June 10, 2015

More Jerry Seinfeld complaining about how political correctness is getting in the way of comedy.

Watch the clip, because Seinfeld quotes are best when heard (and, in fact, the audience laughs at many lines that would not read as humor at all):



Seinfeld had a joke about the way people scroll through their cellphones like "a gay French king" — a joke with a very funny gesture, but maybe audiences are indicating that they're not going to accept that kind of foolery anymore: "I could imagine a time where people say, ‘Well, that’s offensive to suggest that a gay person moves their hands in a flourishing motion and you now need to apologize.’ I mean, there’s a creepy PC thing out there that really bothers me."

The other guy on the show — the Seth Meyers show — is New Yorker editor David Remnick, and he lets on that he recently rejected an idea for a New Yorker cover that played on the Vanity Fair’s Caitlyn Jenner cover. Seinfeld — like any ordinary person — wanted to know what the idea was, and Remnick wouldn't tell. And then Meyers follows on: No jokes about Caitlyn Jenner. Not yet, at least. Jenner somehow won entitlement to a circle of seriousness. Seinfeld doesn't like it, but he lets Remnick and Meyers off the hook, seemingly on the theory that eventually Jenner will be mockable.

ADDED: I'm trying to guess what the rejected New Yorker cover was. (I think Remnick called is a "misfire.") I'm thinking it was putting somebody else in the same costume and pose used for Jenner. Maybe Obama? Lindsey Graham? Or maybe flipping it and showing a woman — Hillary is the most obvious choice — wearing clothing that is as masculine as Jenner's satin bathing suit was feminine and striking a pose that is as masculine as Jenner's twisty cringe was feminine.

AND: My proposal is to show Hillary's people — desperate and furious — looking at the Jenner cover and trying to outfit and pose Hillary like this:



But get rid of the cigarette. Replace that with... oh, what can we replace that with?... A carrot!

136 comments:

MayBee said...

Seinfeld says political correctness is running amok, and it becomes a controversy. Which proves him right.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

When I listen to Seinfeld complain about young people all I hear is, "Get off of my lawn".

We all grow old. Some do it better than others.

Rusty said...

In what world is Seth Meyers funny?
What is he? The thinking morons Pauly Shore?

Laslo Spatula said...

" I'm trying to guess what the rejected New Yorker cover was."

Caitlyn Jenner dressed as a man.

Full meta.

I am Laslo.

Rusty said...

Blogger AReasonableMan said...
When I listen to Seinfeld complain about young people all I hear is, "Get off of my lawn".

We all grow old. Some do it better than others.


I'm not surprised since your sense of humor runs toward; A conservative broke their arm....

Watch "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee" some of the best Seinfeld on TV.

Brando said...

They basically proved Seinfeld's point, that they couldn't even describe the cover for fear of the controversy.

There's a difference, I think, between "politeness" and what we think of as "PC". The former is basically considering the feelings of others, both because it enables more discussion when a party isn't unnecessarily offended and because hey, why hurt someone's feelings if you can avoid it? But "PC" is more extreme, as it is a way for the "enlightened" to signal their enlightenment, and when run amok it results in speech codes and punishments and ever increasing levels of speech policing until it stifles free expression. In our desire to be polite and considerate, we need to avoid going "PC", and at the same time we shouldn't let the existence of "PC culture" make us needlessly insensitive.

Comedians of course should have free rein in their acts, because the whole point of comedy is an exploration in search of laughs--and that cannot happen if they have to steer around taboos. Seinfeld is right to avoid such restrictions when possible.

traditionalguy said...

The Gay Police and their helpers have kidnapped comedy and are threatening to excommunicate anyone that says anything that makes little Caitlyn cry.

Humor sees things funny because it asserts a point of view on people or things that people do.

Maybe humor will be allowed again after the culture war has been won...but still never dare draw Mohammed.

Vet66 said...

Bruce nee caitlin Jenner is boring old news. He and the Kardashians are way past their "sell by" date. They are useful, one would argue, as a distraction from the real news regarding Obama's failed Presidency. A good case can be made that they (media) are pimping Jenner to deflect from their idol, Obama.

MayBee said...

When I listen to Seinfeld complain about young people all I hear is, "Get off of my lawn".

Ha! He complained about PC, so he must be bad.

Anonymous said...

Young people these days are such a bunch of old women.

traditionalguy said...

Sony Pictures learned the hard way that its not nice to make fun of Dear Leader Kim Jung Un.

But Kim has nuclear weapons and delivery missiles like Obama arranged for his buddies in Iran to have.

I suppose we should be thankful that there is no Gay nuclear armed States unless maybe Great Britain.

Paul Mac said...

Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner has shown amazing commitment to playing into the stereotype about women drivers.

Michael K said...

"They basically proved Seinfeld's point, that they couldn't even describe the cover for fear of the controversy."

The laughs that AA mentioned as at moments that were not funny were laughs ate what Seinfeld was implying but not saying. The audience knew exactly what he meant and didn't say. We are becoming a society that resembles pre-1991 Moscow where the humor was all sad and concealed from officialdom.

