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[justjohn]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/201...rrect-society-death-comedy-warns-veteran/amp/

Society's "stupidly politically correct" sensibilities will lead to the "death of comedy", the veteran Hollywood comedian Mel Brooks has warned.

Brooks, known for his plethora of acclaimed comedy movies, said political correctness was becoming a stranglehold on comedians.

"It's not good for comedy. Comedy has to walk a thin line, take risks," he said.

The director said he could find comedy in almost everything but conceded there were areas even he would not mine for material.

"I personally would never touch gas chambers or the death of children or Jews at the hands of the Nazis," he told the BBC's Radio 4's Today programme.

"Everything else is ok."[/QUOTE]

Well there you go, he won’t touch concentration camp jokes but everything is ok. Apparently it’s only pc gone mad if it doesn’t affect you personally.

 

[Heroman]

Why would anyone want to tell a holocaust joke?

 

[MattKeil]

And here I thought it was Robin Hood: Men in Tights.

 

[HotHamBoy]

Mel Brooks is 91

 

[ClosingADoor]

Nobody is going to stop you from making certain jokes. But well, you might get a response if people don't think it is something you should joke about.

I have yet to see movies or shows being impacted by this stuff. It seems there are more reports about people thinking it has an impact, then it actually having an impact on shows.

Why would anyone want to tell a holocaust joke?

Some people like humor like that from time to time. But if you go on stage with a large audience, you shouldn't complain about the response you get when telling those jokes.

 

[Monkeyball]

Mell Brooks is 91

Your point?

 

[justjohn]

Why would anyone want to tell a holocaust joke?

Nobody should tell a holocaust joke but he’s saying apart from holocaust jokes everything else is fine. Which is what I find a problem with.

 

[airjoca]

For a true comic, nothing is out, everything is made fun of.

George Carlin is the prime example.

 

[Truant]

Why would anyone want to tell a holocaust joke?

I've heard some good ones. I'm probably going to hell.

 

[HotHamBoy]

Your point?

He's really old.

 

[Real Hero]

Why would anyone want to tell a holocaust joke?

That really depends on what you define as a holocaust joke

 

[HotHamBoy]

Nobody should tell a holocaust joke but he’s saying apart from holocaust jokes everything else is fine. Which is what I find a problem with.

I agree that you can't say "nothing should be off-limits except this" and yet not expect everyone to have their own idea of what "this" is.

Also, we've been having the Comedians vs Political Correctness conversation for like 40 years.

 

[snausagesUK]

He's really old.

Gross

 

[Shinypogs]

Why would anyone want to tell a holocaust joke?

I dunno, I could only really think of maybe survivors who wanted to turn their stories and pain into comedy as therapy and a way to get a message out to a broader audience.

 

[Rentahamster]

No one noticed the link in the OP is broken?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/201...y-correct-society-death-comedy-warns-veteran/

 

[robotrock]

Blazing Saddles really is a good movie.

 

[*Splinter]

"I personally would never touch gas chambers or the death of children or Jews at the hands of the Nazis," he told the BBC's Radio 4's Today programme.

Can't even crack jokes about the Holocaust these days, its political correctness gone mad!

 

[royalan]

Fuck that.

Sorry, Mel. But fuck. that.

 

[Heckler456]

Why would anyone want to tell a holocaust joke?

Louis CK has a good Schindler's List bit. That's like a holocaust joke by proxy.

 

[justjohn]

I agree that you can't say "nothing should be off-limits except this" and yet not expect everyone to have their own idea of what "this" is.

The problem with these “pc gone mad” people is they just want the freedom to offend without any consequences and this is a classic example of it. Why complain about political correctness in comedy and then say this is off limits. He’s basically destroying his own argument. His tragedy is off limits but others shouldn’t be.

 

[EmiPrime]

What a hypocrite.

 

[LyleLanley]

Well there you go, he won’t touch concentration camp jokes but everything is ok. Apparently it’s only pc gone mad if it doesn’t affect you personally.

Unless I'm misreading his comments he's saying that he wouldn't make a joke about concentration camps not that the idea of a joke about concentration camps should be off limits. I agree with the basic idea that nothing should be off limits in comedy.

 

[Vampirolol]

He is both right and wrong.

 

[East Lake]

To be fair he's saying he personally wouldn't make a holocaust joke, not that nobody should.

 

[Rentahamster]

I recall discussions over the years in Blazing Saddles threads about how that movie wouldn't be able to get made today, with some people agreeing and others disagreeing with that statement.

It seems Mel Brooks agrees with that statement.

The producer and director said that his iconic western parody Blazing Saddles could not be made in today's political climate.

 

[Isotropy]

So he's not okay with jokes about things that draw on his and his community's history... buuut every other group and their history is fair game?

Hypocritical...

 

[AMUSIX]

Why would anyone want to tell a holocaust joke?

"step in my shower" is one of the best lines in Vader v Hitler. Comedy can handle ANY topic, if done correctly.

Also, Brooks says that he personally wouldn't do holocaust jokes, but he's not saying noone should.

 

[BudokaiMR2]

Not as dead as reading comprehension going by this thread!

Reading hint: the 'personally' part of his quote is why it's not really hypocritical.

 

[snausagesUK]

It's weird because I was thinking about Mel Brooks yesterday and if his style of humour would work today. Deja vu.

