# Is lots of comedy off limits today because it is a "PC" era? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 21, 2013, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lots-of-comedy-off-limits-today-because-it-is-a-pc-era/666768 "2013-08-21T00:57:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lots-of-comedy-off-limits-today-because-it-is-a-pc-era/666768/1 "2013-08-21T00:57:01Z")
This is being claimed repeatedly in the “Back to the Future” thread, but I don’t buy it. Exhibit A: Louis CK. The guy is wildly popular with critics, and pretty popular with audiences too. One of his jokes is about having sex with a dead child, and how that would be okay because the kid is not alive to feel anything. I submit that in the supposed classic, pre-“PC” era, there is no way in hell anyone could get away with a joke like that. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lots-of-comedy-off-limits-today-because-it-is-a-pc-era/666768/2 "2013-08-21T01:16:40Z")
Your counterargument is Louis CK telling a dead baby joke? I hate to break it to you, but we were telling dead baby jokes every bit as tasteless as that one when I was in jr. high school in the 1960s. As far as non-PC humor goes, have you ever heard any of [Andrew Dice Clay’s nursery rhymes](http://www.nndb.com/people/409/000022343/)? ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lots-of-comedy-off-limits-today-because-it-is-a-pc-era/666768/3 "2013-08-21T01:20:29Z")
Animal House and Blazing Saddles probably couldnt be made in their initial form because of the sexuality and racial humor. And M_A_S\*H because the way the film treated Hotlips Houlihan. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lots-of-comedy-off-limits-today-because-it-is-a-pc-era/666768/4 "2013-08-21T01:25:01Z")
Yeah it really sucks that you can’t do blackface anymore. People are just too uptight ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lots-of-comedy-off-limits-today-because-it-is-a-pc-era/666768/5 "2013-08-21T02:57:13Z")
I don’t know about MORE politically correct but it’s certainly different. > [@madsircool](#): > > Animal House and **Blazing Saddles** probably couldnt be made in their initial form because of the sexuality and racial humor. And M_A_S\*H because the way the film treated Hotlips Houlihan. https://www.youtube.com/embed/2_urvjCXg6c?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque probably wouldn’t fly. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lots-of-comedy-off-limits-today-because-it-is-a-pc-era/666768/6 "2013-08-21T03:06:27Z")
> [@pancakes3](#): > > I don’t know about MORE politically correct but it’s certainly different. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2\_urvjCXg6c](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_urvjCXg6c) probably wouldn’t fly. I don’t see why. Those are (very unsubtly) the bad guys. “Guys who rape are Bad Guys” seems utterly uncontroversial to me. ---
**Author:** ![Werekoala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7993a0/32.png) [@Werekoala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Werekoala)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lots-of-comedy-off-limits-today-because-it-is-a-pc-era/666768/7 "2013-08-21T03:28:08Z")
I saw a Joan Rivers comedy special about two months ago, a recent one - trust me, non-PC humor is alive and well. Haven’t laughed that hard in a long time. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lots-of-comedy-off-limits-today-because-it-is-a-pc-era/666768/8 "2013-08-21T03:33:14Z")
Professional comedians can say stuff you “can’t” say in your day to day life. If a word or an idea is considered offensive or impolite or otherwise horrible, some comedian will figure out a way to exploit it for laughs. There’s no shortage of comedians doing this today- Sarah Silverman, Daniel Tosh, Anthony Jeselnik… ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lots-of-comedy-off-limits-today-because-it-is-a-pc-era/666768/9 "2013-08-21T03:34:06Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > As far as non-PC humor goes, have you ever heard any of [Andrew Dice Clay’s nursery rhymes](http://www.nndb.com/people/409/000022343/)? On station or another has been playing this ADC clip: _Jack and Jill went up the hill Both with a buck and a quarter Jill came down with two-fifty._ This one bugs me, since I first heard it as an adolescent in the '70s and it went like this: _Jack and Jill went up the hill Both with a buck and a quarter Jill came back with two-and-a-half And_ **you** \* thought they’d gone after water!\* He’s doing it wrong! :mad: ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lots-of-comedy-off-limits-today-because-it-is-a-pc-era/666768/10 "2013-08-21T03:37:28Z")