When we read a story about "youths" rioting, we know what was not said.

We know to read between the lines of an ARM comment and know what he is thinking.

rhhardin said...

Wheaties, the breakfast of chaperons.

William said...

PC is such that you can make fun of Lindsay Graham for being effete but not Caitlyn Jenner.

Henry said...

Angelyne's riposte reminded me of Yeats' poem " On hearing that the Students of Our New University have joined the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Agitation against Immoral Literature"

Where, where but here have Pride and Truth,
That long to give themselves for wage,
To shake their wicked sides at youth
Restraining reckless middle-age.

tim in vermont said...

It's right in Rules for Radicals that humor is an effective weapon for subversion. Now that they have the complete power of the culture, of course it is time to perform the "mop up" operations and to wipe out any subversives like Seinfeld and to ensure that only approved targets of humor are allowed.

"Get off of my lawn" jokes are well within the boundaries of accepted humor, since they attack approved targets, display zero evidence of potentially subversive wit, and give the illusion that humor has not been all but banned.

What would Jonathon Swift have written about today? His satire would have to have been of approved targets or he would never have been published.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Michael K said...
We know to read between the lines of an ARM comment and know what he is thinking.


No you don't. Seinfeld sounds like a whiny old man, whose time has passed. Nothing more, nothing less.

tim in vermont said...

Seinfeld sounds like a whiny old man, whose time has passed.

That is certainly the goal of your comments. Yet here he is, still part of popular culture. Not yet extinguished. The fight is not over, and never will be.

Your comment is just a method of signalling, like ants from the same colony greeting with antennae. Nothing more. Nothing less.

fivewheels said...

The rejected New Yorker cover obviously depicted Hillary Clinton in the Jenner pose. How do I know this? Because Remnick rejected it. If it had been Rand Paul or Jeb Bush being mocked, obviously it would have been used.

Rusty said...

OK, ARM. We'll get off your lawn.

chickelit said...

A Reasonable Retort To A Reasonable Man

tim in vermont said...

Remnick knows not to be the first man to stop clapping. That's how he keeps his great job.

Always ensure that the Juche Idea is included at all times or face the consequences.

ARM understands this.

Bob Ellison said...

Obama as Caitlyn.

Anonymous said...

ARM: No you don't. Seinfeld sounds like a whiny old man, whose time has passed. Nothing more, nothing less.

An old man acting like an old man is not a problem. Large cohorts of young and middle-aged men volunteering for hysterical-ninny duty is.

Laslo Spatula said...

I am at the apartment of the Neo-Nazi Girlfriend who Is Not My Girlfriend when she tells me a joke:

"There are three drug dealers standing on a street corner in the hood. Two of them are black men. What is the third?

"I don't know..."

"A nigger."

"I don't really think that is funny."

"You shouldn't be so sensitive," she says, taking off her T-shirt to reveal her amazing breasts. "Black people refer to themselves as that all the time."

"I think that's 'nigga'.

"Like there's a difference. Tomato, To-MAH-toe."

"It's a cultural thing. For them there is a difference."

"For them?" she asks, pulling down her panties to reveal her swastika tattoo.

"Black people."

"So it is OK sometimes for White Culture and Black Culture to be -- I don't know -- segregated?

"It's about Respect, I think."

"I think segregation solves a lot of problems, really."

"It's about Respect," I repeat, mostly because I can't think of what else to say as her naked breasts sway back and forth.

"Me, I just think it would be so much easier for everyone to just call a spade a spade."

"Spade? Was that a Black joke?"

"Only if you let it be, White Man," she says as she unzips my fly and proceeds to give me a blow-job.

I realize I am letting copious amounts of sex undermine my values: I realize that. But the amount of sex IS copious. Copious, copious sex.

"Stop thinking," she says, pausing the fellatio. "You think too much."

DO I think too much? Maybe I do, I don't know: I'll have to consider that. At a later time.


I am Laslo.

damikesc said...

Jenner will never be mockable.

When I listen to Seinfeld complain about young people all I hear is, "Get off of my lawn".

Did you actually LISTEN to his criticism? He made cogent points. Kids seem real, real anxious to denounce anybody they can as racist or what have you.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Welcome to prog-land Jerry.

kcom said...

I'll go back to my idea from the other day. Put the Incredible Hulk on the cover dressed in a wig and call him Caitlyn Hulk.

tim in vermont said...

Did you[ARM] actually LISTEN to his criticism?

Ha ha ha ha! ARM doesn't have to listen to know somebody is wrong and even what they "sound like." God forbid he be exposed to an idea he needs to grapple with beyond his standard witless response of "get off of my lawn."

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Most people here are no longer in the "key demo". With respect to popular culture, literally no one cares what you think. Seinfeld knows that he is no longer relevant but the old war horse still drags his somatic mutation riddled carcass up to the microphone and makes an effort to drum up some interest in his little show by attempting to be controversial. His feeble efforts have a bleak majesty, but others do it better.

