Do you think political correctness will be the death of comedy?

There seem to be plenty of outlets for the hateful to spew their stuff. Even for money.

"political correctness"

Is a misnomer methinks. It is a matter of 'punching up' versus 'punching down'.

George Carlin had magnificent rants about the reality of the system we live in, and would be called hardcore left no matter how hard some try to appropriate him.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/george-carlins-daughter-says-hed-roll-eyes-at-far-right

Dave Chapelle also was hilarious talking about the racism in the US but less so targeting LGBTQ.

Not that there is anything wrong with that.

Call it political correctness (80s style) or woke (contemporary). Bursts of prudery and cultural puritanism wax and wane. People soon get bored of being repeatedly censored or told they cannot do or say things. Then they push the boundaries again. And being censored will always lend a certain cachet to books, film, TV and music. Worry less. Enjoy whatever comedy makes you laugh.

Agreed. It's just a fad. This too shall pass.

Yes, and it is already.

Political correctness is just a phase. Things will eventually revert to the way they were. Those who enjoy comedy are already voicing their opposition to the Karens at comedy clubs.

Will political correctness be the death of comedy? Hopefully not. Look at Dave Chapelle and Chris Rock, two of the most popular stand up comedians today. Bill Maher is another comedian with a popular talk show. They're very popular because they are not afraid to cross that line whenever they feel like it, and the audience for the most part seems to like it a lot. There may be some who don't like it, but the majority of people do enjoy it when comedians challenge taboos or things that people are afraid to think about out loud.

Wokeness is either a bad fad or, perhaps, a mental illness.

I think people try to justify their lack of comedy by choosing what is offensive. I never saw humor in racist jokes or stereotypes. And only as a kid I thought "gay jokes" were funny but you kinda grow up and don't find it as funny anymore. But there are people in this world willing to make jokes about someone handicap or having learning disabilities and at that point I'm judging what your moral values are and if you're actually a decent human being

Political correctness is just a phase

Pretty long one though. I can remember this being talked about in the 1980s.

I think people try to justify their lack of comedy by choosing what is offensive or F'd up. I never saw humor in racist jokes or stereotypes. And only as a kid I thought "gay jokes" were funny but you kinda grow up and don't find it as funny anymore. But there are people in this world willing to make jokes about someone handicap or having learning disabilities and at that point I'm judging what your moral values are and if you're actually a decent human being

I read one view that attacking immutable characteristics is bad form but we should have open season on what people think or choose to do.

Not sure that’s the answer. I think most people would see a difference between mocking gingers and mocking people with disabilities. On the thought and choice side, mocking SUV drivers is less problematic than mocking someone’s religious opinions.

There's a comedian from Glasgow who is proud of how woke his city is, especially its use of gender neutral pronouns.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDo3uOHDcMM

Actually comedy will be the death of political correctness. Pointing out the absurd is funny.

No. As pointed out by others on this thread, moaning and groaning about political correctness has been going for a long time (I remember it being it a big deal in the early 90s, but perhaps my memory is faulty). Omehow despite that, I'm pretty sure there's been lots of funny comedy in the past several decades.

If JT mods will turn and blind eye for a couple of hours, I want to give two examples between 70's 90@ of comedy devoid of any pollical correctness.

Alf Garnett argues about Else's debt to Sabu the cornershop owner

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFlTZzefD-c&t=14s

(The Death of Comedy) HARRY & PAUL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ok8R7jNFOPs&t=17s

Now would either ever see the light of day 2024?

Will be?

It already happened, a long time ago.

Wokeness, political correctness, whatever you want to call it ... it poisons, ruins, and kills everything it touches.

It's "progressive," all right. Just like a cancer.

Funny?

but you kinda grow up and don't find it as funny anymore.

Yeah, perhaps, for normally-developing adults because they can learn to see themselves from outside, even as comic targets, but the politically-correct and the authoritarian right are united in being unable to because they still take themselves very seriously while targetting others, especially those they are prejudiced against, is the very kernel of their comedy.

I think most people, normal people, are already tired of this nonsense.

