Political Correctness In Humor

I'm not worried about Political Correctness killing comedy. Comedians have always had to pay close attention their audiences, and if established comedians have to start paying closer attention to their audiences, then it's a welcome kick in their pants and keeps them from getting lazy. But Chris Rock does have a point: "Before everyone had a recording device and was wired like fucking Sammy the Bull, you’d say something that went too far, and you’d go, “Oh, I went too far,” and you would just brush it off." So, comedians have now lost the privacy of comedy clubs that would allow them to make mistakes and move on. That's because of technology, not out-of-control PC.

I remember seeing Bob Hope in an arena setting, late in his career. I think it was around -1980? Although the times weren't that favorable for gays, and thus it was mostly open season on them comedy-wise, Hope let loose homophobic "joke" after "joke" that made me cringe. Then he threw a tantrum because someone in the audience was filming him without permission. The appearance became unfunny. And I think it was mostly-because Hope had more-or-less stopped caring what the audience thought. These jokes would likely have been unfunny in any decade, although for different reasons, depending on the year.

And there are examples when PC changes instantaneously and people get thrown under the bus. One of my favorite professors from my undergraduate days made a joke on 9/11 - a joke that would have been quite funny in Vietnam days - that forced him to fight off an angry biker in his carport and ended his career under a dark cloud 2 years later.:

Treason. This is a loaded word. It gave a sense where Fuller and the far right were coming from. Free speech was not important in the wake of terrorism. This was around the time that the USA PATRIOT Act was passed, where if you were labeled a terrorist you had no constitutional rights. The wave of fascism was around, and Fuller would have been a perfect fascist.

But, hey, we're worried about PC, not this other stuff....