Laughter is the best medicine
Peter Beyfus
The BBC today reported Maureen Lipman’s astute comment regarding the impact of ‘Cancel Culture’ on our liberal democracy, highlighting the danger of the drip drip erosion of personal freedom that we have witnessed since the rise of wokism and Critical Race Theory. She is rightly concerned that comedy will no longer be a foil for showing up the ridiculous antics of humanity, and that comedians/ comediennes, must not forget gender equality, will be intimidated to tone down their material for fear of offending one or other minority group. Dave Chappelle has also been criticised for daring to poke fun at trans-gender issues, and Terry Gilliam has had his show at the Old Vic cancelled for supporting Chappelle: joking about woke will not do!
No one would advocate using offensive language to raise a laugh, but our society has seemingly become over-sensitive on a whole range of issues. Some entertainers are frightened that a joke may upset members of an audience, but comedians have always run the risk of causing some offence.
But what is different now is the drift toward a minority imposed censorship. Under the guise of expressing liberal sentiments the “woke” community, unelected, regards itself as the moral custodians of our society.
In the former Soviet Union, and now in countries like China and North Korea, there is censorship, bolstered by law; in our society disapproval is not legislated but legitimised by the Liberal Establishment and celebrity. Make a statement that conflicts with wokism and you are out of a job. Having the audacity to question any fringe group, then you are vilified on social media. It is surprising that few people have not made a connection with totalitarian regimes, or George Orwell’s ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’. Public apathy, of course, allows motivated groups to gain considerable influence, particularly whenever the silent majority stays schtum out of concern for being labelled undesirable.
What was the old saying about sticks and stones? Well, names do hurt and reputations, on occasions, unjustifiably, are ruined in the name of a minority ideology. Is there an answer to this increasing intolerance? The best counter is to challenge the often intellectually bereft comments of the woke community, and to urge people to support our right to free speech. Shirking that responsibility will lead to a loss of what most of us value: our right to dissent. If our voices are silenced; then our minds will soon be controlled not by an oppressive government but by a social movement that wishes to impose its will on the majority.