MayBee said...

Most people here are no longer in the "key demo"

The key demo is just for advertising placement/revenue. It isn't some marker of relevance in society. It's just who would probably spend money on the products some companies want to sell the audience. The "key demo" wouldn't get elected to a high political office.
If Seinfeld weren't relevant, he wouldn't be on tv.

tim in vermont said...

ARM makes his case by dint of sheer superciliousness.

Bravo!

Anonymous said...

ARM: Most people here are no longer in the "key demo". With respect to popular culture, literally no one cares what you think.

Literally!

Nothing says "I don't care what you think" like struggle sessions and regularly scheduled Two-Minute Hates.

fivewheels said...

Excuse me, do you know who Seinfeld is? He is a man known primarily for NOT being controversial, for being as harmless and as far from the edge as one can possibly be. However, he has always been extremely technical about his craft, and he is clearly annoyed by the idea of people interfering in how he does his business. Criticizing this man, of all people, as "attempting to be controversial" is asinine in the extreme.

tim in vermont said...

It is imperative that any "key demo" for advertising purposes must include the most gullible. Who wants to try to sell products to people who have learned to be able to tell when they are being lied to even if they have most of the money?

In that sense, ARM is right. Lefties will always be a "key demo."

Robert Cook said...

" 'I'm trying to guess what the rejected New Yorker cover was.'

"Caitlyn Jenner dressed as a man.

"Full meta."


Now that's funny!

Michael said...

ARM

I don't believe Seinfield is complaining about young people. He is complaining about the outrageous self-censorship of political correctness. A self-censorship you applaud.

If his feeble efforts have a weak majesty but others do it better please name one of the others.

MayBee said...

ARM doesn't have fascist tendencies. He just wants people to know when they are too old to matter to society anymore.

tim in vermont said...

Seinfeld is warning young people. He is fine, richer than Croesus. That's what old folks do, they share their wisdom with the young, who believe they know everything but know they really don't.

Robert Cook said...

"They are useful, one would argue, as a distraction from the real news regarding Obama's failed Presidency."

You, as are many here (and elsewhere), are seriously misled if you believe the problems of our nation are due to Obama's (or anyone's) "failed presidency." From the point of view of the elites, nothing has failed. (That is a perspective only of we, the little people.) Obama, Bush, Clinton, Bush...and the next President, be (s)he Clinton or Bush, all serve the interests of the powerful elites who run the country. It will continue the same.

gerry said...

From ARM: No you don't. Seinfeld sounds like a whiny old man, whose time has passed. Nothing more, nothing less.

I love unaware irony.

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

Oh, some targets are still fair game. Just the other day Wisconsin Democrat Mark Pocan was comparing Marko Rubio to Ricky Ricardo to the laughs of fellow Democrats. Amazingly, not a word was reported in the local MSM. Now just imagine a Republican making the same type of remark about Obama.

Bay Area Guy said...

When I was in college 30 years ago, John Cleese came to campus for a talk. He was witty and charming and well-received - he made us laugh with all sorts of stories. He then insisted that some misguided folks in America believed that there was a right to not be offended, and, well, in a gentle way, proceeded with his schtick, which may or may not have offended anyone.

My, how times have changed, once the Left takes power.......

Sebastian said...

" I'm trying to guess what the rejected New Yorker cover was."

"Caitlyn" nude.

Too edgy for the PC crowd.

I appreciate Seinfeld's token gesture of resistance. Prog thought police will be on his case shortly.

Lines of attack, some already tried here: He's old. He's out of touch. He's not speaking to the key demo. He's white. He's Jewish. He commits kids-these-days fallacy. "PC? What PC?"

tim in vermont said...

all serve the interests of the powerful elites who run the country. - Robert Cook.

Yep. And they use culture to divide us.

Anonymous said...

Suspected cover: "Caitlyn" as Marlene Dietrich in her tux. Or Marilyn Monroe over the subway grate.

But ARM still had the best comments of the thread: reflexive, unaware, and boneheaded stupid.

damikesc said...

Most people here are no longer in the "key demo". With respect to popular culture, literally no one cares what you think. Seinfeld knows that he is no longer relevant but the old war horse still drags his somatic mutation riddled carcass up to the microphone and makes an effort to drum up some interest in his little show by attempting to be controversial. His feeble efforts have a bleak majesty, but others do it better.

Do you think his criticisms of, say, college students is rare amongst comedians? Few will work colleges any more because it's not worth the headaches.

Hilarious seeing college kids go from "rebels" to prudes that'd make pilgrims order them to loosen the fuck up.

The key demo is just for advertising placement/revenue.

In fact, some execs (notably Redstone a few years ago) noticed that the "key demo" isn't that useful since they DON'T have a lot of disposable income any longer. You can make WAY more money aiming at the old than the young. Those college kids are going to be broke for decades.

Excuse me, do you know who Seinfeld is? He is a man known primarily for NOT being controversial, for being as harmless and as far from the edge as one can possibly be.

