By TeeJay Small | Published
If you've spent any time browsing social media in recent years, you've come across the claim that old TV shows, movies, and games “can't be made” today. The argument is that modern audiences are too sensitive to handle the sharp and volatile humor that the Nixon or Reagan eras were treated with so much grace. Rainn Wilson is the latest voice to join this insufferable chorus, having recently sat down with Fox News. Per X, Wilson expressed that “I feel like you're not going to make it The office today. I think that would be very difficult to be politically incorrect as it was. “
No One Holds Pearls in the Office
Personally, I have always found this line of thinking to be silly. Sure, sometimes I'll sit down to watch an old movie without the nostalgia goggles on, and find myself gasping at the rampant homophobia, hatred, or bigotry displayed by characters we're supposed to love and agree with. Still, many of the jokes from the old projects hold up well by modern standards, and the offensive jokes are still alive and well. In fact, I would argue that the central episode of It's always sunny in Philadelphia or South Park is more politically correct than anything that appears The officeand those shows seem to be doing well.
The fact that Rainn Wilson refers to it The office his last comment is perhaps the most confusing part of this entire speech. In fairness, it's been a few years since I've sat down to binge on the show, but I really don't remember anything outrageous or boundary-pushing going on inside the Dunder Mifflin bullpen. Michael Scott delivers a few misplaced racial jokes at the expense of Kelly, Oscar, and Darryl, but it's no more jaw-dropping than what you'd hear in a traditional workplace.
This strange behavior seems to stem from the idea that young people today, primarily those who lean to the left of the center, have been driven by selfish interests. Sometimes, these audiences can expand their positions to the point of absurdity, and call something big when it was a good-natured joke with a little edge. But, the idea that this is new confuses me. Decades ago, it was a bunch of conservative Christians scrambling to cancel anything and everything. Television shows, movies, and rap artists are singled out for foul language, sexual nudity, or the mere suggestion that conservative Christian values can be questioned in any way.
From the 1930s to the 1960s, movies and TV shows were strictly governed by the Hays Code, which prohibited a range of so-called “offensive” material. Notable TV moments that broke the mold include Captain Kirk smoking Lieutenant Uhura, (a black woman) Star Trek: The Original Series and a married couple appearing The Flintstones sleeping in one bed. By comparison, Always sunny characters now tend to drop the C word in FXX, while South Park shows a photorealistic deepfake sequence of a young wang of a sitting president.
Art Is Different From Them
Every time I hear someone support the idea that they can't do comedy because of cancellation culture, my first response is to ask for some examples. So far, I haven't heard a single joke that would be considered “too bad” for a modern audience. Sometimes people will respond with offbeat beats Burning Saddlesor show me a blackface scene from Trading Areas. But those films continue to air on television today, just as they were produced. In fact, you can pull on regular daytime cable and watch movies that blatantly violate the old Hays Code, between commercials for car insurance and children's programming.
Modern politics has become very divisive, leaving audiences far different than in the past The office it was on its way. Still, I don't see liberals frothing at the mouth over Michael Scott's misuse of an urban idiom, or MAGA voters writing to a network because they had to testify in a desegregated workplace. I think all the jokes are told in it The officeand in fact, of all the popular movies and shows of decades past, it would survive well on today's radar. Also, there is something new The office spin-off series or remakes are produced almost every year, and those rarely get negative press.
