John Cleese Warns Campus Political Correctness Leading Towards 1984 (washingtonexaminer.com)

An anonymous reader writes: Ashe Schow writes at the Washington Examiner that, "The Monty Python co-founder, in a video for Internet forum Big Think, railed against the current wave of hypersensitivity on college campuses, saying he has been warned against performing on campuses. "[Psychiatrist Robin Skynner] said: 'If people can't control their own emotions, then they have to start trying to control other people's behavior,'" Cleese said. "And when you're around super-sensitive people, you cannot relax and be spontaneous because you have no idea what's going to upset them next." Cleese said that it's one thing to be "mean" to "people who are not able to look after themselves very well," but it was another to take it to "the point where any kind of criticism of any individual or group could be labeled cruel." Cleese added that "comedy is critical," and if society starts telling people "we mustn't criticize or offend them," then humor goes out the window. "With humor goes a sense of proportion," Cleese said. "And then, as far as I'm concerned, you're living in 1984." Cleese is just the latest comedian to lecture college students about being so sensitive.

Comments

Re:Most of the collage kids these days a whiny bab

[Thanshin]

1/6

Now try to find the other errors.

Ban HIM!!

[cayenne8]

This John Cleese needs to be BANNED from any college, especially in the US!!!

His insensitivity to people who "walk funny" is just intolerant and cannot be abided by.

Shame on you Sir!! I hope I find you soon!!

Re:Ban HIM!!

[RenderSeven]

A comic! Burn him! Burn him!

Sir Bedevere: There are ways of telling whether he is a comic.
Peasant 1: Are there? Oh well, tell us.
Sir Bedevere: Tell me. What do you do with comics?
Peasant 1: Burn them.
Sir Bedevere: And what do you burn, apart from comics?
Peasant 1: More comics.
Peasant 2: Wood.
Sir Bedevere: Good. Now, why do comics burn?
Peasant 3: ...because they're made of... wood?
Sir Bedevere: Good. So how do you tell whether he is made of wood?
Peasant 1: Build a bridge out of him.
Sir Bedevere: But can you not also build bridges out of stone?
Peasant 1: Oh yeah.
Sir Bedevere: Does wood sink in water?
Peasant 1: No, no, it floats!... It floats! Throw him into the pond!
Sir Bedevere: No, no. What else floats in water?
Peasant 1: Bread.
Peasant 2: Apples.
Peasant 3: Very small rocks.
Peasant 1: Cider.
Peasant 2: Gravy.
Peasant 3: Cherries.
Peasant 1: Mud.
Peasant 2: Churches.
Peasant 3: Lead! Lead!
King Arthur: A Duck.
Sir Bedevere: ...Exactly. So, logically...
Peasant 1: If he weighed the same as a duck... he's made of wood.
Sir Bedevere: And therefore...
Peasant 2: ...A comic!

Re:I think the problem is overstated

[Calydor]

You missed such a grand opportunity to say that the squeaky wheel gets the Cleese. For shame.

Re:Been saying it for decades

[Anonymous Coward]

I used to say "Merry Christmas" all the time, now I say "Happy Holidays" just to annoy all the people telling me to say "Merry Christmas"

Re:Most of the collage kids these days a whiny bab

[Anonymous Coward]

As a decoupage kid, I hate collage kids.

Re:Most of the collage kids these days a whiny bab

[l0n3s0m3phr34k]

Come and see the violence inherent in the system! Help, help, I'm being repressed!

Re:This guy gets it

[tbannist]

Remember those little toys that babies are given to help them master spatial ideas? There might be a triangular piece, a circular piece, and a hexagonal piece, and a base with holes of the same shapes. A smart kid (whoops, off I go to PC jail) quickly sees that the circular piece will only fit into the circular hole, and so on.

Actually, the smart kid figures out that all the pieces go in very quickly if you take the top off...

Re:Jimmy Carr's new "shortest joke" is a fine exam

[ausekilis]

I'll throw one in since this is a techie site: "Microsoft Works"