# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lots-of-comedy-off-limits-today-because-it-is-a-pc-era/666768/21 "2013-08-21T07:49:45Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > 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. Mila Kunis played 15 year old Jackie in That 70s Show in 1998 and one of the first episodes involved her having sex with Kelso and deciding that sex was fun and she was going to keep having it. Fun Fact: Kunis was _14_ when the episode was filmed. ---
**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, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lots-of-comedy-off-limits-today-because-it-is-a-pc-era/666768/22 "2013-08-21T07:56:19Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Blazing Saddles…has there been another film like this since? Modern media just does not do slapstick racial humor…even if its anti-racist. I dunno about films since I don’t watch many straight comedies, but you basically want Chapelle’s Show. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lots-of-comedy-off-limits-today-because-it-is-a-pc-era/666768/23 "2013-08-21T07:57:11Z")
Granted it is a black comedy but Observe And Report came out within the last few years and contained a statutory rape joke, a extremely intoxicated woman is having sex and appears to pass out. The guy stops and checks to see if she passed out, only for her to ask what is wrong and demand he resume, loudly and with profanity. According to everyone here that movie never got made 😛 ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lots-of-comedy-off-limits-today-because-it-is-a-pc-era/666768/24 "2013-08-21T08:01:37Z")
> [@marshmallow](#): > > I dunno about films since I don’t watch many straight comedies, but you basically want Chapelle’s Show. Yea if you’re looking for non-politically correct anti-racism humor that is pretty much The Chapelle Show, not every skit is such but a great many are. It is a sketch comedy show, was a big hit. See if you can find The Black White Supremacist on youtube. ---
**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, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lots-of-comedy-off-limits-today-because-it-is-a-pc-era/666768/25 "2013-08-21T08:22:34Z")
Well, when there are the PC crowd is right there complaining. I don’t want to belabor the point. Here’s just one recent example from the recent Star Trek movie. FWIW the actress showed less skin then a bikini shows. Lindelof has been properly chastised and will be more PC in future movie projects. The stifling of creative freedom concerns me but I see no way of turning the clock back now. The internet and social media is an unstoppable force these days. [http://blogs.indiewire.com/womenandhollywood/star-trek-writer-sort-of-apologizes-for-misogyny-in-the-film](http://blogs.indiewire.com/womenandhollywood/star-trek-writer-sort-of-apologizes-for-misogyny-in-the-film) > [@](#): > > Lindelof went to his Twitter and did apologize for his comments in the MTV interview. > > ``` > I copped to the fact that we should have done a better job of not being gratuitous in our representation of a barely clothed actress. We also had Kirk shirtless in underpants in both movies. Do not want to make light of something that some construe as mysogenistic. What I'm saying is I hear you, I take responsibility and will be more mindful in the future. Also, I need to learn how to spell 'misogynistic.' > > ``` > [@njtt](#): > > Yeah, there are absolutely no women in bikinis, dumb blondes, or funny accented foreigners in any movies made much since 1990.:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lots-of-comedy-off-limits-today-because-it-is-a-pc-era/666768/26 "2013-08-21T08:33:28Z")
The two allowable forms of discourse nowadays are PC and post-PC. Post-PC comics like Louie CK and Joan Rivers are aware of the rules of PC and construct their humor to play and tweak those rules to great effect. What’s not allowed is discourse that does not start from within the rules of PC as a basic premise. Witness, for example, the call for a boycott on [a kickstarter PUA guide](http://jezebel.com/redditors-pua-kickstarter-project-recommends-sexual-as-514264056) because it “advocated sexual assault”. The reason the response has been so harsh is because the guide is not approaching the subject ironically or subversively, it simply starts out from a completely separate set of premises from the PC worldview. So yes, I do think a lot of comedy is off limits and Louie CK is not a good counter-example to this. ---
**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, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lots-of-comedy-off-limits-today-because-it-is-a-pc-era/666768/27 "2013-08-21T08:54:31Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Mila Kunis played 15 year old Jackie in That 70s Show in 1998 and one of the first episodes involved her having sex with Kelso and deciding that sex was fun and she was going to keep having it. > > Fun Fact: Kunis was _14_ when the episode was filmed. But the 14 yr old character was topless in the film and left drunk in a shopping cart at her front door. 😉 > [@marshmallow](#): > > I dunno about films since I don’t watch many straight comedies, but you basically want Chapelle’s Show. Chappelles show was awesome. