As Stephen Colbert transitions from his truthiness spewing character from The Colbert Report to his upcoming gig as David Letterman’s replacement, he continues to provide us all with hints of what the real guy behind all that false bravado is.
The latest example is this great video piece he did for Rookie Magazine’s “Ask a Grown” series. Colbert, a father of three – including one daughter, fielded questions from teenage girls and answered them in a serious, thoughtful and understated way (a demeanor diametrically opposed to his Colbert Report character).
Enjoy:
A couple of examples…
On guys making rape jokes and being encouraged to be misogynistic culturally:
Does our society educate boys to be misogynistic? It probably doesn’t value girls and women as much as it should. Boys probably see that as a signal that they can get away with things like devaluing women. They do need to be told that it’s wrong or even more importantly that you don’t like it because they want you to like them… I think that’s the best way to stop it. They’ll pay attention.
On a 19-year-old girl who wants to convince her dad it’s okay for her to sleep at her boyfriend of over a year’s house:
Approval of a boyfriend is not the same thing as giving you carte blanche in terms of approving a sexual relationship with him. They can be nice and still like him but they’re not always the same thing… Why do you care what your dad thinks? If it’s because you think he has your best interest at heart and that he loves you, if that’s the case maybe don’t try to convince him otherwise… If there’s a reason why you’re still living at home and you feel like you still need your parent’s help it might be sort of an act of humility to accept their help in terms of relationship advice.
