63-year-old Julia Louis-Dreyfus rose to fame as a comedian on Saturday Night Live. She has both watched the cultural landscape surrounding comedy transform in real time over the decades and been a part of its evolution. Discussing the recent uptick in political correctness and awareness, Julia has offered a middle-ground perspective that acknowledges where these cautious sentiments have come from.
In addition to a three-year stint on SNL, Julia is also known for playing Elaine Benes on Seinfeld from 1990 to 1998. Her television work continued through The New Adventures of Old Christine and Veep. Looking back on some of the jokes she’s been a part of, Julia believes many could not be made today—and that’s okay.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus reflects on the evolution of humor and political correctness
Last week, Julia spoke with The New York Times about comedy and the changing landscape of humor. “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 mused.
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She continued, “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. I believe being aware of certain sensitivities is not a bad thing.”
Her views and plans don’t quite align with her co-star
In contrast to Julia’s view on keeping an open mind regarding political correctness, her former Seinfeld co-star Jerry Seinfeld feels that all it has done is ruin comedy. “Nothing really affects comedy. People always need it,” he has posited. “They need it so badly and they don’t get it.”
Seinfeld went on to argue that “It used to be, you would go home at the end of the day, most people would go, ‘Oh, Cheers is on. Oh, M*A*S*H is on. Oh, 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 P.C. crap, and people worrying so much about offending other people.”
Julia is not focused entirely on comedy at the moment. Both her film and television credits received an update last year, with Tuesday as her last movie and HouseBroken as her latest show. However, next year, fans can look forward to seeing Julia in Thunderbolts*, which is a new addition to Marvel’s extensive movie library. It boasts an ensemble cast consisting of Julia as well as Harrison Ford, Sebastian Stan, Hannah John-Kamen, Wyatt Russell, David Harbour, Florence Pugh, and more. Julia plays the character of Zora.
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