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With Great Privilege Comes Great Responsibility, Jimmy Fallon

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NEWS: With Great Privilege Comes Great Responsibility, Jimmy Fallon [New Gossip News] » Naijacrawl
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You know the moment were going to talk about here: when Jimmy Fallon ruffled Donald Trumps hair and instantaneously cemented his place as an enabler of this whole mess. That was a long time ago nowand feels even longerbut theres a rare news profile today (from the New York Times) that isnt about what specific variety of anxiety drove a Trump supporter to vote for that man. No, its about the real victim of Donald Trumps rise: Jimmy Fallon.

Not that the current political moment hasnt been bad for Fallon. Criticism of Fallons late night hosting skills have often pointed to his shows, both Late Night and now The Tonight Show, being light on substance and heavy on celebrities doing goofy things. The way things have been going lately, theres definitely a desire for more comedy with a stronger viewpoint on the world, and that certainly has left Fallon at a bit of a disadvantage as Stephen Colbert finally overcame their sizable ratings gap.

But thats all relative, and its incredibly difficult to feel bad for Fallon, considering the massive platform he has to say whatever he wants to the world. He told the Times, I dont want to be bullied into not being me, and not doing what I think is funny, he said more defiantly. Just because some people bash me on Twitter, its not going to change my humor or my show, but no ones asking for him to turn his entire show towardexcept maybe executives at NBC, for all I know. Theres just plenty of room for a happy medium between that extreme and actively trying to be apolitical to the point that you might actually be doing harm.

Theres also something to be said for providing an accurate view of the world rather than trying to achieve some kind of false balance between two sides that arent equalsomething everyone in the media struggles with on a daily basis. Years before we even knew any of this would happen, the BBC tried to teach its reporters not to make false both sides of the issue equivalences, because thats not something we just invented because we dont like Donald Trump. Objective reality is never going to line up with the midway point between two political philosophies. In many cases, right and wrong exist. A platform like The Tonight Show has the ability to shape peoples view of where the center actually is, and that shouldnt be taken lightly. Its just as political to falsely put two unequal sides on equal footing as to give too much credit to the one you already favor, even if its unintentional.

Fallon seems to be saying it was. He also told the Times, I didnt [ruffle Trumps hair] to humanize him. I almost did it to minimize him. I didnt think that would be a compliment: He did the thing that we all wanted to do.' At the time, thats what I had assumedthat it was meant to follow in line with the storied history of mean-spirited jokes about Trumps hairbut whether due to some super strength hair gel preventing the hair from getting messed up enough to drive the joke home, or due to Fallons demeanor not really coming across like he intended it to be a pointed moment, or due to the humanizing tone of the interview that preceded it, it certainly didnt come off that way.

Its especially difficult to feel bad for him, despite his assurance of, If I let anyone down, it hurt my feelings that they didnt like it. I got it, because some of his reluctance to express an even modestly stronger point of view seems to be out of a fear that some people wont like himnamely Trump voters, who he pointed out also watch The Tonight Show. Im a people pleaser, he told the Times. If theres one bad thing on Twitter about me, it will make me upset. So, after this happened, I was devastated. I didnt mean anything by it. I was just trying to have fun.

Yeah, getting political is hard. Some people wont like you. Some people will like you, and then youll f*ck up, and they wont like you anymore, or at least maybe theyll think a little less of you. That happened to Stephen Colbert recently. It happens to us, around here, all the time. (And were always trying to do better!)

But thats a choice we all make, and just like you really cant be truly apolitical, its not a choice between alienating people and making everyone like you. Theres no scenario under which everyone likes you. You just have to choose which people youre willing to alienate, and though that choice is yours to make, you also have to live with the message it sends. Its easier to understand someone less privileged than Fallon choosing the path of least resistance, but he has the opportunity to do more than that and is consciously turning it down. Hes clearly decided that hes more concerned about staying in the good graces of Trump supporters than of those whod vocally criticize them, and as long as thats how he feels, some of that criticism is going to come his way, too.

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Adike Kizito is a top-rated software developer, blogger, sports, and entertainment lover. He is the CEO of these popular websites Naijacrawl.com and Mp3ager.com. He operates his software developing task through Kizzsoft.com,... Read More

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