Will Ferrell answers rapid fire questions from Stephen Colbert, and it's delightfully weird
A rollercoaster of unhinged to poetic that only Will Ferrell can deliver.
This funny man likes to take the window seat while traveling to see all the "dead bodies," i.e. trees.
For those not up to speed with all things Stephen Colbert—during his Colbert Report days, the television host popularized a bit called the "Colbert Questionert," where he asked the same 15 questions (covering the ”full spectrum of human experience") to whichever celebrity guest he was interviewing at the time.
That bit lives on with the Late Show, and during the show’s April 29 episode, Anchorman star Will Ferrell was asked those trademark "ergonomically designed” questions.
His answers were every bit as unserious as you’d might expect…from declaring the “classic” salami and grapefruit on rye with a light sheen of mayo as the “best sandwich” (which, actually, does sound pretty delectable), to naming penguins as the “scariest animal (“you know the old phrase, don’t turn your back on a penguin"). You can definitely tell Colbert is working very, very hard to keep himself together.
And yet, when asked, “What do you think happens when we die?” things took a bit of a profound turn.
“What I know happens…we turn into trees.”
- YouTubewww.youtube.com
He went on to say that once that happens, you’ll still be "experiencing" things, and “contributing to the world,” but…”that’s it.”
“And you know this…how?” Colbert replied.
“I just know it,” said Ferrell before immediately dubbing Sense and Sensibility as his favorite action movie followed by a full-on spontaneous acapella duet with Colbert of Rick Astley’s "Never Gonna Give You Up”— the one song Ferrell would pick if he could only listen to one song for the rest of his life. If that’s not life in a nutshell, I don't know what is: beauty, silliness, and everything in between.
Whether you find answers to this ultimate mystery in religion, a spiritual practice, science, or simply accepting that you’ll never know, the one truth of it all is that our bodies go back into the earth in some way or fashion. Some might find this concept unsettling, while others find it deeply meaningful—so much so that they opt for biodegradable urns or pods to house their remains which are then planted with a tree, allowing the remains to nourish the tree as they decompose and it grows.
- YouTubewww.youtube.com
So, while Ferrell was obviously taking on the funny man role, he also seemed to pull one of the oldest clown tricks in the book: offering poignant wisdom.
By the way, if you want to host your own little Colbert Questionert, here are the 15 questions:
- Best sandwich?
- What's one thing you own that you really should throw out?
- What is the scariest animal?
- Apples or oranges?
- Have you ever asked someone for their autograph?
- What do you think happens when we die?
- Favorite action movie?
- Favorite smell?
- Least favorite smell?
- Exercise: worth it?
- Flat or sparkling?
- Most used app on your phone?
- You get one song to listen to for the rest of your life: what is it?
- What number am I thinking of?
- Describe the rest of your life in five words?
Men try to read the most disturbing comments women get online back to them.
If you wouldn't say it to their faces, don't type it.
This isn’t comfortable to talk about.
Trigger warning for discussion of sexual assault and violence.
in 2016, a video by Just Not Sports took two prominent female sportswriters and had regular guys* read the awful abuse they receive online aloud.
Sportswriters Sarah Spain and Julie DiCaro sat by as men read some of the most vile tweets they receive on a daily basis. See how long you can last watching it.
*(Note: The men reading them did not write these comments; they're just being helpful volunteers to prove a point.)
It starts out kind of jokey but eventually devolves into messages like this:
Awful.
All images and GIFs from Just Not Sports/YouTube.
These types of messages come in response to one thing: The women were doing their jobs.
Those wishes that DiCaro would die by hockey stick and get raped? Those were the result of her simply reporting on the National Hockey League's most disturbing ordeal: the Patrick Kane rape case, in which one of the league's top players was accused of rape.
DiCaro wasn't writing opinion pieces. She was simply reporting things like what the police said, statements from lawyers, and just general everyday work reporters do. In response, she received a deluge of death threats. Her male colleagues didn't receive nearly the same amount of abuse.
It got to the point where she and her employer thought it best for her to stay home for a day or two for her own physical safety.
The men in the video seemed absolutely shocked that real live human beings would attack someone simply for doing their job.
Not saying it.
All images and GIFs from Just Not Sports/YouTube.
Most found themselves speechless or, at very least, struggling to read the words being presented.
It evoked shame and sympathy.
All images and GIFs from Just Not Sports/YouTube.
Think this is all just anecdotal? There's evidence to the contrary.
The Guardian did a study to find out how bad this problem really is. They combed through more than 70 million comments that have been posted on their site since 2006 and counted the number of comments that violated their comment policy and were blocked.
The stats were staggering.
From their comprehensive and disturbing article:
If you can’t say it to their face... don’t type it.
All images and GIFs from Just Not Sports/YouTube.
So, what can people do about this kind of harassment once they know it exists?
There are no easy answers. But the more people who know this behavior exists, the more people there will be to tell others it's not OK to talk to anyone like that.
Watch the whole video below:
This article originally appeared nine years ago.