He was known for being in such shows as “Monty Python”, but now he is becoming equally well-known for taking on cancel culture. This “Monty Python” star has a new documentary called “Cancel Me,” where he is questioning why this new woke generation is trying to censor everything, including those who are merely telling harmless jokes.
“Cancel Me” is going to “set forth into the minefield of cancel culture to explore why a new ‘woke’ generation is trying to rewrite the rules on what can and can’t be said.” This series is going to speak to activists that are attempting to cancel people as well as the victims of that same cancel culture. Variety magazine points out that there are going to be some famous faces included.
“I’m delighted to have a chance to find out, on camera, about all the aspects of so-called political correctness,” Cleese, 81, said. “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.”
“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,” the “Fawlty Towers” star explained.
Danny Horan oversees documentaries on the United Kingdom’s Channel 4, and he felt that the network would welcome the show “because we felt we needed to address cancel culture somehow and Cleese has very strong views on that.”
“I think there’s a lot of things to address in that series that he is very keen to understand what happened and why it’s happened,” Horan said. “And of course, you know, he was a comedian for the last few decades who had a lot of comedy, some of which now feels outdated so he’s questioning some of that as well. So I think it’d be really interesting. It’s an area that he’s exploring.”
Earlier this month, a fan asked Cleese if they were going to need proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test as a requirement to see his upcoming comedy tour. Cleese snarkily replied, “No, you just need a certificate that just promises that you are not attending specifically to just be offended.”
Cleese personally experienced cancel culture in November 2020, when several social just warriors accused him of “transphobia” because he was supporting author J.K. Rowling.
Even though Cleese was hit with a barrage of insults and accusations, Cleese had the character to respond by saying the following: “If you can’t control your own emotions, you’re forced to control other people’s behavior That’s why the touchiest, most oversensitive and easily upset must not set the standard for the rest of us.”
Comedians generally are not big fans of cancel culture anyway. Chris Rock warned his audience that cancel culture often leads to boring entertainment. Billy Crystal said that canceling people was only going to make comedy a “minefield.” Dave Chappelle also weighed in, reminding everyone that “no one can be woke enough.” Comedian Jon Lovitz compared cancel culture to McCarthyism, and stand-up comedian Bill Burr joked that the outrage mob is running out of people to cancel and they are now resorting to canceling dead people. But what can I say? That’s the 2020s for you…..