It'll be the death of comedy that wasn't going to succeed anyway, but it won't be the death of good comedy. There is a place for a certain amount of political correctness, but the extremes it has taken on, and the forced hirings of trans actors and ridiculous story lines to fit in all sorts of lifestyles has destroyed a lot of shows already. Ted Lasso season three was so awful that I caught myself wondering if I ever liked any of it at all. Shows like "Loot" or the third season of "Sex Education", or season 5 of Discovery (which did it a LITTLE better, but still) were practically unwatchable. You have actors like Tom Hanks saying he should never have played a gay man in a movie. But I ask, if people want honest representation and political correctness in the extreme, what are LGBTQ actors going to do when it's not an LGBTQ role? Should he/she/they be barred?

Anyway, the best comedians, and comedies, and ones that will thrive and continue on, are the ones who don't back down and don't care. They rightfully do not survive if racist/sexist or anti LGBTQ, but they also don't have to bow down to the opposite extreme. I remember last time I went home and I gave the OK sign when posing for a photo (or was it a thumbs up?) and someone I don't know said to me, "How dare you make the sign for white supremacy! That is a symbol of HATE!" I told her I had never heard of that and was just giving the okay sign. If she wanted to surrender to supremacists she could go right ahead. I don't give up my signs for them. If she hadn't been so self-righteous she might have thought about it a bit but she just grunted and stormed off.

Comedians can lean into it. Not political correctness itself but extreme political correctness. Just as it can lean into the extreme far right, and the extreme left and touch subject normal average Joe can't. There is nothing wrong in being politically correct as I see it as a form of manners. Words we used in the 60s and 70s, that were common aren't used today. EG, spastic society. or how we removed the diagnosis of Mongolism. Once seen as politically correct. The N-word, P word, or calling someone "chalky" or "golliwog" was once seen as OK, but I think we have thankfully moved on now. Some people who want to keep the status quo, shout POLITICAL CORRECTNESS, when in reality, they can't stand the change. LOL.

It's already happened. You have to delve very deep to find proper humour now. Certainly nowhere mainstream. Sad, because I think the majority of people really don't care and we are just catering to a very small minority who are over sensitive and think it's personally directed at them. Which its not.

I can care less about political correctness. Tell it like it is and get on with life.

Political correctness is the end of ENTERTAINMENT in general.

I don't know. A lot of people have different ideas of "political correctness". And comedy is also perceived differently, jokes in one country for example, despite factually correct translation, are not funny in another country.

In any case, there is a difference between being a comedian and making jokes or just being a moron and disguising it as "political correctness". It also depends on what audience or spectrum a given comedy or joke is intended for. For example, a certain "joke" will get laughs in Mississippi or Alabama, but that same "joke" may not be successful in other states.

No. Politically incorrect comedy is thriving.

I don't think so. Comedy has survived wars and revolutions and such. As annoying as PC is, the PC crowd won't kill comedy no matter how hard they try.

It depends on perspective. British TV certainly panders to be more inclusive these days to the point of frustration, but at the same time there is a lot more content which would never have passed the censors even ten years ago. People seem to be more open to talk and joke about very explicit things, but as society is more and more inclusive, it is no longer comfortable to talk about other topics.

Mind Your Own Language would never be made today. A lot of the fans were non-white people too.

And why the heck is UK TV now censoring Carry On movies? Ridiculous.

Ignore anyone who equates ‘political correctness’ with ‘woke’. They are just trying to hijack the conversation to push their ignorant bias against what ‘woke’ really is. It is not ‘political correctness’.

Perhaps you would be so kind as to give us a definition of pc and woke that highlights the difference, Politik Kills, since you seem knowledgeable about it. I am not saying you are wrong; only that I think some might like to know the difference.

Hopefully not, but the PC crowd is trying hard.

PC has been around as a concept since the early 90s and it hasn't killed comedy.

Woke nonsense kills comedy.

The kind of people who say this are some of the most humourless people you could hope to meet.

When it comes to comedy, I think there is nothing that’s off-limits, as long as it’s done in a jokingly way, and in an environment, we’re at the objective is to make people laugh, why not if you don’t like the comedian or the jokes that they tell, don’t attend, it’s that simple, but no one should be blamed for making fun of anything, since political correctness has been crushing fun and laughter, I think it’s about time to have fun and laugh again and stop worrying about these highly sensitive people

The sane majority will inevitably win.