TV comedian Steve Colbert’s Christmas special is pleasingly nonpolitical, though not particularly funny. It has its moments, however, including a brief but surprisingly sincere reflection on the meaning of the season.
Much admired for his popular Comedy Central series, The Colbert Report, in which he portrays a blustering right-wing talk-show host in making fun of both left and right (but mostly the right), Steve Colbert has gone in a different direction with his new Christmas special, A Colbert Christmas, which premiered Sunday on the Comedy Central channel and is available on DVD today through Comedy Central and on Dec. 8 at other outlets.
The special avoids politics and sticks to silliness, surely the right choice given the surfeit of the former we’ve had during the past eighteen months. The show sticks largely to one set, a cabin in the woods where Colbert is trapped during Christmas because he believes a ferocious bear is waiting outside the door to kill him.
In the charming cheapness of the setting and the generally ditzy tone of the humor, the production is reminiscent of the beloved SCTV comedy series of the late 1970s and early ’80s, although not nearly as funny nor insightfully satirical as that much-missed gem of recent American culture. In fact, it’s not even in the same league as that program in terms of writing and performing quality.
Most notably, A Colbert Christmas pales in comparison with SCTV’s absolutely brilliant Christmas specials, and I would strongly recommend purchasing the latter and simply catching this one on Comedy Central if you’re so inclined.
A Colbert Christmas consists mostly of parodies of Christmas songs, with Colbert’s travails while trapped in the cabin providing a loose linking narrative. Some of the songs are mildly amusing—Toby Keith singing about the joys of firearms ownership, and Colbert’s fellow Comedy Central talk show host Jon Stewart trying to convince him to give Judaism a try.
Others, however, are absolutely awful, particularly Willie Nelson’s musical depiction of a magus bringing a gift of marijuana to the infant Jesus. Haha:
Colbert’s joining in to parody the duet by David Bowie and Bing Crosby in one of the latter’s Christmas specials three decades ago is the song’s sole, brief, redeeming feature
Also quite weak are the contributions of Feist, as an angel keeping people’s prayers on hold while awaiting action, and John Legend singing a dreadfully extended double entendre about nutmeg. Ugh.
The show picks up nicely at the end, however, as Colbert and Elvis Costello sing a duet about what Christmas means to them:
The song’s refrain, "There are much worse things to believe in," is a rather lukewarm but evidently heartfelt plea for unbelievers—smartly described as "cynics, skeptics, and legions of dispassionate dispeptics"—to consider the message of Christ. Costello sings with obviously show-bizzy joviality but fairly apparent sincerity, and Colbert’s singing comes off as equally real under the veneer of showbiz smarminess.
Colbert shows concern for unbelievers while calling them to account for their beliefs, singing,
I pity them their lack of Christmas spirit,
For in a world like ours, take it from Stephen,
There are much worse things to believe in.
While mentioning "an obese man giving toys for good behavior," Costello sings of the season as also, and clearly more importantly, being about "a Redeemer and a Savior." This passage is representative of a strong theme in the song: the contrast between legalistic human codes for earthly salvation, and the grace given by God that gives hope and ultimately overcomes all things.
Particularly incisive is a passage illustrating the hopelessness at the heart of atheism and the contrastingly powerful optimism and foundation for joy in theism:
Some folks believe in nothing,
But if you believe in nothing,
Then what’s to keep the nothing from coming for you?
The song concludes with another strong expression of this contrast between faithful hope and the essential sadness of unbelief:
You doubt, but you’re sad,
I don’t, but I’m glad,
I guess we’re even,
At least that’s what I believe in.
And there are much worse things.
It’s the one truly engaging moment in the show, and it is well worth waiting for.
As interesting as this discussion is between the good Mr. Karnick and his foil, Vasillis, allow me to pull back to restore a broader view of this little diddy. I dare to call this a remarkable event in modern popular culture.
Modern comedy, especially on Comedy Central, drips with cynicism. The network’s biggest shows — South Park, The Daily Show, The Sarah Silverman Program and (perhaps to a lesser extent) the Colbert Report — take potshots at everything traditional in America. I find a good bit of that funny, but start to get tired of it after extended exposure. It’s always been a mystery to me how a network that makes its bones by continually mocking (often in bad faith) the values of Middle America thrives. Perhaps the majority of America — the non-elites — are not as stupid as Jon Stewart seems to think we are, and we have the self-confidence to laugh at ourselves.
Yet, on Comedy Central no less, Colbert’s presents a little song that is sincere, respectful, honest and (gasp!) wholesome. Note that Colbert produced a “Christmas” special, not a “Holiday” special. The distinction is important, especially in today’s climate.
Where else, except the classic Peanuts Christmas Special, does one hear any explicit and respectful reference to the Christian meaning of Christmas in mainstream culture? Imagine for a moment that the Peanuts special didn’t already exist. Is there any chance that someone in Hollywood today would produce it — and it would be eagerly broadcast by a major American network? I think not. We’d end up with some bland “Sparkle Season Spectacular” devoid of any meaning. Ugh.