No joke. Jay Leno would have difficulties making it today. Chris Rock has already given up on colleges entirely. Louie C.K gets raked over the coals for an SNL monologue and he's THE "hip" comedian. Patton Oswalt has lambasted this bullshit as well. Jim Norton goes off on it regularly. Can you name a major comedian who DOESN'T rip apart this nonsense?

Seinfeld is a technically brilliant comedian (as he's said, if the audience doesn't laugh at the joke, it is never the audience's fault --- I'm wondering if he's changing his mind on that one)

damikesc said...

And, ARM, don't worry --- as I've always said, Robespierre thought he controlled the mob too. I bet the mob won't ever turn on you.

Anonymous said...

Such an opportunity.

All it takes is for one new, up and coming comedian, who is actually funny.

If you're funny, really funny, everything else can be forgiven. But you've got to make your shtick clear from the beginning. Hell, you could even make a character like Steven Colbert did and just say it's the character doing it, not you.

Then, mock homosexuals, Muslims, minorities.

Damn I wish I were a comedian. Such an opportunity.

Etienne said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Laslo Spatula said...

Meanwhile, I am conducting experiments with the PC conundrums on a regular basis right under the very nose of Althouse.

Sometimes water is just wet.

I am Laslo.



tim in vermont said...


The problem with American History as it is taught today is that there is an "overemphasis" on the genocide of the aboriginals.

See how easy that is? What does it mean? Who cares as long as it advances the correct politics!

tim in vermont said...

Are these people really that devoid of self awareness or do they know what they are saying and just think we are stupid?

I am betting both, they are completely oblivious to the obvious flaws in their own thinking and carry a deep belief that others not like them are uniformly stupid.

Brando said...

"Excuse me, do you know who Seinfeld is? He is a man known primarily for NOT being controversial, for being as harmless and as far from the edge as one can possibly be."

When a comedian with Seinfeld's usual act is afraid of getting booed out of colleges for offending people, that says something. This isn't someone with controversial material, like Lenny Bruce.

But these days, even Cosby's old act would be controversial (never mind his personal scandals which had nothing to do with his comedy). We're living in a time when the SJWs are in full howl.

The saddest part of this is we're talking about COLLEGES--the very places where free expression and creativity should be sacred. When colleges become bastions of narrow-minded speech-crushing, this society is in full rot.

Michael K said...

"But ARM still had the best comments of the thread: reflexive, unaware, and boneheaded stupid."

No, I disagree about the last point. ARM is not stupid and I am kind of fond of him. Unaware, yes but not mean like farmer or deluded like Cookie.

This is just the voice of the honest leftist who is seeing his world collapse as the "blue model" collapses. Socialism just doesn't work and the failing model starts to devour itself as the awful truth emerges.

Progressivism is an old idea, going back to about 1900 and Herbert Croly.

Crony died before the New Deal took Progressivism to its highs and lows. Winning World War II kept the Progressives going for another 50 years although Korea and Vietnam were severe blows. The Carter and Clinton administrations gave us the worms that would sink the ship. First was the Community Reinvestment Act , that required banks to lend to people who were not credit-worthy.

Then, Clinton expanded it and ignored terrorism until we got 9/11. Bush was running for office to focus on domestic matters, especially the economy. The popping of the Internet Bubble also called The Dot-Com Bubble in 1999 distracted Bush and he botched the Iraq occupation by appointing Bremer to run Iraq instead of Jay Garner who had done well with the Kurds for years.

Finally, the Iraq mess brought the Democrats control of Congress in 2006 and they pulled down the house with the housing bubble and the financial crisis resulting. That brought us Obama and the obvious failure of leftist government.

I am sympathetic to ARM. I really am. You've spent your life thinking you knew what made the world work and it must be very painful, as an intelligent person, to have to face all this bad news.

Fen said...

Amusing that, in defelcting bigoted remarks directed at gays, ARM uses bigoted remarks directed at the aged.

Why, its almost as if the Left has no principles at all.

tim in vermont said...

Clinton expanded it and ignored terrorism until we got 9/11.

I'm sorry, but an unlawful act of war in the form of missile attacks on the sovereign state of Afghanistan 2 years before 9-11 doesn't count as "ignoring terrorism" It's more like whacking a hornets' nest, running off and laughing while the bees sting somebody else.

If we hadn't overthrown the lawful govt of Afghanistan so quickly, and they could have made it to the UN, they could have made a pretty good case that 9-11 was an act of self-defense. To discourage future missile attacks on their soil. Of course it was a completely foolish act, but Clinton started a war in Afghanistan, then we all pretended that we didn't start it and even NATO came to our defense in our war of aggression.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

"Most people here are no longer in the "key demo"

I'm around people in the "key demo" frequently. They mock Jenner without hesitation.

tim in vermont said...

Don't get me wrong, I was carried away with the war fever like almost everybody else. I see the same kind of war fever in pro Russian, pro-Putin comments on European web sites and when I point it out, how America got dragged into war through blunders this same way, they are blind to what I am trying to say and the war fever festers.


