Todd Phillips, best known for directing the Hangover and the forthcoming Joker, blames cultural progress, saying he doesn’t know how to be funny anymore if he can’t be offensive.
Phillips blasts “woke culture” in Vanity Fair saying it is the reason he’s transitioned from directing comedies to dramas. Phillips said,
“Go try to be funny nowadays with this woke culture. There were articles written about why comedies don’t work anymore –I’ll tell you why, because all the fucking funny guys are like,
‘Fuck this shit, because I don’t want to offend you.’”
It’s hard to argue with 30 million people on Twitter. You just can’t do it, right? So you just go,
‘I’m out.’
I’m out, and you know what? With all my comedies — I think that what comedies, in general, all have in common — is they’re irreverent. So I go,
‘How do I do something irreverent, but fuck comedy? Oh I know, let’s take the comic book movie universe and turn it on its head with this.’
And so that’s really where that came from.”
Hilarious things like these in the Hangover films? Queerty points out just some of the embedded homophobia and racism in the films;
- one character refers to another’s dentist as “Doctor Faggot,” and the line is meant to be “funny”
- gay, Asian wannabe gangster (named Mr. Chow) played by Ken Jeong who uses “So long, gay boys” as an insult.
- a transgender stripper has anal sex with one of the movie’s leads, played by Ed Helms. Her encounter with Helms’ character also becomes a running gag as the characters make fun of him for enjoying anal sex with a trans person
- the series continually uses the word “gay” as an insult
And now in Philip’s new role as “serious” filmmaker, his new effort Joker, has generated controversy on the festival circuit for its gratuitous violence. Survivors of the 2012 Aurora, Colorado cinema massacre sent a letter to Warner Bros. with concerns over the violence in the film, and called on the studio to stop donating money to gun organizations or politicians that refuse to support gun control.
The U.S. Army has also distributed literature to service members advising them of how to handle active shooters that might open fire during the film.
Phillips has referred to the concerns that the film might spark violence as
“a commodity.”
(Photo, screen grab; via Queerty)
