Jerry Seinfeld thinks political correctness is killing comedy : Code Switch Jerry Seinfeld has the become the latest in a string of public figures to blame \"political correctness\" for the death of comedy (among other societal ills). But what does the term actually refer to?<\/p>\n
In an episode of Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee called \"Larry Eats A Pancake,\" Jerry Seinfeld has coffee with Larry David. YouTube hide caption <\/p>\n
In an episode of Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee called \"Larry Eats A Pancake,\" Jerry Seinfeld has coffee with Larry David. <\/p>\n
In the midst of the much more important stuff happening in the world, you may have missed a recent interview with Jerry Seinfeld. While doing the press rounds to promote his upcoming movie, the billionaire comedian offered a few thoughts about \"why TV isn't funny anymore.\" His explanation? Political correctness and the extreme left. (His new movie, by the way, is about the race to invent the Pop-Tart a topic so edgy and iconoclastic that I'm surprised that the woke-mob that runs Hollywood let it happen at all.) <\/p>\n
I won't waste anyone's time arguing about how funny today's TV is compared to the TV of yesteryear. But I think it's worth dwelling for a moment on the nature of Seinfeld's critique (which, by the way, is one that he, and other comedians, have been making for nigh on a decade now). <\/p>\n
It falls in line with the rich tradition of blaming political correctness for all the ills of the modern world. <\/p>\n
Donald Trump has done it many times over the years, including after calling for a \"total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.\" Author Anne Rice did it, while defending Paula Deen after the chef admitted to using the N-word (\"Aren't we becoming something of a lynch mob culture?\" Rice added on Facebook.) Jackson Miller, a former Virginia legislator and member of the \"Redskins Pride Caucus,\" said that pushback against the Washington Football Team's name was \"political correctness on overdrive.\" <\/p>\n
[Editor's note: This is an excerpt of Code Switch's Up All Night newsletter. You can sign up here.] <\/p>\n
What these statements seem to do, remarkably consistently, is avoid engaging with why someone might find a particular type of joke, or comment, or act of mass discrimination perpetrated by the most powerful person in the world, distasteful. Instead, they caricature the *type* of person who takes issue with these things: a snowflake, a buzzkill, a crybaby. <\/p>\n
And one of the convenient things about the term \"politically correct\" like \"woke,\" or \"cancel culture\" or dare I say \"DEI,\" is that its meaning can change to include just about anything. Does being politically correct mean capitalizing the term Indigenous? Not laughing at a transphobic joke? Trying to push back against racist research policies at an elite university? It's all in the eye of the person trying to dismiss someone else's concerns as whiny. <\/p>\n
But as one of my favorite comedians, Gary Gulman, has put it, \"I notice that the people who are saying you 'can't say anything,' are saying everything on Netflix for $20 million a whack.\" <\/p>\n
Which has me wondering: If the ones who complain loudest about \"PC culture\" are wealthy, beloved, highly respected power players who have the resources to again, make a movie about Pop-Tarts who is the real crybaby after all? <\/p>\n
This newsletter was written by Leah Donnella and edited by Courtney Stein. <\/p>\n
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Jerry Seinfeld thinks political correctness is killing comedy : Code Switch - NPR<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Jerry Seinfeld thinks political correctness is killing comedy : Code Switch Jerry Seinfeld has the become the latest in a string of public figures to blame \"political correctness\" for the death of comedy (among other societal ills). Continue reading