Gahrie said...

the next President, be (s)he Clinton or Bush, all serve the interests of the powerful elites who run the country. It will continue the same.

Until the revolution comrades!


(Then of course, a new set of powerful elites, more corrupt and brutal, will take over and run the country)

C'mon Sqealor, tell us why two legs are better.

Rick Lockridge said...

It's the comedian's job to punch back against PC (Louis CK with his pedophilia jokes; Sarah Silverman on the couch with Jesus). The New Yorker doesn't see itself as comedic (although that's all it is).

Hagar said...

It is getting very hard to parody these people.

Notice how often Onion pieces are mistaken for real news these days?

JAORE said...

"Seinfeld sounds like a whiny old man, whose time has passed."
And yet they laughed.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

Among the "key demo" no mercy or sensitivity is shown to those who deliberately mount their own well-publicized freak show. Remarkably, young people today are far more likely to be brutally critical than the young people of my youth. And their comfort with casually racist remarks far exceeds anything I heard in the 70's or 80's.

Fernandinande said...

That's a racist insult to the ... French race.

Anonymous said...

Another member of the Key Demo ignores Seinfeld, at length.

tim in vermont said...

Sexist humor and racist humor can no longer exist in comedy because these concepts are based on archaic ideals that have perpetrated injustice against minorities in the past.

Provocative humor, such as ones dealing with topics of race and gender politics, can be crass and vulgar, but underlying it must be a context that spurs social dialogue about these respective issues. There needs to be a message, a central truth behind comedy for it to work as humor.



Holy crap! Mussolini could not have put it better. Art must serve the political goals of the movement!

tim in vermont said...

concepts are based on archaic ideals that have perpetrated injustice against minorities in the past.

Yeah, but not the Jews. That was overemphasized.


This is all about will to power.

tim in vermont said...

All that's missing is a reference to the required inclusion of the Juche Idea in all comedy.

Michael K said...

" missile attacks on the sovereign state of Afghanistan 2 years before 9-11 doesn't count as "ignoring terrorism" It's more like whacking a hornets' nest, running off and laughing while the bees sting somebody else."

There is a point there but the Taliban were not the "sovereign state" but a rebel force from Pakistan. They tolerated OBL and his lunatics because they equated them with the "mujahaddin" that drove the Russians out. In fact, it was the Russians who destroyed the Afghan state, such as it was in 1979.

Clinton, like Obama, was feckless about any foreign policy matter and was retrained from his leftist ideology only by good political instincts that his wife lacks.

Babaluigi said...

I say this as someone who has always been involved in the arts and the restaurant business (some stereotypes exist for a reason). I have been around gay male dancers (ballet and modern) who are incredibly graceful and body-aware who are not a smidgen as nelly as some of the ridiculous swishes I have seen on the street. A mincing queen may be in the range of "normal" in some circles, but truly affected mannerisms can venture into the Theatre of the Absurd...

No one deserves to be treated badly for who they are, and I am not going to laugh in anyone's face...but there are some people whom I take seriously, and others whom I do not, sorry...

So, I am guilty of horrible Thought Crime! You will have to pry my Monty Python and Mel Brooks collections from my cold, dead fingers to get them!

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

@Paul Z. Deep introspection from Fainting Couch University.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

What we need is a dictator and speech codes, to guide us to our perfect progressive future.

Scott M said...

As the pressure cooker on this topic keeps heating up, I keep going back to this article on Vox (I only saw it because it was a response the Chaite article bemoaning the same thing), in which Amanda Taub claims that political correctness doesn't exist. As the left goes all Oroboros on this, I wonder what she thinks now.

Barry Dauphin said...

New Yorker cover: Hillary dressed as a woman.

Scott M said...

When I listen to Seinfeld complain about young people all I hear is, "Get off of my lawn".

We all grow old. Some do it better than others.


Aside from being ageist (how horrible!), your comment doesn't address the central issue he's talking about. At all. My son is 24 and a full-time student. He doesn't have any lawns to tell kids to get off of. He has observed the same sort of thing at the very large state school he's going to.

We all notice things. Some do it better than others. Some are willfully blind.

Anonymous said...

A lot of comedy is based on truth. If it isn't true, it isn't funny. PC thought is based on something other than empirical truth.

tim in vermont said...

There is a point there but the Taliban were not the "sovereign state" but a rebel force from Pakistan. They tolerated OBL and his lunatics because they equated them with the "mujahaddin" that drove the Russians out. In fact, it was the Russians who destroyed the Afghan state, such as it was in 1979

While I agree that the Soviets destroyed civil government in Afghanistan, after they first inveigled a communist government there, which was in no way representative of Islamic values, which simply reject communism. And when their little communist coup was overthrown, they used it as a pretext to invade. Sounds a lot like Ukraine, BTW.

The US had no permission from Mullah Omar to violate Afghanistan's sovereign borders. It was an act of war.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Jerry is a safe comedian, too. His jokes are funny and rated G most of the time. If he is saying this, it must be worth saying.

