffing off each other, and it was freakin' awesome.