The future looks bleak as fukk

[Godzuki]

http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/10/opinio...erry-seinfeld/

(CNN)"What's the deal with political correctness?" That line should be said in the voice and cadence of Jerry Seinfeld.

You see, back in 2014, Seinfeld railed against political correctness when asked why guests on his "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee" Web series were mostly white men. He also remarked that the idea pop culture has to "represent the actual pie chart of America" is "PC nonsense." Rather, the focus should be, "Are you making us laugh or not?"
Jerry Seinfeld: Political correctness is bad for comedy

Jerry Seinfeld: Political correctness is bad for comedy 01:38
PLAY VIDEO

Well, Seinfeld is at it again. This time the comedian's focus is political correctness among college students. Seinfeld told ESPN radio recently, "I don't play colleges, but I hear a lot of people tell me, 'Don't go near colleges. They're so PC.' " He added that younger people "just want to use these words: 'That's racist;' 'That's sexist;' 'That's prejudice.' They don't know what ... they're talking about."
Dean Obeidallah
Dean Obeidallah

On the one hand, Seinfeld is 100% correct. On the other hand, he is way, way off.

Seinfeld is right that college students can be very PC. I have seen it firsthand when I performed standup comedy or gave lectures on college campuses. College students react to jokes about issues of race, gender, or sexual orientation differently than many people in their 40s, 50s and older. In fact, on several occasions, college students have come up to me after shows to explain that they were "concerned" with one of my jokes. Typically, they had read something into the joke that I had not intended. We would discuss the joke, but they never demanded I stop telling it.

Where Seinfeld and I disagree is that I don't see "political correctness" as being inherently bad -- unless it goes way overboard. To me, "political correctness" is about being respectful to minorities -- be it based on race, religion, sexual orientation, or ethnicity.

And where I greatly disagree with Seinfeld is that based on my experiences of performing on college campuses, I believe young adults for the most part really get racism, sexism, and other -- isms.

For example, I have been in shows where comedians told very sexist or homophobic jokes. These same jokes would elicit good laughs in comedy clubs, but were met with numerous objections by college students. The students have every right to voice their views about these jokes.

I think what Seinfeld is missing is the "why" behind the reactions of college students.

READ: Why some comedians don't like college campuses

Chris Rock summed it up well in December when he announced he would no longer play colleges because the students are too PC. Rock said that because of the way kids are raised today, you can't even mention race: "You can't say 'The black kid over there.' No, it's 'The guy with the red shoes.' "

Rock is right that people are raised differently today. Kids nowadays grow up in more multicultural nation than Seinfeld, Rock or I did. I have joked that I grew up in a town where the diversity was limited to two groups: You were either Italian or you were my father. (He was of Arab heritage while my mother is Sicilian.)

When I was a kid, if someone told a joke about other ethnicities or races, we would simply laugh if the joke was funny. No one analyzed it; we never would have thought of doing that. Partly, it's because the butt of the jokes were groups of people we didn't know personally.

Flash forward to today. Even in seventh grade -- as my niece informed me -- students are taught to be sensitive toward other races and cultures. This impacts not only the way they view the world, but also their view of comedy.

So what Seinfeld calls "political correctness" can be better described as a generation gap. Comedy tastes evolve to reflect the cultural norms of the time. It's why comedians from the 1950s like Henny Youngman -- famous for his "Take my wife ... please" joke -- wasn't popular with younger people in the late 1960s. That generation gravitated toward comedians like Richard Pryor and George Carlin who weren't telling jokes about wives, but about things like race and politics.

Every comedian has a choice to perform at colleges. But don't blame college students for wanting comedy that fits their own sensibilities. Why should any audience have to change their comedy tastes to fit a comedian's act?


for as much as i wish to be able to drive flying cars, my crib becoming a beachfront property when the ice caps melt, and having a Jetson's ease of life i am thankful i am not going to have to live in this future of political correctness based on brainwashed mainstream.

i'm pretty sure 'thats gay', 'you're a ***', etc. will be banned in the near future or you get fined for it. ISH hierarchy has already shown they're as brainwashed retard as they come.

there will be a expectation of even race/gender representation across all jobs and companies.

cops will be reduced to crossing guards and ghetto communities will run rampant with drug dealers and gangs.

white people will become black peoples slaves and be happy about it.

the future looks bleak as fukk

[JEFFERSON MONEY]

Ehh, think of it as a pendulum.

It'll swing back to balance again some time later.

[Akrazotile]

Jerry Seinfeld: Political correctness is bad for comedy 01:38
PLAY VIDEO

Well, Seinfeld is at it again. This time the comedian's focus is political correctness among college students. Seinfeld told ESPN radio recently, "I don't play colleges, but I hear a lot of people tell me, 'Don't go near colleges. They're so PC.' " He added that younger people "just want to use these words: 'That's racist;' 'That's sexist;' 'That's prejudice.' They don't know what ... they're talking about."


:

Deucewallace, rmwg, Sarcastic, and a handful of other ISH losers in an absolute nutshell.

[Patrick Chewing]

Ehh, think of it as a pendulum.

It'll swing back to balance again some time later.

I hope you're right.


I miss the days of just saying "That's gay" in public to everything i was displeased with.