Rusty said...

gerry said...
From ARM: No you don't. Seinfeld sounds like a whiny old man, whose time has passed. Nothing more, nothing less.

I love unaware irony.


I know, right. It's like its his gift.

tim in vermont said...

I like his affectation of utter superiority because he works at a college somewhere, or claims to. I don't doubt it. He seems to believe that this affectation forecloses all counter argument.

I think a more honest handle would be

A Supercilious Prig.

damikesc said...

What I don't get is --- jokes about Bruce Jenner looking like a woman have been perfectly OK for years.

The moment he says "Hey, I'm REALLY a woman", they become forbidden.

What, exactly, changed except him looking slightly less masculine?

Rusty said...

Oral Roberts


Two gay guys named Bob.

William said...

In a speech Michelle Obama mentioned how hurtful the fist bump cover of the New Yorker was to her. She said that she recognized it as satire but that she felt it was hurtful. Remnick took heed. He will never willingly cross the PC border again, not even for purposes of satire. There are some things a decent, honorable man will not do--like make fun of the First Lady.

richard mcenroe said...

Between this and the preceding post, it's now clear that THAT'S NOT FUNNY is no longer the exclusive mantra of bitter feminists. An entire generation is being raised as genuinely humorless as they imagine their parents to have been.

Michael K said...

"The US had no permission from Mullah Omar to violate Afghanistan's sovereign borders. It was an act of war."

Oh, I agree it was war. Typically, Clinton went back to his interns and cigars and made no move to continue. After 9/11, there was a brief moment when the Taliban could have said "We don't agree with this and we will expel Osama." They didn't.

It's interesting to speculate about what Gore would have done if he had won the 2000 election. I suspect we would live in a very different world, Not a better one, by the way.

damikesc said...

There are some things a decent, honorable man will not do--like make fun of the First Lady.

Well, not CERTAIN first ladies.

The press had few problems making fun of the daughters of the FORMER President, after all. Or outright laughing at a 911 call by the daughter of a former VP candidate.

damikesc said...

Between this and the preceding post, it's now clear that THAT'S NOT FUNNY is no longer the exclusive mantra of bitter feminists. An entire generation is being raised as genuinely humorless as they imagine their parents to have been.

It never was just for feminists.

It's been all Progressives for decades.

Unless you skewer conservatives, it is never funny.

Ever.

gerry said...

There are some things a decent, honorable man will not do--like make fun of the First Lady.

Unless she's married to a non-Democrat president.

Bay Area Guy said...

Seinfeld is seeing X, criticizing X, and calling X "politically correct."

However, X isn't college kids or young people -- X is leftism that has taken over college.

tim in vermont said...

Laura Bush Jokes Daily Show

It's all about will to power.

gerry said...

A mincing queen may be in the range of "normal" in some circles, but truly affected mannerisms can venture into the Theatre of the Absurd...


I have a vinyl LP (is that redundant?) of Jonathon Winters with a track entitled "Captain Arnold and Moby Dick" that is hysterical, and of course it may be played now only at low volume after 3:00 A.M during loud electrical storms while wearing headphones in a soundproof room, or the PC police, after getting an alert from Millenium-generation-Progressive passersby, would chop its way through the bookcase that disguises the door to the attic where the soundproof room is located to take me to a sensitivity-training camp...

jr565 said...

They should do a roast for Caitlyn. Get some of the best comedians and have her sit there and take 2 hours of raunchy anti transgenderism jokes. What will the lGBTcommunitys reaction be? Can they take the joke or will they boycott comedy central and all the comedians.
And how would Jenner take the jokes. Would he take them in stride or would he commit suicide beucase he's so sensitive about his situation. And if he did would the LGBT community say the comedians drove him to suicide?

President-Mom-Jeans said...

I never get tired of watching UnreasonableBitch beclown himself.

It's gold Jerry, gold!

Known Unknown said...

No one can ever out-Dietrich Dietrich.

One of Hitler's very own Uberwomen, telling the Nazis to shove off, and then raising war bond money and going on USO tours.

They didn't call it feminism at the time, but she was a feminist.

Known Unknown said...

NOT being controversial, for being as harmless and as far from the edge as one can possibly be.

There is dark mayhem cloaked in his innocent comedy. Re-watch Seinfeld. It covers nearly all of the anti-PC bases.

Lnelson said...

I miss Andrew Dice Clay

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Seinfeld and the other old comedians are afraid to go to colleges because they are no longer hip enough to understand how young people think. The young control the terms of debate in those venues. The old no longer instinctively know where the boundaries lie. It is not that there haven't always been boundaries, they just moved over time.

A friend of mine once told me that we need old scientists to die off because this is the only way that new ideas can displace old ones. Few old people have the mental flexibility to easily embrace new ideas. Instead, those clinging to the past die out and newer ideas come to dominate. Apparently, much the same is true for comedians. There is no shortage of young comedians making money on the college circuit.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

President-Mom-Jeans said...
I never get tired of being a jerk.