Anyway for all the talk about PC culture it's sad when people discount other's POVs because they're 'old'. Do we ignore people like Noam Chomsky because he's really old as well?

 

[siddx]

For fucks sake, some people in here. He said he personally wouldn't do those kind of jokes, not that nobody should or they are always off limits.

 

[*Splinter]

To be fair he's saying he personally wouldn't make a holocaust joke, not that nobody should.

Nobody is trying to outlaw holocaust jokes, they just find them distasteful. Same as Mel does, he's being a complete hypocrite.

 

[dickroach]

I agree.

and he didn't say no one should make hollocaust jokes, he said he wouldn't. this is the guy that made The Producers for fucks sake

 

[PdotMichael]

He says he wouldn't though, not anyone else shouldn't allowed to do it. Based on his quote.

 

[CaviarMeths]

Yeah, he really betrays his own argument when he says that Holocaust jokes are off limits. I tend to agree with him though that nothing is sacred in comedy. It just has to be framed the right way and come at the right time. Gilbert Godfrey's mistake wasn't telling a 9/11 joke. It was telling a 9/11 joke a couple weeks after it happened to a crowd of still-mourning New Yorkers.

 

[Seganomics]

Nobody should tell a holocaust joke but he’s saying apart from holocaust jokes everything else is fine. Which is what I find a problem with.

He's Jewish. He doesn't want to tell holocaust jokes. He doesn't say nobody should.

 

[royalan]

Not as dead as reading comprehension going by this thread!

Reading hint: the 'personally' part of his quote is why it's not really hypocritical.

The inclusion of "personally" doesn't change the meaning of his statement if it's still the isolation of his own personal history. Nice try, though.

 

[Revolutionary]

Agreed.

 

[PdotMichael]

The inclusion of "personally" doesn't change the meaning of his statement if it's still the isolation of his own personal history. Nice try,though.

The difference between own personal limits and general limits. It shouldn't be that hard to understand.

 

[jelly]

He isn't saying you shouldn't do those jokes, just that he wouldn't.

I don't find everything funny and some jokes are good or bad no matter the subject matter. Comedy films are dire these days and they don't hide at all.

 

[Not]

Gotta say, Blazing Saddles holds up. Even if I disagree with him on one level, he knows something we don't about comedy.

 

[shaneo632]

I don't think anything is off limits as far as comedy goes. Any subject has the potential to be funny with the right delivery and context, but obviously certain ones are much harder to wring laughs out of.

If you're gonna tell a joke about rape, you need to stand by it and probably just embrace the vitriolic response. If you're going for shocking humour the shocked response is part of the whole dance.

 

[*Splinter]

I'm not aware of any topics being completely off limits for comedy, so what he's complaining about doesn't exist.

So what is he complaining about? People not laughing at off-colour jokes as much? If you aren't making people laugh that isn't the death of comedy, it's the death of your career as a comedian.

 

[BudokaiMR2]

The inclusion of "personally" doesn't change the meaning of his statement if it's still the isolation of his own personal history. Nice try, though.

Yeah, it absolutely does.

He says he can find comedy in anything but then says that the Holocaust is one thing he would not mine for content. It's a personal preference and nothing in his quote makes it sound like he is saying others couldn't or shouldn't.

Feel free to point me to where he says so.

 

[royalan]

The difference between own personal limits and general limits. It shouldn't be that hard to understand.

"So...I won't trash (oops, "parody") my own history, but I'll trash yours. And feel free to do the same!"

I mean....

 

[AquaticSquirrel]

Unless I'm misreading his comments he's saying that he wouldn't make a joke about concentration camps not that the idea of a joke about concentration camps should be off limits. I agree with the basic idea that nothing should be off limits in comedy.

This exactly. It seems pretty clear he is saying that he personally wouldn't make a joke about that. Not that jokes about it cannot be funny or should be off limits or that nobody else should make those jokes.

The narrative that some posters in this thread are playing out seems to not match up with what he is actually saying.

 

[Sunster]

lol ok. let me know when it dies.

 

[BudokaiMR2]

"So...I won't trash (oops, "parody") my own history, but I'll trash yours. And feel free to do the same!"

I mean....

You're basically proving his point with this silly purity test about comedy as far as I'm concerned.

 

[PdotMichael]

"So...I won't trash (oops, "parody") my own history, but I'll trash yours. And feel free to do the same!"

I mean....

your quote is based on what? He is only saying he wouldnt make comedies about the holocaust or the death of children etc..

 

[Rentahamster]

Yeah, he really betrays his own argument when he says that Holocaust jokes are off limits. I tend to agree with him though that nothing is sacred in comedy. It just has to be framed the right way and come at the right time. Gilbert Godfrey's mistake wasn't telling a 9/11 joke. It was telling a 9/11 joke a couple weeks after it happened to a crowd of still-mourning New Yorkers.

He doesn't say they're off limits.

You guys should watch this.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/vide...6dc8b6-26d9-11e7-928e-3624539060e8_video.html

 

[ahoyhoy]

Nothing is off limits for comedy. If a joke isn't good and well timed, though, it just comes off as crass or punching down. The ability of a comedian to establish themselves as a member of certain group or from a certain perspective certainly helps create context though (Jews telling holocaust jokes, black people telling slavery jokes etc).