Jennifer Aniston: “Comedians can’t say anything nowadays”
The star of Friends and the upcoming Netflix movie Murder Mystery 2, Jennifer Aniston, has discussed how comedy has become more sensitive in recent years.
“Comedians can’t say anything nowadays,” she told AFP in Paris, “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”. Aniston has long been known for her comedy performances, starring in Friends with David Schwimmer, Matthew Perry and Courteney Cox, as well as the 2013 movie We’re the Millers.
Continuing, the actor stated: “[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…There were things that were never intentional and others…well, we should have thought it through—but I don’t think there was a sensitivity like there is now”.
Making a plea for change in contemporary American culture, she declares, “everybody needs funny…The world needs humour! We can’t take ourselves too seriously—especially in the United States. Everyone is far too divided”.
Aniston is due to star in Murder Mystery 2 alongside Adam Sandler, Mélanie Laurent and Mark Strong, hitting Netflix on March 31st.
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