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lots-of-comedy-off-limits-today-because-it-is-a-pc-era/666768/28 "2013-08-21T08:55:57Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Well, when there are the PC crowd is right there complaining. I don’t want to belabor the point. Here’s just one recent example from the recent Star Trek movie. FWIW the actress showed less skin then a bikini shows. Lindelof has been properly chastised and will be more PC in future movie projects. The stifling of creative freedom concerns me but I see no way of turning the clock back now. The internet and social media is an unstoppable force these days. > > [http://blogs.indiewire.com/womenandhollywood/star-trek-writer-sort-of-apologizes-for-misogyny-in-the-film](http://blogs.indiewire.com/womenandhollywood/star-trek-writer-sort-of-apologizes-for-misogyny-in-the-film) The internet allows basically any crank a voice, name any insane opinion on any topic and you’ll find supporters online. There are probably people online who seriously think using chlorine to purify drinking water is a bacterial holocaust to save a few nasty humans. If the premise is that if someone with a blog disagrees with something that means it can’t be done we’re in trouble. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lots-of-comedy-off-limits-today-because-it-is-a-pc-era/666768/29 "2013-08-21T09:03:23Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Well, when there are the PC crowd is right there complaining. You think a couple of decades ago the prudes and offenderati weren’t complaining? Dude. Were you there? If so, have you forgotten? ---
**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, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lots-of-comedy-off-limits-today-because-it-is-a-pc-era/666768/30 "2013-08-21T09:32:50Z")
That was my point. Prior to 1968 the religious folks had the Hays Code controlling the content of films. Bonnie & Clyde was one of the first big films made after the Hays Code ended. The films we’ve been discussing here are mostly from the 70’s and 80’s. A period when filmmakers pretty much had creative freedom. There were complaints of course from the religious groups (like Jerry Falwell) but they didn’t have the clout to force Hollywood to change their content. Political Correctness has changed things a lot. The internet has given them a powerful voice. A lot of 70’s and 80’s movies would need major changes to get made today. It does restrict creativity to a certain degree. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lots-of-comedy-off-limits-today-because-it-is-a-pc-era/666768/31 "2013-08-21T12:03:40Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > But the 14 yr old character was topless in the film and left drunk in a shopping cart at her front door. 😉 The actress was 18. But if you must, have we all forgotten American Beauty and Thora Birch’s underage topless scene? I don’t recall anyone giving a crap at the time. ---
**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, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lots-of-comedy-off-limits-today-because-it-is-a-pc-era/666768/32 "2013-08-21T13:21:28Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > Witness, for example, the call for a boycott on [a kickstarter PUA guide](http://jezebel.com/redditors-pua-kickstarter-project-recommends-sexual-as-514264056) because it “advocated sexual assault”. The reason the response has been so harsh is because the guide is not approaching the subject ironically or subversively, it simply starts out from a completely separate set of premises from the PC worldview. No, it is because it advocates (and teaches methods of) sexual assault. As in acts that are criminal, prosecutable, even if people usually get away with them. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lots-of-comedy-off-limits-today-because-it-is-a-pc-era/666768/33 "2013-08-21T13:49:11Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > 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. That has nothing to do with political correctness. By your own timeline, it ended in the 70s, but Political correctness didn’t hit the mainstream until the 1990s. While I agree that the 70s made a lot of great movies, the decline of Hollywood in dealing with adult subjects is more due to **Jaws** and **Star Wars** than anything else: studios went for the blockbuster, and to get a blockbuster, you needed people to see the movie more than once in the studio, which meant you geared things for teenage boys. > [@](#): > > 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. When you’re spending $40 million making a film, you’re not going to take a chance that you lose it all. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lots-of-comedy-off-limits-today-because-it-is-a-pc-era/666768/34 "2013-08-21T13:58:27Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Well, when there are the PC crowd is right there complaining. I don’t want to belabor the point. Here’s just one recent example from the recent Star Trek movie. FWIW the actress showed less skin then a bikini shows. Lindelof has been properly chastised and will be more PC in future movie projects. The stifling of creative freedom concerns me but I see no way of turning the clock back now. The internet and social media is an unstoppable force these days. > > [http://blogs.indiewire.com/womenandhollywood/star-trek-writer-sort-of-apologizes-for-misogyny-in-the-film](http://blogs.indiewire.com/womenandhollywood/star-trek-writer-sort-of-apologizes-for-misogyny-in-the-film) I think the point wasn’t so much that the scene was so awful and sexist, it was that it was utterly pointless in the context of the movie, and only served to show off Alice Eve in her undies. I’m not at all hostile to seeing pretty women in their underwear, being a fairly Neanderthalish guy, and even I thought it was kind of a filmic non-sequitor. