I have no words for the land of my birth right now. At least…no good ones. And I’m afraid to say the ones I want to say. This has never happened to me in my life.

A short time ago, a very evil man with the initials “CK” was killed and I said something on social media about him and my account was suspended for 24 hours. This is, of course, nothing in comparison to the multitudes of people who have, in turn, lost their jobs (or worse) simply for doing the same: speaking their mind.

I’m a writer. I have been a writer since I was a young child. I figured out pretty early on that I was not a fiction author. Couldn’t finish a story to save my ass. But I’m damn good at criticism, theory and media analysis. So that has been what I have run with. Lucky for me, I have found some success at that after landing here in Korea. I only had a fair run in the US. But the last almost 6 years here have shown me that my examination of oppression, gender studies and representation has some kind of place here. What that is is still anyone’s guess (Korea is still developing in certain regards) but my work is being appreciated in various sectors.

I talked with my mom today and I just couldn’t imagine what my extremely socially-conscious grandparents would say if they read the news and saw that these fairly innocuous late-night hosts were being censored. And when I say “fairly innocuous” I don’t mean that they are not powerful. They are. But let’s think about it for a moment- did people who hated Colbert really watch Colbert? Not bloody likely. Thankfully the man won an Emmy and quoted Prince (❤️) as the bookend to his on-air tenure, but really?

Men like Colbert and Kimmel…they’re a salve for the wounded (us). To paraphrase Kris Kristofferson, they are there to help us get through the night. They’re not going to physically make anyone get out of their chairs and go on a march. That is up to the individual her/him/themself. Mind you, there is a gigantic difference between the two hosts- Colbert was highly critical of the world around him so he did “punch a higher floor” while Kimmel? He was there to entertain. But we need entertainment. Silly laughter during some pretty apocalyptic times is just necessary.

Honestly, the importance of late-night hosts cannot be overstated. And when they come under attack, that is a bigger deal than we think. Why? Because what else is there late at night, after a hard day, when the world is not what you want and maybe you just want to zone out and catch up on a few jokes? Late Night is a tradition. And it’s slowly being murdered by the censorship machine. This scares me. Like many things.

In Korea, Late Night is not a tradition. The thing here is variety shows- quiz shows, game shows and all kinds of really fun cooking and reality shows that put the US ones to shame. I don’t always understand what is going on during all of them (my Korean is improving but certainly not *quite* at that “understand what the hell is going on during a game show” level) but they are always a relief to watch. They are full of fun graphics, unique contestants and highly interesting situations. So the viewer response is…similar to that of Late Night.

Korea would flip the fuck out if these shows started to get taken away. If anyone was paying attention to recent politics here, you saw what we did with our last president so I think you can guess that we would never allow these TV shows to get chucked.

But Korea is not the US. And I guess I’m glad for that, as I live here now and no longer in the US. But all the people I love still live in the US and…what if I ever have to come back? Will there be anything for me to come back to?

Late Night has always had a revolutionary side. So…sure. I can see why the Right would be scared. Ed Sullivan was adamant about having black performers on his show and treating them not as equals but like the stars they were during a time when they were unable to sit at the same lunch counter as white folks. The Smothers Brothers…well, you can google them. That’s a whole entry in and of itself. And maybe those were different kinds of shows.

But Late Night Television has a long and varied history that is centered on being able to BE THERE FOR YOU at the end of the day. No matter who you are. Sometimes the episodes are just stupid promos for a celeb’s new movie. Sometimes they are more. Are they dangerous? Only if you think the public should be remotely happy or feel some kind of peace for a brief shining moment in their currently chaotic existence.

I have a lot of shame as an American ex-pat right now, and, from the looks of things, I better get a bigger Shame Bucket cuz it seems like the one I currently got? Ready to overflow.