Not to be outdone by Jerry Seinfeld, John Cleese has come out (once again) with his own statements against political correctness and “literal-mindedness.” Curiously, the comments come as Monty Python The comedian apparently bows to “the literal minded” as he stated that his next Fawlty Towers play will not include any racial slur, as reported by Variety.
The upcoming London West End adaptation of Fawlty Towers focuses on three of the original episodes of the '70s sitcom: “The Hotel Inspector,” “Communication Problems,” and “The Germans.” In the latter, both the N-word and a derogatory term for Indians were used. Cleese, who was a writer on the show and directed the adaptation, said he cut scenes from the play, although he doesn't seem too happy about it.
Speaking at the launch of Fawlty Towers – The WorkCleese said: “Those scenes where the major used a couple of words that you can't use now, racial slurs that would fall under, we cut those.”
“There's always a problem with comedy: You're dealing with literal-minded people,” he continued. “Every time you do comedy, you're dealing with literal-minded people, and literal-minded people don't understand irony. And that means that if you take them seriously, you get rid of a lot of comedy. Because literal-minded people don't understand metaphors, irony, or comic exaggeration. People who are not literal-minded can see that there are several different interpretations, depending on different contexts.”
This is not the first time “The Germans” has been criticized, nor is it the first time Cleese defends the content of the episode. In 2020, UKTV removed the episode due to racially insensitive language, a move which Cleese criticized.
“If you put meaningless words in the mouth of someone you want to make fun of, you're not conveying their views, you're making fun of them,” he said at the time. “The largest was an old fossil left over from decades before. We didn't support his views, we made fun of them. If they can't see that, if people are too stupid to see that, what can you say?”
In recent years, Cleese has made several statements about what he perceives to be a “disastrous” comedy culture. In 2020, he defended JK Rowling's transphobic rants, adding: “I'm afraid I'm not that interested in trans people.”
The following year, Cleese announced that he was developing a show about cancel culture for the UK's Channel 4, although as Deadline reported last month, John Cleese: Cancel me It appears to have been cancelled. He later criticized the “woke rules” in response to Cambridge University blacklisting Andrew Graham-Dixon after giving a speech in which he posed as Adolf Hitler.
Most recently, Cleese was the keynote speaker at the Endorsed by Fox News FreedomFest, where he talked about (you guessed it) cancel culture and wokeness.
Previews for Fawlty Towers – The Work will begin on May 4 at the Apollo Theater in London. In addition to the stage adaptation, Cleese has announced that she will write and star in a Fawlty Towers Revival series in collaboration with his daughter Camilla.
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