Jerry Seinfeld thinks political correctness is killing comedy: Code Switch: NPR

In an episode of Comedians in cars having coffee titled “Larry Eats A Pancake,” Jerry Seinfeld has coffee with Larry David.

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In an episode of Comedians in cars having coffee titled “Larry Eats A Pancake,” Jerry Seinfeld has coffee with Larry David.

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Amid much more important things happening in the world, you may have missed a recent interview with Jerry Seinfeld. While on the press tour to promote his upcoming film, the billionaire comedian offered some thoughts on “why television isn’t funny anymore.” His explanation? Political correctness and the far left. (His new film, by the way, is about the race to invent the Pop-Tart — a subject so edgy and iconoclastic that I’m surprised the woke crowd that runs Hollywood let it happen.)

I won’t waste time discussing how funny today’s television is compared to the television of yesteryear. But I think it’s worth dwelling for a moment on the nature of Seinfeld’s criticism (which, incidentally, is one that he and other comedians have been making for almost a decade now).

This is part of the rich tradition of political correctness being blamed for all the ills of the modern world.

Donald Trump has done this several times over the years, including after calling for a “total and complete halt to the entry of Muslims into the United States.” Author Anne Rice did so, while defending Paula Deen after the chef admitted to using the N-word (“Aren’t we becoming some kind of lynch culture?” Rice added on Facebook.) Jackson Miller, former lawmaker and member from Virginia. of the Redskins Pride Caucus, said pushback against the Washington Football Team name was “political correctness in excess.”

(Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from the Code Switch document. Up all night bulletin. You can register here.)

What these statements seem to do, remarkably consistently, is avoid engaging in Why someone might find a particular type of joke, 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.

And one of the practicalities of the term “political correctness” – 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? You don’t laugh at a transphobic joke? Trying to fight racist research policies at an elite university? It all depends on the person trying to dismiss someone else’s worries as whining.

But as one of my favorite comedians, Gary Gulman, said, “I notice people who say you can’t say anything say everything on Netflix for $20 million a piece.”

Which leads me to wonder: whether those who complain the most about “PC culture” are powerful, wealthy, well-liked, well-respected actors who have the resources to – again, make a movie about the Pops? -Tarts – who is the real crybaby after all?

This newsletter was written by Leah Donnella and edited by Courtney Stein.