Emmy-winning actor Julia Louis-Dreyfus said political correctness can be “fantastic,” brushing off concerns on the controversial topic recently raised by former co-star Jerry Seinfeld.
During her interview with The New York Times, Louis-Dreyfus said having an “antenna” about sensitivities is not a “bad” thing, and that while she gets those who grumble about political correctness, she sees those complaints as a “red flag.”
“If you look back on comedy and drama both, let’s say 30 years ago, through the lens of today, you might find bits and pieces that don’t age well,” she told the Times during an interview published Saturday.
“When I hear people starting to complain about political correctness — and I understand why people might push back on it — but to me that’s a red flag, because it sometimes means something else,” she told the Times. “I believe being aware of certain sensitivities is not a bad thing. I don’t know how else to say it.”
Times reporter Lulu Garcia-Navarro called her back 11 days later, and the “Seinfeld” alum added that political correctness in comedy is “fantastic” and warned that a “true” danger to the art is the centralization of power and capital within the entertainment industry.
“My feeling about all of it is that political correctness, insofar as it equates to tolerance, is obviously fantastic,” Louis-Dreyfus told the Times. “And of course I reserve the right to boo anyone who says anything that offends me, while also respecting their right to free speech, right?”
“But the bigger problem — and I think the true threat to art and the creation of art — is the consolidation of money and power,” she continued. “All this siloing of studios and outlets and streamers and distributors — I don’t think it’s good for the creative voice. So that’s what I want to say in terms of the threat to art.”
Her comments on the topic came after stand-up comedian, Jerry Seinfeld, made news in April when he said “extreme left and PC crap” were hampering today’s comedy.
“It used to be, you would get home at the end of the day, and most people would say, ‘Oh, “Cheers” is on. “MASH” is on,’” Seinfeld said during his April appearance on “The New Yorker Radio Hour” podcast. “’Mary Tyler Moore is on. “All in the Family” is on.’ You just expected, ‘There’ll be some funny stuff we can watch on TV tonight.’ Well, guess what? Where is it?”
“This is the result of the extreme left and PC crap, and people worrying so much about offending other people,” he said.
Louis-Dreyfus would not say whether comedy is better off or not now that comedians are more attuned to how their commentary lands.
“I can’t judge if it’s better or not,” she said. “I just know that the lens through which we create art today — and I’m not going to just specify it to comedy, it’s also drama — it’s a different lens. It really is. Even classically wonderful, indisputably great films from the past are riddled with attitudes that today would not be acceptable. So I think it’s just good to be vigilant.”