Thinking About Internet/Media Power

I keep having the most interesting thoughts about using The Daily Show and Colbert Report to act social change.

I'm thinking about starting a website to petition Jon Stewart to invite Grant Morrison on The Daily Show to promote All-Star Superman. I have several reasons for this.

1. To promote comic books in a high profile intellectual environment.
2. To use Grant Morrison's amazing charisma and rockstar attitude to create a comic book ambassador forcing people to question their preconceptions about comic books and comic book people.
3. To introduce people to comics through a very easy to read, intelligent, and positive story featuring a character they all know and love.
4. To use Jon Stewart's own literary intellectualism to give credit to the book.
5. To help influence the next Superman movie. If there was just enough buzz on the book to insure that anyone who made the next movie had to read that, it would undoubtably influence the film for the better.

I had been thinking about the fact that while there has been a lot of interest lately in superhero movies, there has been little interest in comic books. It occurred to me then that it really is just a matter of time before they start interesting people. And it's not like people have to go to a comic store when they can just order it on Amazon.

Sure, Joe Quesada has been on The Colbert Report and in a few Kevin Smith movies... and Kevin Smith has done a lot to make comics seem cool, but neither of them really challenge the stereotype. (Neither do comic fans, but I'm trying to change the minority. Don't tell anyone.)

Grant Morrison would.

Grant Morrison

My other idea was "Why doesn't Stephen Colbert ask his audience to petition their elected representatives to be interviewed by him?" Basically just to help finish his Better Know A District series. His audience really seems to follow his lead every other time he suggests something to them. They crashed Wikipedia at least once, petitioned to get a bridge in Holland named after him, and made numerous Star Wars videos of him. I think it would work, at least in some of the more liberal areas of the country.

Or did he already get all of those?

The great thing about this series is how people are taken off guard and you get to see them as human instead of politicians. Sometimes they use the footage in connection to a news article. Understanding the type of person he or she is gives us a better sense of the person and makes the news more meaningful... at least I think so.

The way that those shows are connecting with and responding to the online community is a possible way to make social change. Interesting.