It's good to know that the you still have the strength to type. Or, did the nurse do this for you? You are such a brave, brave man.

"Rage, rage against the dying of the light."

Big Mike said...

Just in the nick of time along comes a college student to explain comedy to Jerry Seinfeld. I'm sure Jerry is appreciative.

William said...

I think PC has always existed, but different sacred cows graze in different pastures. The Roman Catholic bishops were for a long time enabled in their quest to hush up clergy sexual abuse by a complicit press and police. Such crimes were not written about nor prosecuted. That's changed but it was a long time coming. The lesson liberals should take from this is not how corrupt the Catholic Church is but how corrupting PC influences are. Bill Cosby's crimes were coverd up, even by some of his victims, precisely because he was a sacred cow........I think they should remake The Bells of St Mary's. In the new version Bing Crosby calls out the old Barry Sullivan priest for always asking the kids to sit on his lap. He becomes disillusioned when church higher ups don't heed his warnings. He confides his problems to the Ingid Bergman nun. The relationship deepens. The abandon their vows, get married, become tireless crusaders against church abuses, and live happily ever after......I think you could get a movie like that made today, but if such a movie were made fifty years ago (when it might have done some good) , I don't think anyone attached to the production would have prospered.

William said...

I think Oprah should finance a movie about. Obama's father. The movie could show how the father's deep rooted sexism kept him from committing fully to any woman and destroyed his chances of happiness on this earth. The movie could show that the sexism was endemic to the part of Africa that he grew up in and that he himself was a much a victim of these values as he was a victimizer.

Sigivald said...

Reminds me of this.

Frankly, there are worse images that could come to mind for Mrs. Clinton, so I say go for it.

At least Bugs is a beloved American icon ... and funny.

William said...

Just spitballing here, but I think Denzel Washington could bring a lot of gravitas to the role. The audience wouldn't lose sympathy with him even when he starts slapping his women around.......The Bells of St Mary's is a natural fit for George Clooney and Julia Roberts. Julia could do reverse of her Pretty Girl role and move from chaste to increasingly slutty outfits as Clooney makes her aware of her sexuality. For the Barry Sullivan role, I'm thinking Bill Cosby. He already has a reputation as both a kindly old man who's good with kids and as a flaming pervert. I think such a role is well within his range and would extend his brand.

Kenneth Burns said...

Blaming political correctness when hacky material bombs seems...hacky.

Known Unknown said...

The young control the terms of compliance in those venues.

FIFY.

or maybe it's all of the middle-aged administrators ...

Julie C said...

For humor that knows few bounds, look no further than Family Guy. My sons and their friends all love that show.

I don't think it's necessarily all the college kids that can't take the humor - just a few very vocal people along with idiotic administrators.

Bob Boyd said...

"I'm thinking it was putting somebody else in the same costume and pose used for Jenner."


American Pharoah.

walter said...

Based on the exchange, the pre-interview bit was hashed out in the pre-interview.

damikesc said...

A friend of mine once told me that we need old scientists to die off because this is the only way that new ideas can displace old ones. Few old people have the mental flexibility to easily embrace new ideas. Instead, those clinging to the past die out and newer ideas come to dominate. Apparently, much the same is true for comedians. There is no shortage of young comedians making money on the college circuit.

Name one.

tim in vermont said...

What ARM is defending is the college professors exclusive right to propose ideas for the consideration of college students.

Apparently he believes that the most vocal of the students are the best judge of the kinds of ideas they need to be exposed to and that most strident of them have a right to limit that which others may hear.

damikesc said...

ARM confuses his inability to think for himself as an issue that afflicts everybody.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

damikesc said...
Name one.


http://www.kpcomedy.com/
http://www.neon-entertainment.com/Neon/Comedians.html
http://funny-business.com/college-comedians

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

damikesc said...
ARM confuses his inability to think for himself as an issue that afflicts everybody.


From a guy who voted for Bush Jr a second time when his presidency already looked like the Hindenburg in flames.


The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

"From a guy who voted for Bush Jr a second time when his presidency already looked like the Hindenburg in flames."

From a guy who voted for Obama a second time when his presidency already looked like the Hindenburg in flames.
No wonder there's so many liberals. It requires no reflection whatsoever.

Big Mike said...

@damikesc, the PC student from San Diego State who wrote an open letter to Jerry Seinfeld on how to be funny named four comedians that he, in his infinite, undergraduate wisdom approves of -- and the only one that I (a decidedly non-PC old fogey) had heard of was George Carlin. And I don't think Carlin is very funny. The others I've never heard of.

Personally, I think the writer of that letter needs a cream pie in the face. As does ARM.

Wince said...

SPIKE TV just spiked Clint Eastwood's joke about Jenner.

Clint was giving The Rock some kind of Manly Man Spike TV award and joked about athletes transitioning...

like Jim Brown and... Bruce Jenner.

First they came for the comedians... welcome to liberal "friendly" fascism. Where everyone is intimidated.

You really can see the parallel between liberalism and radical Islam.

