Don’t mention the wokes, they’re no fun, says Cleese
JOHN Cleese has said there is no humour in ‘woke’ jokes and that political correctness is stifling creativity.
In his latest attack on PC culture, the Monty Python cofounder yesterday warned against over-indulging the ‘most easily upset’.
‘I don’t think we should organise a society around the sensibilities of the most easily upset people because then you have a very neurotic society,’ he said.
‘If you have to keep thinking of what words you can and can’t use that will stifle creativity.’
In a criticism of ‘woke’ culture – a heightened awareness of perceived injustices – he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘I would love to debate this with a “woke” because the first question I’d ask them is, “Can you tell me a woke joke?”
‘I don’t know what a woke joke would be like – very nice people being kind to each other and heartwarming, but not very funny.’ Cleese, 80, who starred in Monty Python’s religious satire Life Of Brian, continued: ‘PC stuff started out as a good idea, which is, “Let’s not be mean to people”, and I’m in favour of that, believe it or not,
‘Making fun in gentle ways’
despite my age. I think Jesus Christ would have agreed. The main thing is to try to be kind.’
However, he added: ‘But there is affectionate teasing... just making fun of each other in gentle ways and that’s a great source of fun and enjoyment. Verbal duels all in the atmosphere of affection.
‘It’s actually a bonding mechanism. It’s a positive and the PC people simply don’t understand this about context because they tend to be very literal-minded.’
In June, Cleese called BBC bosses ‘gutless’ for temporarily removing an episode of his classic sitcom Fawlty Towers from the UKTV channel. The 1975 episode The Germans, with the famous ‘don’t mention the war’ conversation, was pulled over ‘racial slurs’, prompting Cleese to accuse BBC executives of caring more about pacifying a ‘few people’ than ‘standing their ground’. The new BBC director general, Tim Davie, reportedly wants to tackle perceived bias in comedy shows.
Last month singer and musician Nick Cave said political correctness had an ‘asphyxiating effect on the creative soul of a society’, as he described ‘cancel culture’ as ‘bad religion run amuck’.
More than 100 high-profile cultural figures including JK Rowling, Noam Chomsky and Irish writer John Banville signed an open letter earlier this year which claimed the spread of ‘censoriousness’ was leading to ‘a vogue for public shaming and ostracism’.