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I cannot watch John Oliver’s show on HBO anymore. I understand that it addresses some public policy question worth looking at. But the reality is that rather t
by JackFr 6y ago
I cannot watch John Oliver’s show on HBO anymore. I understand that it addresses some public policy question worth looking at. But the reality is that rather than thoughtful content, it’s a finely tuned formula intended to produce maximum outrage. It doesn’t even matter what the topic is, the formula remains the same. The viewer gets the high of fake moral superiority while remaining fairly ill-informed. But hey, it’s cool, they’re comedy not a news program.
- tayo42 6y agoHis shows is investigative journalism with a comedic twist. What should a should journalism do then? His last show about plastic recycling was informative.
- Applejinx 6y agoI stopped watching him as well, even though near as I can tell his politics and attitudes closely match my own. Better that I should just vote, and act, in line with my beliefs without spending extra time getting worked up into a state of rage in the service of them. John Oliver, Keith Olbermann, folks like that, are the Alex Jones of left-wing perspectives. You can share the views and still object to the mechanism for engagement they employ. I feel like we're learning hard lessons on what these mechanisms for being human, signify. It's a pity we're learning the lessons in such a damaging way.
- Sporktacular 6y agoI'm not so sure if Oliver is just pushing a left wing position. Certainly not to an Alex Jones level of deceptiveness, and to a much higher degree of public service. When he explains how some shithead county sheriff starved an inmate to death or shows how one public defender is forced to take on 400 clients a year (I'm not being accurate here, though he is) then that's not a left wing position. Left vs right accusations just become excuses for inaction.