Does Being Overly ‘Politically Correct’ Make Us Difficult To Entertain? [OPINION]
Social media has given everyone with high speed internet and the proper device a voice, sometimes whether they should or not. While I personally think it's great that people can use to interact with each from virtually anywhere, especially during this pandemic, there is also a downside to it. To me that downside is "cancel culture".
In the current state of the country, if you say or do something wrong, no matter how big or small, and in some cases it could be from more than ten years ago, people will call for you to get canceled, which could ultimately get you fired and blacklisted in Hollywood.
Now I understand the reason behind this, and yes, some instances are more severe than others, but I think what often is forgotten is that celebrities are still human and humans make mistakes from time to time. Canceling someone over a single thought, phrase, joke or tweet (especially if it's from the past), seems severe.
One of my favorite comedians, Dave Chappelle, even talked about this same thing on one of his semi-recent Netflix stand-up specials (shown below). He's not alone though. I've heard the same sentiment from others in his profession in the last year, like from Bill Burr and Tom Segura.
I do believe there are certain civil standards that everyone should strive to uphold, but being too politically correct can take the fun out entertainment. Sometimes a joke is just a joke. Sometimes folks should realize that a movie or television show is just there to entertain and does not need to be dissected.
Having grown up in the 1980s and 1990s, I often look back at bodies of work, like songs, stand-up performances, TV sitcoms and movies and think, wow, today that probably wouldn't last long. Shows like All In The Family, Eddie Murphy's Delirious, anything from Andrew Dice Clay, all things that would get torn to pieces nowadays.
This is all just my personal opinion, so hopefully it's taken at face value, but the question I pose to you is: