HBO's Last Week Tonight aired on Sunday night with a brilliant display of vulgarity in response to the Paris Terrorist attacks. The host's colorful tongue-lashing, directed at the extremist attackers, was a salve to the hearts of millions. John Oliver's curses rang with a truth many have thought, but few have been able to express. The scathing monologue was a thing of beauty as he called the terrorists "f*cking assh*les."
Oliver started his dialogue in a calm, serious fashion, noting that little was known about the terrorist attacks, which at the time of the episode's airing, had transpired approximately 48 hours earlier. He then reminded his audience his show is on HBO, where, "Things can be said without restraint." At which point, it was as though a light switch had been flipped and the filter slipped from his unflappable mouth.
US Weekly quotes, "So here is where things stand. First, as of now, we know that this attack was carried out by gigantic f*cking a**holes, unconscionable, flaming a**holes, possibly, possibly working with other f*cking a**holes, definitely working in service of an ideology of pure a**holery," he said. His audience began to laugh. "Second, and this goes almost without saying, F*ck these a**holes!" The audience began to cheer. "F*ck them, if I may say, sideways!""
WARNING: GRAPHIC LANGUAGE in VIDEO
Like I said beautiful. The words were delivered with a kind of depraved eloquence. As Vox points out, "Instead of talking about the 'civilizational' threat from 'radical Islam,' he treated the terrorists as despicable yet weak adherents to an ideology that barely anyone supports. He's right too." It actually comes as a bit of relief to have someone stand up on national television and say the words you have been thinking for all to hear. While other hosts may have wanted to speak out in this manner, Oliver is the only one with both the means and the cajones to do it.
"As such, those headlines captured a broader truth about what figures like Oliver do: Late-night comedy, in particular, plays a unique and crucial role in helping people deal with unthinkable tragedies," The Atlantic reports with unerring accuracy.
During his vibrant speech, Oliver also says, "Nothing about what these assh*les are trying to do is going to work," which is reminiscent of a far less colorful monologue in which the character Sam Seaborn of The West Wing expresses his belief that terrorism is 100% ineffective.
There may still be those who criticize the Last Week Tonight host for his obscene use of the English language, but there will be a few who are truly able to argue his point of view. And why should they? For once there is someone able to stand up say exactly what we are all thinking.
Please feel free to use the comments below to tell me what you think of Oliver's rant (but remember this is NOT HBO). I look forward to reading your responses.
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