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lots-of-comedy-off-limits-today-because-it-is-a-pc-era/666768/35 "2013-08-21T14:11:50Z")
It drives me crazy that apparently, making your hero not be a rapist (revenge of the nerds and others), or making your Asian character be a normal human being and not Mr. Fucking whatever his name was from Breakfast at Tiffany’s, is considered “PC” instead of just damned decent. Maybe we could not make every movie appeal to the lowest common denominator, the slavering peanut gallery of teen boys. NEWS FLASH: There are titties everywhere. And actually I don’t even have a problem with breasts, or even with mysogynistic characters, provided their viewpoint is not adored by the movie. James T. Kirk in the new Star Trek is one hell of a slick playboy. Amazingly, he \*doesn’t get the girl[/]. Instead, he gets his ass beat about a thousand times. And has to earn every moment of being captain, twice. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lots-of-comedy-off-limits-today-because-it-is-a-pc-era/666768/36 "2013-08-21T14:20:26Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > 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. You can see all of those things and more on _Glee_, which isn’t even a movie but a network TV show with a large youth audience that for most of its run aired at 8 pm/7 pm Central (it moved to an hour later for the past season). The specific topic being discussed in the other thread was comedies where it’s presented as no big deal that a sympathetic male character rapes or considers raping a girl. There is less of that nowadays, but I don’t see how that’s a bad thing. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lots-of-comedy-off-limits-today-because-it-is-a-pc-era/666768/37 "2013-08-21T14:20:57Z")
Yeah, somehow the notion that there are other people in the audience other than white males is considered PC. Meanwhile there is real cutting edge art out there now that would never fly in the pre-PC era. Even the tamest hack comic of today would have never have been able to perform his act in the good old days. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lots-of-comedy-off-limits-today-because-it-is-a-pc-era/666768/38 "2013-08-21T14:26:12Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Political Correctness has changed things a lot. The internet has given them a powerful voice. A lot of 70’s and 80’s movies would need major changes to get made today. It does restrict creativity to a certain degree. You’re confusing creativity with crude frat humor. Which, by the way, there is still far too much of in modern media. ---
**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, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lots-of-comedy-off-limits-today-because-it-is-a-pc-era/666768/39 "2013-08-21T14:27:03Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > We had a brief 20 year period between 1970-1990 when filmmakers could make practically anything they wanted. Yes, of course. Movie studios were famously hands off and would give a few million dollars to anybody who walked in the door. Productions of classics like the Godfather and Apocalypse Now were notoriously free of studio interference. > [@](#): > > That all changed with Political Correctness. One of the reasons it’s irritating to discuss comedy and political correctness is that people use the term to mean whatever they want it to mean. Anytime someone says they didn’t think a joke was funny, someone else will accuse them of being PC. It’s a way to dismiss them as a prude without considering the merits (or non-merits) of what they’re saying. > [@](#): > > A girl in a bikini? We’re objectifying women. Yes, it’s nearly impossible to find a woman in a bikini or a tight outfit or a very revealing superhero costume these days. > [@](#): > > A dumb blonde character like Gracie Allen? Oh no, can’t do that it might offend somebody. Again, the movies are full of these. > [@](#): > > In some ways it’s even worse than the old Hays Code. Except that it’s not imposed by the government and it’s generally an objection to stereotypes and prejudices instead of random morals objections. In no way is it worse. What’s happening, I think, is that you feel your ox is being gored now and you don’t like it. > [@](#): > > We’ll probably never see that level of artistic freedom again. Try TV. > [@](#): > > 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. That’s what happens. People have always expressed opinions on what they see in movies, and studios do not always listen. > [@aceplace57](#): > > Lindelof has been properly chastised and will be more PC in future movie projects. The stifling of creative freedom concerns me but I see no way of turning the clock back now. I’m all for getting a good look at attractive women, but let’s not be ridiculous here. This isn’t a creative freedom thing. They were criticized for a scene where a female character took her clothes off for no particular reason because there was no particular reason that needed to happen in the story. That doesn’t stifle creative freedom. Asking that filmmakers avoid stereotypes and shallow depictions of women or minorities doesn’t stifle creativity either. That’s people in the audience asking for greater creativity and depth. I doubt you’ll appreciate this but I think you’re approaching this from kind of a privileged position. White guys generally and not subject to these kinds of depiction in American movies. ---
**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, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lots-of-comedy-off-limits-today-because-it-is-a-pc-era/666768/40 "2013-08-21T14:29:45Z")
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