Not every big name in Hollywood leans Left.
On Monday, Tim Allen guested on The View and sounded off on contemporary society’s dreaded “thought police.”
Joy Behar brought up the issue of so-called political correctness and cancel culture:
“So what do you think now? I mean it’s a little bit different now — there’s a PC culture out there, makes it really hard. I think my act –if I brought that old act back — I’d be driven out of town.”
Tim grew up on entertainers such as Richard Pryor and Lenny Bruce. Things have changed a bit since then.
Referencing Richard:
“You can’t even go back and talk about the book he wrote.”
Tim Allen looks back on how standup comedy has changed through the years, discusses the level of political correctness comedians face today: “It is an alarming thing for comedians.” https://t.co/cVclFZQmjA pic.twitter.com/vmmUxg4sD6
— The View (@TheView) November 26, 2019
Speaking of, check out Tim’s great 1994 book, Don’t Stand Too Close to a Naked Man.
The nineties were part of a great, unapologetic era. These days, humor has to come with footnotes. Having to explain jokes is a real comedy-killer. But — though he hates it — sometimes, the Toy Story 4 star has to do just that:
“What I gotta do sometimes is explain — which I hate — in big arenas, this is a ‘thought police’ thing, and I do not like it, but (I say) ‘When I use these words, this is my intent behind those words. So as long as you understand my intent.’”
Why not just self-censor?
“I still get people (saying), ‘Well, just don’t say it.’ And I say, ‘I’m not going to do that.’”
Joy asserted that, no matter what you do, you’ll be taken out of context and shredded on the internet:
Somehow, Tim’s largely avoided it:
“I’m surprised that they haven’t, because I do use some provocative words. But I tell ’em it’s words I really got from my parents. They said this stuff.”
As for having to watch what you say these days, Allen called it “an alarming thing for comedians.”
Jay Leno appears to be of similar mind. Earlier in the year, he waxed philosophic on the cultural and political intricacies of This Present Dumbness while talking about The Tonight Show.
Yes to all of this:
“No, it’s different — I don’t miss it. You know, everything now is, if people don’t like your politics — everyone has to know your politics. I kind of used Johnny (Carson)’s model. … People couldn’t figure out: ‘Well, you and your Republican friends…’ or ‘Well, Mr. Leno, you and your Democratic buddies…’ And I would get hate mail from both sides equally. And I went, ‘Well that’s fabulous! That’s exactly what I want.’”
In the area of free speech, comedy’s taken quite a winceworthy pummeling.
Some are fighting back — as seen here — and some are giving up.
But at least it’s part of the conversation now:
As Jay indicated, everything’s gotten way too serious:
“You know, now it’s all very serious. Everything i just so nas– I’d just like to see a bit of civility come back to it, you know?”
He believes there’s hope:
“I think [the pendulum] will swing back the other way.”
I hope he’s right.
Either way, Tim Allen’s going to keep making us laugh — he just completed a 44-city tour.
-ALEX
Relevant RedState links in this article: here and here.
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Hilarious: Elizabeth Warren is Welcomed in South Carolina by a Virtually Empty Room
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