Culture Report: Bill Maher vs. SDSU Student

The Internet is a pretty powerful vehicle for getting your thoughts and beliefs out there. And sometimes what you have to say grabs the attention of a well-known TV commentator famous for his biting sarcasm and low tolerance for whining.

Backstory: San Diego State University student Anthony Berteaux had a few choice words for comedy legend Jerry Seinfeld after his remarks about college students being too politically correct. “I don’t play colleges, but I hear a lot of people tell me, ‘Don’t go near colleges. They’re so PC,’” Seinfeld told ESPN Radio host Colin Cowherd. “They don’t know what they’re talking about.”

In response, Berteaux hammered out a pretty wordy open letter on The Huffington Post. And I thought Beef Week was over!

While comedy is meant to push boundaries and give raw, hilarious insight into everything from world politics to your bathroom habits at the office, there’s no longer room for shock humor with no value, Berteaux argued. For every Louis CK or Amy Schumer offering hilarious real talk on hot-button issues, there’s some dingus using the n-word to get a rise out of people and nothing more:

It isn’t so much that college students are too politically correct (whatever your definition of that concept is), it’s that comedy in our progressive society today can no longer afford to be crass, or provocative for the sake of being offensive. Sexist humor and racist humor can no longer exist in comedy because these concepts are based on archaic ideals that have perpetrated injustice against minorities in the past.

Unsurprisingly, HBO host Bill Maher jumped in on his nighttime show to call the SDSU student “a little sh*t” and basically gave him the ol’ “I don’t show up at your job and kick the squeegee out of your hand.” Maher also explained why he believes it’s important to let anyone be at the opposite end of a joke.

The San Diego Union-Tribune has the play-by-play.

You’re reading the Culture Report, Voice of San Diego’s weekly collection of the region’s cultural news.

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