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Donald Glover says TV and Movies Suck Because People Are Afraid of Being Cancelled

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Did Donald Glover just come out and say “cancel culture” is ruining TV and movies?

In a series of tweets, Glover said “Saw people on here havin a discussion about how tired they were of reviewing boring stuff (tv & film). We’re getting boring stuff and not even experimental mistakes(?) because people are afraid of getting cancelled. So they feel like they can only experiment w/ aesthetic. (Also because some of em know theyre not that good).”

This lead to a discussion of “Donald Glover just came out against cancel culture,” versus “He means cancelled by networks, obviously, cancel culture is not real and if it is real it’s good.”

Now, here’s why that discussion is pointless: they’re the same thing. People who get “cancelled” by public opinion tend to see their TV shows and movie projects cancelled as well, or at least get kicked off of them.

The best of the best in entertainment has always been transgressive. Take for example Mr. Show with Bob and David and its Netflix follow-up, W/ Bob and David. The way David Cross writes jokes is starting with “what are we not allowed to joke about and how do we make jokes about that thing.”

And Donald Glover nailed the two things that made Mr. Show a beloved classic: they weren’t afraid to take risks and they were talented. The thing that separates David Cross and Bob Odenkirk from edgy YouTubers or whatever is that they do have talent, the things they say aren’t just transgressive but also funny and intelligent and with a unique perspective.

That’s what makes television good: having something to say and saying it regardless of people who think it’s in bad taste. For movies, that’s even more important. And we are in a period where people aren’t doing that for whatever reason.

The good news is that those transgressive voices are out there and this sort of thing is cyclical. There are shows out there that are still taking risks, like Rick and Morty, but there will be more and more. Before we had the 1990s, the last really transgressive period of music and TV and film, there were the 80s, where everything was sanitized by the religious right’s political influence. The reaction to that was grunge rock, gangsta rap, Quentin Tarantino, Spike Lee, The Simpsons and Mr. Show.

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PunkA
PunkA
2 years ago

IT is 100% time for a blowback on Cancel Culture, and it’s sensitivity. I mean, comics are afraid to tour on college campuses anymore because of it, and that is where many of them made a living in the past. So cancel culture and it;s oversensitivty needs to be in the crosshairs. Time to make fun of the dumb parts of transgenderism (apparel, of course), progressivism (they can’t do basic math), antifa (man, they need a fashion designer like the Mockingjay had), BLM (they really need work on those lame chants), anti-vaxxers/QAnon types (it’s all just some fat, bald dude… Read more »