PC Culture has run out of Edginess because the counterculture won
So why are we served up 52 seconds of non-controversy dressed up as edgy controversy? My guess is that in today’s society, genuine controversy is near-certain to run afoul of the forces of political correctness and social-justice warriors. And HBO, home of Bill Maher, Lena Dunham’s Girls, and that agitprop Anita Hill docudrama, doesn’t want to deal with that headache.
.. You can’t have much of an edgy, brave, dangerous counterculture without a buttoned-down, proper dominant culture to rebel against, and that dominant culture started dying in the 1950s. What we have here is a desperate effort toemulate the 1960s rebellion against the old order by a bunch of powerful people who refuse to recognize they’re the new order. Who are they rebelling against?The president? Nah, they love him. The pope? Have you noticed the complete disappearance of edgy, provocative comedians mocking the pope since Francis became associated with activism for climate change, illegal-immigrant rights,and denouncing corporate greed?
.. Of course, there’s nothing edgy or brave about mocking Donald Trump from Manhattan or Los Angeles. Try making fun of Turkish President Erdogan in Germany; now that takes courage. Or try making fun of Islamists anywhere.
.. Washington Redskins fans who wanted to keep their team’s name were asked, without warning, to justify the name to angry Native Americans on camera. Are these really the Americans most deserving of nationally-televised on-camera rebuke and humiliation?