John Cleese is set to explore “cancel culture” in Cancel Me, a new docu-series for the UK’s Channel 4.
As The Guardian report, Cancel Me will see the longstanding British comedian in conversation with various figures who claim to have been “canceled”, as well as activists who have led the charge against said figures.
The documentary aims to unpack “why a new ‘woke’ generation is trying to rewrite the rules on what can and can’t be said”.
In a statement, Cleese said: “I’m delighted to have a chance to find out, on camera, about all the aspects of so-called political correctness. There’s so much I really don’t understand, like: how the impeccable idea of ‘Let’s all be kind to people’ has been developed in some cases ad absurdum.”
He continued, “I want to bring the various reasonings right out in the open so that people can be clearer in their minds what they agree with, what they don’t agree with, and what they still can’t make their mind up about.”
Cancel culture is a topic John Cleese has been banging on about for a while. The 81-year-old comedian previously told the BBC that he is concerned about the repercussions cancel culture may have on creativity.
“[Political correctness] stuff started out as a good idea, which is, ‘Let’s not be mean to people’, and I’m in favour of that despite my age,” he said.
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“The main thing is to try to be kind. But that then becomes a sort of indulgence of the most over-sensitive people in your culture, the people who are 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.
“From the point of creativity, if you have to keep thinking which words you can use and which you can’t, then that will stifle creativity. The main thing is to realise that words depend on their context. Very literal-minded people think a word is a word but it isn’t.”
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