Hollywood star Jennifer Aniston noted in a recent interview that “a whole generation of kids” now finds Friends offensive, adding, “You have to be very careful,” because comedians are “not allowed” to engage in comedy in the manner they once did.
“Comedy has evolved, movies have evolved,” Aniston told AFP while in Paris where her new Murder Mystery 2 film with Adam Sandler is set.
“Now it’s a little tricky because you have to be very careful, which makes it really hard for comedians, because the beauty of comedy is that we make fun of ourselves, make fun of life,” the We’re the Millers star said.
Aniston went on to say that in the past, “You could joke about a bigot and have a laugh — that was hysterical. And it was about educating people on how ridiculous people were. And now we’re not allowed to do that.”
“There’s a whole generation of people, kids, who are now going back to episodes of Friends and find them offensive,” the actress said.
“There were things that were never intentional and others,” Aniston added. “Well, we should have thought it through — but I don’t think there was a sensitivity like there is now.”
The Just Go with It star concluded by saying that “Everybody needs funny! The world needs humor! We can’t take ourselves too seriously. Especially in the United States. Everyone is far too divided.”
In recent years, the ’90s hit sitcom Friends has been attacked for its lack of “diversity” in the cast.
Marta Kauffman, the show’s creator, atoned for the show’s lack of diversity by pledging $4 million to her alma mater, Brandeis University, to establish an endowed professorship in the school’s African and African American studies department.
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