More and more over recent years the term “politically correct” has seemingly taken on a life of its own. I think that this has to do with the birth of social media. Someone says the wrong thing, whether intentional or accidental, and they are immediately put on trial by the court of public opinion, with the court room being Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or any of the dozens of other social media apps. God forbid you end up on the wrong side of a hashtag these days (which I may because I openly used the word God).
The concept of being politically correct, in it- self is good. The simple definition according to Merriam-Webster Dictonary is “agreeing with the idea that people should be careful to not use language or behave in a way that could offend a particular group of people.” However, in my view, this simple idea of not wanting to offend people has gotten way out of hand.
A good example of this is a quote from Prin- ciple Seymour Skinner of the Simpsons. In one episode, he says, “And in a gutless act of political correctness, ‘Pizza Day’ will now be known as ‘Italian-American Sauced Bread Day.’” Another example is the Christmas episode from the first season of South Park (1997) in which the school’s Christmas pageant is all but eliminated because some part of it offends someone.
The Simpsons, South Park, Family Guy, etc. are constantly pushing the boundaries of good
taste (usually stepping way over them) in order to demonstrate how absurd being politically cor- rect has become. Used to be terms like “Kraut” or “Pollock” for those of German or Polish decent (of which I am both and neither of these has ever re- ally bothered me) or not using racial slurs for any ethnic group was the political correct thing to do.
These days it seems everyone is offended by something and it seems that the individual or group that was offended are the ones who get to decide what it is that offends them, but they don’t bother letting the rest of us know until after some- one says whatever it is they decided is offensive. The sad thing is that their idea of things they are offended by changes at their convenience. God forbid someone calls Caitlyn “Bruce!”
Yet it seems that those who either misuse the concept of political correctness or completely ig- nore it, get rewarded. “Guido” is a slang term, often derogatory, for a working-class urban Italian American. Originally, it was used as a demeaning term for Italian-Americans in general. However, the schmucks at MTV and the Jersey Shore throw this term around like they get a nickel every time someone says it.
During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump ignores not only political but basically any other kind of correctness and Republicans and Tea Party-types are eating out of his hand. So, how is it that when a common person says or does something offensive it is bad, but if it is part of a trendy reality show or a presidential cam- paign it is okay?
I don’t think the concept of politically correct- ness has gone too far, however I do think the way in which society uses or blatantly ignore it in or- der to fit ones needs has gone too far.