Yeah, the one negative thing about modern entertainment is how it pulls its punches so much compared to previous eras. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lots-of-comedy-off-limits-today-because-it-is-a-pc-era/666768/11 "2013-08-21T04:01:14Z")
Yeah, you still won’t lose your job for ridiculing the President. [Oh, wait](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/08/11/rodeo-clown-obama-mask/2641597/). ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lots-of-comedy-off-limits-today-because-it-is-a-pc-era/666768/12 "2013-08-21T04:08:01Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > On station or another has been playing this ADC clip: > > _Jack and Jill went up the hill > Both with a buck and a quarter > Jill came down with two-fifty._ > > This one bugs me, since I first heard it as an adolescent in the '70s and it went like this: > > _Jack and Jill went up the hill > Both with a buck and a quarter > Jill came back with two-and-a-half > And_ **you** \* thought they’d gone after water!\* > > He’s doing it wrong! :mad: You forgot the last verse: _Jack and Jill went up the hill To fetch a pail of water Stupid Jill forgot her pill And now she has a daughter!_ ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lots-of-comedy-off-limits-today-because-it-is-a-pc-era/666768/13 "2013-08-21T04:26:37Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > Yeah, you still won’t lose your job for ridiculing the President. [Oh, wait](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/08/11/rodeo-clown-obama-mask/2641597/). Wow. Stay classy, Missouri. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lots-of-comedy-off-limits-today-because-it-is-a-pc-era/666768/14 "2013-08-21T04:27:16Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Animal House and Blazing Saddles probably couldnt be made in their initial form because of the sexuality and racial humor. And M_A_S\*H because the way the film treated Hotlips Houlihan. Say WHAT? Are you insane? Where would you get such a ridiculous idea? > [@Werekoala](#): > > I saw a Joan Rivers comedy special about two months ago, a recent one - trust me, non-PC humor is alive and well. Haven’t laughed that hard in a long time. The same night I spent two hours of dream-calling the answering machines of lawyers in Pittsburgh and Columbus (if my dreams are going to mirror my reality that perfectly I have no reason to sleep), my wife was working in a lab with some intelligent dogs and mandrills and the animals were watching some sort of Real Wives of Long Island reality show. She heard a familiar voice and said, “That’s Totie Fields!” The producers had brought in her and Phyllis Diller as ringers to liven up the show because the rest of the cast had never heard of them, they being old and dead and all. Somebody described a castmember who wasn’t there and Wife said it sounded like Moms Mabley. These women would’ve thrived in this so-called PC era because they could say things now they couldn’t have said after midnight when they were working. What would get me to watch those Real Housewives shows is if the producers did find a relatively unknown comic with a gift for improv and absurdity, a bitchy streak, and a look of angelic innocence, and slip her into the show. A Sarah Silverman type. Then we could see how long it takes the “normals” to figure out they’ve been set up. That could be a laff riot. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lots-of-comedy-off-limits-today-because-it-is-a-pc-era/666768/15 "2013-08-21T05:36:05Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Say WHAT? Are you insane? Where would you get such a ridiculous idea? Probably, but here is my evidence. Animal House…they would not allow a 14 year old character to engage in the sort of sexual activity nor be shown nude in a comedy. Context. The Belushi stuff also likely would be cut; him looking up the skirts of Babs and Mandy and especially the scene at the window. Today this would be considered serious sexual harassment. Also, the whole scene at the Dexter Lake club would be seen as simply racist and cut. Blazing Saddles…has there been another film like this since? Modern media just does not do slapstick racial humor…even if its anti-racist. MASH-I was shocked to see many of the comments over at IMDB about the films treatment of Hotlips. Again, this sort of treatment of women…even unpopular women, just isnt tolerated. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lots-of-comedy-off-limits-today-because-it-is-a-pc-era/666768/16 "2013-08-21T05:40:56Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Also, the whole scene at the Dexter Lake club would be seen as simply racist and cut. I don’t know if you understood what was going on there. There’s nothing racist in that scene. Anyway- you’re right that Animal House wouldn’t be made. Tastes change. But dozens of movies that owe a huge debt to Animal House have been made. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lots-of-comedy-off-limits-today-because-it-is-a-pc-era/666768/17 "2013-08-21T05:59:07Z")
