Being woke’s no laughing matter, says John Cleese
‘They tend to be literal minded’
JOHN Cleese said yesterday political correctness is stifling creativity – and that he’s never even heard a ‘woke’ joke.
In his latest attack on PC culture, the Monty Python cofounder warned against overindulging sensitive people.
‘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, said: ‘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, 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 corporation-owned UKTV channel.
The 1975 episode The Germans 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, who replaced Lord Hall this month, reportedly wants to tackle perceived Left-wing 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 Gloria Steinem signed an open letter earlier this year which claimed the spread of ‘censoriousness’ was leading to ‘a vogue for public shaming and ostracism’.