Haha, for real? If that isn't a joke, he just undermined the entire point he was making.
You need to read more carefully...
Haha, for real? If that isn't a joke, he just undermined the entire point he was making.
This is horseshit. When you have comedians not going to specific events due to people crying about nothing, or apologizing for doing comedic jokes, it is a problem. Even cases where comedians are trying new jokes before putting it out at comedy clubs where they specifically ask for no cameras (the joke is obviously rough).. then you have some twat recording it, posting it online and start a cry campaign to ask a comedian to apologize about a bit that's not even cleaned up yet.
A lot of top comedians have stated that this hurts comedy overall and some comedians are afraid to go as far as they would, but I guess someone on gaf just knows better than those guys.
I literally don't understand the point of this. "I like a funny tv show." Ok?
You completely misread that.
I strongly recommend that people watch Lindsay Ellis's video on this topic, because she does an incredible job of talking through Mel Brook's stance on this very issue and explaining why it doesn't mean what a lot of people in this thread think it means.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62cPPSyoQkE
The only thing about Blazing Saddles that really wouldn't fly today is a white dude making it.
Who stopped Tarantino from making Django Unchained?
Who stopped Tarantino from making Django Unchained?
A lot of people here really need to watch more movies.
For real... Blazing Saddles is an all-time great.
This 👆You completely misread that.
I strongly recommend that people watch Lindsay Ellis's video on this topic, because she does an incredible job of talking through Mel Brook's stance on this very issue and explaining why it doesn't mean what a lot of people in this thread think it means.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62cPPSyoQkE
The only thing about Blazing Saddles that really wouldn't fly today is a white dude making it.
Who stopped Tarantino from making Django Unchained?
Personal political correctness is fine if it is you administering your own veil of "things I don't find funny and do not want to watch/support/fund/participate in". The political correctness that isn't appreciated is when individuals cannot control their own emotions and instead of just absenting themselves from watching/laughing/taking part they wish to try by some sort of demand/force/implication absent others from being able to watch/laugh/take part.
So yeah, criticising something and/or absenting yourself from it is absolutely fine. It's when people cannot accept/understand/be okay with others not adhering to the same opinion/thought. How that is becoming difficult for comedians is out of proportion protest/name-calling/accusations and in your face hostility/aggression. Most people cannot be bothered with individuals who fail to get satire when it turns nasty and out comes aggression/name-calling and public tarring.
He did. He just found a way to shorten it to one sentence. And more people here seem to be understanding what he's saying than not. So it seems like the problem is really more on you here.Then let Mel Brooks say that.
So how is political correctness killing comedy or hurting comedians, again? Because people can call them out more easily now? Boo fucking hoo. A movie like Blazing Saddles totally could be made today. It wouldn't be exactly the same, and all of the jokes might not make it through in the same form, but the general substance of the movie would be preserved. I'm just not seeing it.
Chris rock had a much better take on this. Or basically expressed the similar concerns a bit better, at least in regards to stand up.
I read that. And it's still not what he said. It's not that you can or cannot joke about those things, but it's in how you do it.
I'm still waiting for "Spaceballs 2: The Search for More Money."
Obviously comedy must be able to be transgressive and even offensive. But now more than ever we're tuned into who is doing the offending, and for what purpose.
Agreed. Satire is also a dying art it seems. At least in its perception.Modern comedy could definitely learn a LOT from Mel Brooks. Instead of the "lets preach to our audience" John Oliver one-note shtick, Mel Brooks made a career completely ridiculing Nazi's and Racists, which is a far more effective subversion of culture than joining team politics.
Nobody should tell a holocaust joke but hes saying apart from holocaust jokes everything else is fine. Which is what I find a problem with.
Django isn't 100% non-problematic, but they're apples and oranges. Whatever controversy Blazing Saddles received isn't the setting and subject matter, it's the handling.
The worst thing, and the thing that really got people annoyed, was when Tarantino himself kept saying the n-word.
Tarantino has been very heavily criticized for his use of the n word in his movies.
Did that stop any of his movies from being good, and handling the material well, regardless of criticism?
Didn't he essentially do what Mel Brooks did in that it's not THAT you handle the content, but HOW?
I honestly think comedy is less crass. Have you seen Eddie Murphy's RAW recently? Or seen Andrew Dice Clay's old routines?
Comedy, like all art forms, continue to grow and evolve. My issue that is many of the criticism against comedy doesn't come from nuance and care, like the Cancel Colbert movement.
key word: personally
Modern comedy could definitely learn a LOT from Mel Brooks. Instead of the "lets preach to our audience" John Oliver one-note shtick, Mel Brooks made a career completely ridiculing Nazi's and Racists, which is a far more effective subversion of culture than joining team politics.
And we got ourselves another milkshake duck
How many times can PC kill comedy before it stays dead lol
It kind of makes me sad the man himself thinks Blazing Saddles couldn't get made today...