It’s ironic that the [Hays Code](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_Picture_Production_Code)regulated movies and tv from the mid 30’s until the late 60’s. Primarily for religious reasons and public decency. We had a brief 20 year period between 1970-1990 when filmmakers could make practically anything they wanted. Some really good like The French Connection, Dog Day Afternoon, and Serpico. Some great comedies like M_A_S\*H, Ferris Bueller, and Animal House. A lot of not so good comedies like Porkys and many, many other teen comedies. That all changed with Political Correctness. A girl in a bikini? We’re objectifying women. A dumb blonde character like Gracie Allen? Oh no, can’t do that it might offend somebody. An Asian with an accent? Nope. In some ways it’s even worse than the old Hays Code. We’re so sanctimonious now. Just like those old time religious folk that made sure anything they objected too stayed off their movie screen. I see no difference in the two. There objectives are the same. Make sure only what they want is presented in the theatres and tv. I’m so grateful that I grew up in the 70’s and saw those great movies first hand. We’ll probably never see that level of artistic freedom again. I wish we could go back to letting the ticket buyer decide. Make movies on whatever subject you want. Let the box office decide if it’s a hit or a flop. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lots-of-comedy-off-limits-today-because-it-is-a-pc-era/666768/18 "2013-08-21T06:12:08Z")
A lot of comedians have felt the pressure to apologise if someone is offended by their humour, but I think that’s the wrong approach. Everyone can be offended by any joke, and if you are then you can complain publicly or choose not to listen to their stuff anymore. But that doesn’t mean you deserve an apology, it just means their comedy is not to your taste. If enough people are turned off that style of humour then the comedian won’t get any more work, that’s the consequence they have to be concerned about. But if plenty of people love the so-called offensive comedy, then comedians should continue to perform it unhindered. The only time anyone should expect an apology from a comedian is if they are directly insulted. And even then context matters. I think this subtle shift in too many arrogant busybodies being personally offended is affecting the development of comedy negatively. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lots-of-comedy-off-limits-today-because-it-is-a-pc-era/666768/19 "2013-08-21T06:24:51Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I don’t know if you understood what was going on there. There’s nothing racist in that scene. Anyway- you’re right that Animal House wouldn’t be made. Tastes change. But dozens of movies that owe a huge debt to Animal House have been made. I think you missed the ‘as seen as’. Primitive culture? Mind if we dance wiff yo dates? Corporate Hollywood is far more sensitive to racial slights these days. And, sadly, ot wouldnt have been made had Donald Sutherland not signed on. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lots-of-comedy-off-limits-today-because-it-is-a-pc-era/666768/20 "2013-08-21T06:52:22Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > We had a brief 20 year period between 1970-1990 when filmmakers could make practically anything they wanted. > … > > That all changed with Political Correctness. A girl in a bikini? We’re objectifying women. A dumb blonde character like Gracie Allen? Oh no, can’t do that it might offend somebody. An Asian with an accent? Nope. In some ways it’s even worse than the old Hays Code. We’re so sanctimonious now. Yeah, there are absolutely no women in bikinis, dumb blondes, or funny accented foreigners in any movies made much since 1990.:rolleyes: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lots-of-comedy-off-limits-today-because-it-is-a-pc-era/666768.md?page=2)