[warriorfan]

I hope you're right.


I miss the days of just saying "That's gay" in public to everything i was displeased with.

bring it back

[MavsSuperFan]

ISH is like a junior high locker room

[DeuceWallaces]

Deucewallace, rmwg, Sarcastic, and a handful of other ISH losers in an absolute nutshell.

Yeah, we're the losers; everything's on the up and up for you.

[ThePhantomCreep]

When I think of the word "bleak" genocide, pestilence, famine, and war come to mind. Jerry Seinfeld's hack comedy routine doesn't.

[NumberSix]

Where Seinfeld and I disagree is that I don't see "political correctness" as being inherently bad -- unless it goes way overboard. To me, "political correctness" is about being respectful to minorities -- be it based on race, religion, sexual orientation, or ethnicity.

Why minorities? Do majorities not have feelings?

Every comedian has a choice to perform at colleges. But don't blame college students for wanting comedy that fits their own sensibilities. Why should any audience have to change their comedy tastes to fit a comedian's act?

Nobody said they should. Comedians have said they simply won't be performing for these crowds.

[rufuspaul]

What's bleak is knowing there are pathetic wastes of life out there like Godzuki and that they think their vapid opinions carry any weight at all.

[JtotheIzzo]

the game of 'gotcha!' will get boring, people will mellow out.

[oh the horror]

Yes THIS is the reason our future is bleak. Not the actual atrocities out there. No no, this is the reason here.

[ALBballer]

the game of 'gotcha!' will get boring, people will mellow out.

I don't think so especially with the rise of social media and people looking to portray an image on how open and accepting they are.

Also coupled with how sensitive American and Western culture has become I don't see this PC trend changing.

[RedBlackAttack]

I don't think so especially with the rise of social media and people looking to portray an image on how open and accepting they are.

Also coupled with how sensitive American and Western culture has become I don't see this PC trend changing.

The social media thing has really altered the way people consume and -- more importantly -- interact with the news. Oversaturation and fake outrage are a dangerous combination. There was a time not that long ago (two decades) where people would read an article or two in the newspaper, watch something on the nightly news or CNN -- which was still a pretty straight forward news network covering stories that warranted being covered -- and maybe came across something on the Internet worth shaking their head at once in a while... for those that had it. But, most had no vehicle for publicly displaying their displeasure outside of maybe writing a letter to the editor or calling in to a radio/television show... maybe start a blog for those on the absolute cutting edge.

Now, if someone wants to crank up the fake outrage machine and get on their high horse, brand new stories that will allow them to stroke their own egos are a couple mouse clicks away. It doesn't matter how trivial the story is or how few people it impacts (if any)... if it allows people an opportunity to get on their high horse and espouse their greatness and the terribleness of those in the spotlight... it enables otherwise bored and/or miserable people a chance to show everyone a (usually completely inaccurate) picture of how tolerant, moral, virtuous and righteous they are.

Unfortunately, it feels like we're just at the beginning of this trend and it is at the core of what Seinfeld as complaining about. The news is going to supply whatever the public demands. A large portion of consumers want to feel better about themselves and that isn't something new. What is new is that they can look down their nose at someone they don't know based on a two-minute news story or a 500 word article whose explicit intention was to appeal to people's undying self-righteousness... then they can get on their message boards, blogs, comments section, Twitter, FB, etc., and make a public display of their greatness.

We'll have to come a long way in society for people to crave self-awareness over self-righteousness. Right now, we're on the far end of the spectrum and getting worse each day, sadly.

[ALBballer]

The social media thing has really altered the way people consume and -- more importantly -- interact with the news. Oversaturation and fake outrage are a dangerous combination. There was a time not that long ago (two decades) where people would read an article or two in the newspaper, watch something on the nightly news or CNN -- which was still a pretty straight forward news network covering stories that warranted being covered -- and maybe came across something on the Internet worth shaking their head at once in a while... for those that had it. But, most had no vehicle for publicly displaying their displeasure outside of maybe writing a letter to the editor or calling in to a radio/television show... maybe start a blog for those on the absolute cutting edge.

Now, if someone wants to crank up the fake outrage machine and get on their high horse, brand new stories that will allow them to stroke their own egos are a couple mouse clicks away. It doesn't matter how trivial the story is or how few people it impacts (if any)... if it allows people an opportunity to get on their high horse and espouse their greatness and the terribleness of those in the spotlight... it enables otherwise bored and/or miserable people a chance to show everyone a (usually completely inaccurate) picture of how tolerant, moral, virtuous and righteous they are.

Unfortunately, it feels like we're just at the beginning of this trend and it is at the core of what Seinfeld as complaining about. The news is going to supply whatever the public demands. A large portion of consumers want to feel better about themselves and that isn't something new. What is new is that they can look down their nose at someone they don't know based on a two-minute news story or a 500 word article whose explicit intention was to appeal to people's undying self-righteousness... then they can get on their message boards, blogs, comments section, Twitter, FB, etc., and make a public display of their greatness.

We'll have to come a long way in society for people to crave self-awareness over self-righteousness. Right now, we're on the far end of the spectrum and getting worse each day, sadly.

Well said....you said it better than I could have put it.