Also note, the first lines of the song take a swing at the “cynics” — the bread and butter of the Comedy Central audience. Yes, Costello’s second lyric mentions Santa, but he first mentions (and honors) “believers,” for whom Christmas is sacred and not just an excuse to buy stuff. And Costello sings later of many a “Christmas carol to be sung.” That’s quite a remarkable thing to hear — and I believe it was intended to poke at the bland “Happy Holidays” nonsense that has infected the modern Western obsession with multiculturalism. This is not a song that tries to hide that it’s Christmas, nor apologize for it, but celebrates it.
Now, to get back into the weeds here, I come down on Mr. Karnick’s side. It’s hard to listen to that song and not think that there is at least a gentle indictment of those “who believe in nothin’.” And Christians waiting for “judgment” from the Lord are of a bit more peaceful character than those engaged in jihad.
Merry Christmas, everyone.
Thanks for your latest, Vasillis. Certainly nihilism is a subdivision of atheism (they are definitely not theists, after all), although I agree with your implication that the presence of nihilists within the overall category of atheism does not tar all atheists as nihilistic. However, what the song says is very clear, and it definitely uses the term “belief in nothing” to characterize the alternative to “theism.”
As to your second and admittedly tangential point, I think it is an important one that merits much discussion and is in fact treated in many articles in this publication. (I suggest you do a search for the word “Christianity” or “theism” in the search box on the front page.) God is all-powerful, and in his omnipotence he created beings that have both reasoning power and freedom of choice–human beings. These creatures can be in accord with God, but in all cases they use their freedom of choice to reject much or all of what God wants for them. God, in his love, works hard to draw them to the light, truth, and life, but they continue to resist, and in his perfect forbearance he continues to allow us that choice.
To your final point, which is a reiteration of your previous notes: Given the context of the song as a Christmas song, I think the characterization of it as not dealing with Christianity is highly fanciful, to say the least. Nonetheless, as I have stressed throughout this dialogue, I have no objection to your thinking otherwise, while I will continue to point readers to the original video so that they may judge for themselves.
Concerning your last comment, I would like to note that tagging people who believe in nothing as atheists is a misrepresentation of atheism. Nihilism is not a subdivision of atheism, they are two completely different concepts. Also, not trying to drift off to a different kind of debate, but I couldn’t refrain from pointing out a logical fallacy in religious belief: how is it that god is all-powerful, but “trying” (as you wrote) to save us?
Returning to your remarks on the song itself, I think the writer makes it clear that his criticism is directed towards both islam (jihad)
*and* christianity (judgment), treating the festive season as detached from any particular belief system. The word doubt is not reserved for doubters of the miracle of the birth of Christ. We all know that it’s just a fairytale. It is reserved for the cynics who cannot bring themselves to accept that even a fairytale as fictional as that, can still convey noble sentiments, such as “peace, love, and understanding” as Costello sings in the show’s penultimate song. I assure you sir, atheists are completely in tune with Mr. Colbert’s sentimental view of Christmas.
Thanks for the follow-up, Vassilis. I think the verses you’ve cited have a different meaning. They should be taken, I believe, as pointing toward the hope that is present in the grace of God, as opposed to belief in a legalistic god who wants to trap people and cast them into hell. This contrast with legalism is made particularly clear in the reference to Islam in the same passage, through the mention of jihad. Instead of a “dark and spiteful god,” to which atheists rightly object as not befitting the image of a deity who is both all-powerful and wholly good, Christianity (like Judaism) posits a loving God who wants to save us despite our sinfulness. It is this distinction that the verse in question is making.
As to the “believe in nothing” phrase, it seems clearly to refer not just to nihilism but to atheism in general, because right after that passage he definitely addresses all doubters, not just nihilists, while retaining the use of the word “you” for both verses, thus connecting the two thoughts as applying to the same group of people.
I would like to thank you for taking the time to answer to my post, and return the favor by supporting my opinion. I just thought it was strange how you omitted the theist-dismissive verses on what the worse things to believe in, are: “believe in the judgment, believe in jihad, believe in a thousand variations on a dark and spiteful god”.
Surely the writer does not take sides on the theism-atheism debate, but rather pointing out how absolute convictions lead to a dead-end. Finally, the folks who “believe in nothing” are called nihilists, not atheists. Wouldn’t you agree?
Thanks for your comment, Vassilis. You’re certainly welcome to your own understanding of the song, even though you provide no evidence for your claim that the show is somehow brilliantly sophisticated and the duet with EC is about something other than faith and unbelief. Regarding the song in question, readers can confirm that my understanding is correct by reading the lyrics I reprinted and watching the video itself, which I included in the original article.
“Particularly incisive is a passage illustrating the hopelessness at the heart of atheism and the contrastingly powerful optimism and foundation for joy in theism”
You know that weird sound you couldn’t quite place while you were watching the show? it was the sound of a chrismas special flying over your head.
Your shallow comments and poor insight leads us to conclude that you didn’t really get it. Neither is the verse about atheism, nor is the song about the message of christ. I could explain it to you but why waste time on “another guy with a blog”.
I’ll skip on the whole show, but I do like the sincerity of Elvis C.
The song was far more touching, than great, and you’re right that the refrain is correct. There ARE far worse things to believe in — like, that the gov’t is Santa.