Anyone interested in religious comedy's recent history in America
will enjoy Stephanie Brehm's book whose long subtitle better describes her
work. "America's Most Famous Catholic (According to Himself): Stephen
Colbert and American Religion in the Twenty-First Century," is a treatise
on Catholic humor and its impact in the United States today.
Simultaneously entertaining and academic, the book is part of a
series of publications on "the historical and cultural study of Catholic
practice in North America" at Fordham University. It "springs from a
pressing need in the study of American Catholicism for empirical investigations
and creative explorations and analysis of the contours of Catholic
experience."
Of course, Stephen Colbert's cover shot and name in the title
will attract more readers than an academic work normally would.
Using the popular Colbert (both the character he portrays and the
man himself) as the unifying factor, the author covers Catholics in comedy and
media prominence in recent history, from radio pundit Father Charles Coughlin,
Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, and even Bing Crosby to Mother Angelica. Brehm
includes Catholic (and formerly Catholic) comedians such as Don Novello (aka
Father Guido Sarducci), Jim Gaffigan, Bill Murray, Jimmy Fallon, Louis C.K.,
Conan O'Brien, George Carlin and Jay Leno.
According to the author, "Colbert breaks all molds" as
a master of satire, "an artistic form that 'makes fun of human folly and
vice by holding people accountable for their public actions.'"
This book highlighted for me the value of a celebrity whose deep
faith doesn't allow him to take himself too seriously nor claim to have all the
answers. I enjoyed the brief biographical material (wished for more), which
explained humor's importance amid Colbert's life traumas. His goal is clearly
to entertain and make people laugh. These tools gave him perspective in his own
suffering.
Brehm pointed out that Colbert's comedy breaks down stereotypes
of Catholicism as a rigid, somber, traditional institution and illustrates the
intellectual, moral and pragmatic diversity it possesses. While multiplicity
and dissent have always existed in Catholic life and we no longer live in times
of unquestioning obedience, Colbert's comedy mocks the deep polarization and
vitriolic dialogue so evident in our country today.
With a quarter of the U.S. population considering itself
Catholic, Colbert helps us laugh at ourselves. Like a family member granted
license to critique from the inside, Colbert uses humor to question hypocrisies
and incongruities in our church. Brehm describes how Colbert walks a tightrope
of poking fun without deriding the church he loves.
The author explains how the comedian also helps us better
understand ourselves and the complexity of the church, which is based on faith
and reason despite disunity of thought. "Colbert puts that paradox
onstage," Brehm writes.
It's a modern behavior, the author contends, for a comedian to
encourage self-reflection about religion through humor. We can relate to
Colbert because he is like us: struggling, questioning, saying things we wish
we'd dared to say, and wanting more accountability and collaboration with the
hierarchy.
The secret of his success, Brehm says, is that he "does not
diminish other's search for meaning in different systems."
At its heart the book is about comedy in the digital and social
media age, which questions truth, connects us impersonally, blurs divisions and
provides unlimited data via computers and phones.
Brehm uses Colbert to "provide insight into the mechanisms
behind lived religion: the processes of meaning making and identity
creation." Thankfully, she also includes some of Colbert's jokes. Brehm
says that by delivering religious information in an entertaining way, audiences
are covertly evangelized through his "stage as pulpit." People may
not be in the pews, but they catch "Church of Colbert" clips online.
Chapters cover Colbert as character, Catholic authority,
catechist and culture warrior. His humorous personality, vacillating between
silliness and influence, offers a serious take on Catholicism that has greatly
influenced public perception. The entertainer is considered by many to be more
trustworthy than contemporary politicians or world leaders, and Colbert is
their leading source of news. She contends that Colbert anesthetized Americans
to extremism, blatantly making up facts that paved the way for President
Trump's election.
Brehm clearly did extensive reading and research on this
entertainer, evidenced in 28 pages of footnotes. Expect some $10 words as the
author provides a "digital media ethnography and rhetorical analysis"
of Catholic comedy.
Despite being repetitive at times, the book is a worthwhile
"case study of the intersection between lived religion and mass
media" via Colbert. If you want to study how humor, social media and
entertainment inform and mold our church and public opinion today, this book
will be a good choice for you.
Pehanich is a Catholic freelance writer, blogger,
spiritual director and former assistant editor for the Diocese of San Jose,
California.
"America's Most Famous Catholic (According to Himself):
Stephen Colbert and American Religion in the Twenty-First Century" by
Stephanie N. Brehm. Fordham University Press (New York, 2019). 256 pp., $30.