Letters to the Editor
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Oh, For Chrissakes, PART II
Jane Fonda got a lot of flak and name calling for sitting on a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun during that war. Remember "Hanoi Jane"? Watching her sit in Colbert's lap reminded me of that older seating error. Perhaps she just has bad judgement?
THE STUPID! IT BURNS MY EYES! IT BUUUUURRNS!
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Squicked?
Did I miss the birth of this new word? Squicked? ?? ???
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Don't you think
She meant to make him uncomfortable and the audience, too? He makes people squirm all the time, and she got him. And she is seventy. And she looks great. I bet someone dared her to do it.
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Jane's Ace in the Hole
What makes Colbert so entertaining is watching him stay in character no matter what. (See him at the 2006 WH Correspondents' Dinner.) He gets his biggest laugh lines on his show when he has trouble getting through his own jokes. But I've never seen any guest rattle him. Jane managed to do it the way women have done it to powerful men since the beginning of time, from Cleopatra and Caesar in antiquity to Monica and Bill in modern times. Only in real life, such a thing would happen behind closed doors, not in front of the camera.
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Unfunny Fondling
The Fonda Fondling wasn't funny. That's why it was cringe-inducing. It was all about her, crashing in to tell the world that yes, yes, I'm still sexy, using Colbert as a prop.
The amazing, charming, adorable Colbert as nothing-but-prop is pure ick, no matter who's attempting it.
Fonda isn't sexy anymore, and she should stop trying to be. Heck, when you're 20, if you're trying to be sexy then you aren't.
It just wasn't funny.
Now Ann Coulter crawling all over him? THAT would be funny!
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same
i felt the same way watching that segment. it was funny the first minute or so -- but then she wouldn't take her seat. it felt desperate to me, like she needed to perpetuate the impression that she was still sexxy hott dammit!
and yes, stephen colbert seemed uncomfortable -- truly uncomfortable -- which made me cringe for jane fonda even more...
it was mostly uncomfortable because, of all women in hollywood, jane fonda should know that it's sexier not to try so damn hard.
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Definitly a prude
Yes, I think you're a prude. It's a comedy show. It made me laugh. End of story.
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loosen up, Joanie Baby
is it such a mystery that a woman facing 70 would want to affirm her still existing sexuality by jumping into the lap of a no talent nerd? Why do you think these teachers go for the young boys? Because they want someone to tell them they're still beautiful, particularly when they are not. If you want to worry, JW, worry about young hollywood, where the twenty five year old girl hangs out with her 45 year old mom friend and gets into all kinds of trouble. Even Jane Fonda says he's glad her father was a disciplinarian as opposed to hating him.
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Fonda still sexy?
If sexy means "I want to have sex with her", then the answer is no.
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Prude indeed
I think the whole thing was rehearsed. What tipped me off was the posed picture at the end. Did they just happen to have the graphics ready? Remember, being a pro means making every moment seem spontaneous.
Having a feminist icon turn the tables on harassment was as funny a concept as having two feminist icons bake bake an apple pie. Colbert's protestations were exactly what the stereotypical female harassment target would say. I thought it was fairly typical of what the show does best.
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Actors
Perhaps it made you uncomfortable because you haven't seen the wide variety of roles Colbert, the actor and comedian has played over the years. (Strangers With Candy? Wigfield?) He is hilarious, and often (purpously) squick-inducing; Jane Fonda is great, and a very good sport. I'm fairly certain this was rehearsed; TCR isn't improv. I thought it was very funny.
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"It's....ACTING!!" -Master Thespian
Oh pooh. A couple of old pros playing an improv game. Can Jane make Stephen fall out of character, or can he hold on? Fun to watch. Better than "Whose line is it anyway?"
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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.
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turn about
I thought it was wonderful. Colbert loves to make his guests uncomfortable--this time one of them, and a woman at that, beat him at his own game. I wouldn't worry about him. He survived.