Of course it's up to each individual, how else would it be? He's simply stating that he's ok with holocaust humor, but it's off limits for him personally. That's not meaningful- he's still offended by holocaust humor. He's essentially absolving himself of having any principles in that instance. That's not wisdom or anything to admire. It's a self centered perspective, giving himself carte blanche to be politically incorrect in whatever way he sees fit by giving everyone else the ok to do the same. Maybe Mel Brooks can tolerate someone else's holocaust humor, but the world doesn't revolve around Mel Brooks. He's just thinking of himself here.
Once again the statement should be read carefully. You'll notice he has a problem that the movie makes the concentration camps seem like they weren't all that bad. This is different and separate from, nobody must ever joke about concentration camps.
It showed the barracks in which Jews were kept like cattle, and it made jokes about it. The philosophy of the film is: people can get over anything. No, they cant. They cant get over a concentration camp.
But I would never have thought of the idea of showing how a black was lynched.
Essentially, while it isn't affecting comedians who are already successful, it COULD affect comedians who are just learning the trade. Chappelle and Louis CK didn't learn how to play with the line of acceptability overnight.
There's a risk of people, who could grow into brilliant comedians, being criticized and shouted down too harshly for overstepping their bounds and not being given a chance to learn. Bill Maher can get away with a dumb, racially insensitive joke. Can John Doe, who just got his big break, do the same thing?
I'm not a part of the comedy scene so I don't know if this is a legitimate fear or just hypothetical nonsense. But, on the face of it, that makes sense to me.
The Michael Richards thing was 100% not a joke though. He attacked those black guys directly after losing it. Then after he realized what he had done he tried to play it off which obviously didn't work.Is that because of political correctness gone mad, or because everything people do is preserved for all eternity now? Back in the day if you made an insensitive joke that didn't land, you'd probably get booed or heckled, it just wouldn't be recorded on camera. That's not a societal hurdle, it's a technological one. If you make an edgy joke today that makes people laugh their asses off, I don't think it would be as ruinous as some claim (unless it's also really hateful).
The last "edgy" joke I can think of that ruined someone's career was when Michael Richards went on a racist tirade onstage. I don't recall anyone blaming political correctness for that fuck-up. He was just kinda spewing hate speech at an audience member. I suppose you can also count Anthony Cumia getting fired from his radio show for his twitter tirade, but again, not the same thing as making an ill-considered joke (and the capper to a long, long history of being unapologetically racist).
Ahh yes, the good old "lets go to an extreme to make a point", never heard this one before. Context is extremely important. Jim Norton explains this perfectly over the people that annoy me when they get offended over dumb shit.The fact that you do a blanket dismissal of criticism of comedy tells me that you've straight up prioritized doubling down on your worldview over fact or reason. And I'll say what I always say: you must think very little of comedy if your response to criticism is to essentially call comedy not worth criticizing in the first place. If you can't handle reading criticism of things you like, then suck it up. A comedian apologizing for a joke is clearly not preventing good humor from existing, because we have tons of amazing comedians to this day, perhaps more than ever.
I don't think it's dying but it has gotten damaged. That's why I take the word of people who lead the industry, not a gaffer online. It would be like you telling me global warning is a hoax over thousands of professionals that state otherwise that lead in their field. As for Bojak doing great, I mean again.. good for that show? The more variety, the better. Why would I ever have a problem with that show? :S We're not discussing that kind of comedy though. If your point is that PC comedy can be funny, my only reaction is no fucking shit? It doesn't mean that all comedy needs to follow that type of comedy.And your lack of understanding is your failing, not mine. I'm just wondering what you think of a show that makes efforts to be politically correct while also being critically revered as a hilarious comedy. The death of comedy (as long as you ignore the innumerable exceptions)?
Hi, I would like to introduce you to my post from a couple of mins ago from this very topic, from the previous page.Honestly, your post veers dangerously close to "criticism = censorship." Dave Chappelle received perhaps the biggest criticism (or crying as you pose it) for his criticism. Did his set change? Did he come out and vow to change his ways? Is he still a big deal? No, no, and yes. So what examples do you have that comedy as an art form is dying?
Apologies, misunderstood the text.
Thank God there's still people like Burr and Chappelle that don't give a fuck regardless of how many cries there are and tell the jokes they want to.
I dont think Mel Brooks acted as if the world revolves around him. He simply said that comedy and political correctness contradict each other. And that comedy suffers because of that.
I dont get how you deduced that he is "thinking of himself here".
Why would anyone want to tell a holocaust joke?
Would it really be a great loss?^ Isn't it cute how this term is soon going to be as ruined by hyperbole as "Fake News" or "SJWs"?
Would it really be a great loss?
What are some examples of pc killing comedy?
If you have common sense, you can tell when someone is just being a dick, racist, homophobic etc. within the correct context or just making jokes. He even gives an example of the guy from Seinfeld just being a racist piece of shit rather than being funny, which I totally agree with. A lot of the time and that is the issue, you have people like the one in the video getting offended and then (some) comedians having to listen to them because enough professional victims cry wolf.
In some cultures, it's acceptable comedy to have pictures taken of themselves making 'Asian eyes' when they're in Asia. Would Brooks agree that making 'Asian eyes' is healthy for the overall art of comedy? Would he feel deep down that it's messed up and hurtful but convince himself it's ok so that he's consistent?