Clint Eastwood's Caitlyn Jenner Joke Will Be Cut From Spike TV's Guys Choice Awards Broadcast --
Us Weekly

June 8, 2015 1:10 PM

Another controversy for Clint Eastwood. The actor and director joked about Caitlyn Jenner during the Spike TV Guys Choice 2015 awards on Saturday, June 6.

Eastwood, 85, was at the awards show in Culver City, Calif., to introduce San Andreas actor Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. According to reports, the Million Dollar Baby director brought up The Rock in the context of athletes who've made their way into the world of acting, much like "Jim Brown and Caitlyn somebody..."

Eastwood, however, appeared to be the only one laughing in this case.

A Spike rep confirmed to Us Weekly on Monday that the quote will be cut from the June 18 broadcast. "We will remove the reference in the version that will air," the rep said.

fivewheels said...

"There is dark mayhem cloaked in his innocent comedy. Re-watch Seinfeld. It covers nearly all of the anti-PC bases."

I'm not saying it wasn't good, or there were never themes more elevated than "What's the deal with paper cups?" But the central thesis of his career is: You can make a good and effective joke out of any mundane thing, if you have the necessary skill."

And I think he can't stand the idea that these badly raised children are saying: "Unless it's kind of arguably a tiny bit pseudo-sexist."

Wince said...

Every party-line news report said nobody laughed at Clint's joke.

I don't believe it.

I'd like to see the video to know if that's really true.

I found the joke funny and topical and not invidious in the least.

Even Jenner said he was being "too fabulous" to worry about it.

Is "too fabulous" the new n-word? Okay for gays to say, no one else?

damikesc said...

That writer certainly looks funny.


http://twitter.com/Beefsteak101/status/608679584805044224/photo/1

damikesc said...

ARM, as for your links:
1) Recognize one single name.
2) Recognize 3 names. All 3 have been on Red Eye and blasted how shitty colleges are for comedy.
3) Some Red Eye regulars and a bunch of left wing hacks who get applause but little laughter.

n.n said...

There are very few gay people left. People are becoming cynical and sullen. The comedians want to avoid them.

Tank said...

It is ... weird? ... that Seinfeld, the tamest, softest comedian of our generation is ... what? ... too edgy for the youngsters. Look how uncomfortable he made those kiddies.

tim in vermont said...

BOOOOOOSSSSSHHHHH! - An Insufferable Prig.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

ARM said...A friend of mine once told me that we need old scientists to die off because this is the only way that new ideas can displace old ones. Few old people have the mental flexibility to easily embrace new ideas. Instead, those clinging to the past die out and newer ideas come to dominate. Apparently, much the same is true for comedians.

Talk about eliminationist rhetoric! That HufflePuff article was great--the central message is "comedians SHOULD be offensive, but only offensive against the RIGHT people." Schumer, CK, and Carlin are ok because they're attacking people Progressives don't like--so they can be as offensive as they want. Seinfeld wasn't explicitly attacking people Progressives dislike, so he's on shaky ground. Progs aren't really hiding their "who, whom" anymore, are they?

Gahrie said...

But get rid of the cigarette. Replace that with... oh, what can we replace that with?

My first thought was a cigar.

Anonymous said...

The clip is of a rotating dog.

Not sure if that was always the clip or not. But it's not Seinfeld.

Drago said...

ARMeltdown: "The young control the terms of debate in those venues."

LOL

"debate" is no longer allowed in those venues. At all.

Our delicate leftist snowflakes cannot abide opposing or differing viewpoints, and the students do this with the full support, and often class credit, of their monolithically-leftist administrators.

Yet these delightful "yutes" credit themselves for their "open-mindedness".

Indeed.

Drago said...

"A Spike rep confirmed to Us Weekly on Monday that the quote will be cut from the June 18 broadcast. "We will remove the reference in the version that will air," the rep said."

The left air-brushing history.

Wow.

Who could possibly have seen that coming?

Anonymous said...

Eric: I've been getting those mismatched links on a bunch of posts here. Don't know if it's a Chrome thing or a Blogspot thing or a Chrome+Blogspot thing.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

To summarize the day's events, we once again have a bunch of old guys whining about all those terrible young people. "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun."

Rusty said...

AReasonableMan said...
To summarize the day's events, we once again have a bunch of old guys whining about all those terrible young people. "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun."


You seem unclear about what constitutes humor.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Rusty said...
You seem unclear about what constitutes humor.


I find you guys pretty funny. Does that count?

Known Unknown said...

“People think it’s the census or something,” Seinfeld said of the assertion that all pop culture should accurately reflect society. “This has gotta represent the actual pie chart of America? Who cares? Funny is the world that I live in. You’re funny, I’m interested. You’re not funny, I’m not interested. I have no interest in gender or race or anything like that.”
Seinfeld went on to say that approaching comedy through the lens of race or gender or sexuality are “anti-comedy.” “It’s more about PC nonsense than ‘Are you making us laugh or not?’” he said.

Rusty said...

I find you guys pretty funny. Does that count?


I think I see your problem.