History Main / PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad

Along the same lines, a governmental authority (often a local council or MediaWatchdog) is accused of being over-zealous to the point of parody in trying to avoid offense to minority groups - not unlike the CulturePolice but in the other direction. [[{{Kotobagari}} Certain words or phrases are said to have been "banned"]], as if, say, Chipping Sodbury Borough Council has any effective power over the English language or, indeed, ''anything''. Often, the body in question are not only being overly cautious, they're actually oppressing the group that is the target of their actions, and are shocked should their targets explain that [[ForYourOwnGood a patronizing, paternalistic attitude]] can be [[UnwantedAssistance just as offensive as the perceived slight]]. On the other hand, since this is often a {{Parody}} we're dealing with, it's just as likely that the mere hint of the word "offense" will indeed result in the offending work being [[BannedInChina Banned In Chipping Sodbury]].

In some cases, this might be literally about political correctness taken too far, presented through a GranolaGirl or SoapboxSadie who [[StrawCharacter embodies the negative aspects of the PC movement]]. However, in other cases, the accusations of political correctness are baseless.

Along the same lines, a governmental authority (often a local council) is accused of being over-zealous to the point of parody in trying to avoid offense to minority groups - not unlike the CulturePolice but in the other direction. [[{{Kotobagari}} Certain words or phrases are said to have been "banned"]], as if, say, Chipping Sodbury Borough Council has any effective power over the English language or, indeed, ''anything''. Often, the body in question are not only being overly cautious, they're actually oppressing the group that is the target of their actions.

[[caption-width-right:300:[[TheFundamentalist You ignorant piece of shit!!]] Don't you know that only the Northern Hemisphere has Winter in December! [[note]] (they also forgot that some religions DO celebrate the Winter Solstice as such, as well as forgetting that Christmas takes place a few days AFTER the Winter Solstice)[[/note]]]]

** Duckman also featured occasional appearances from Iggy Catalpa, a wannabe comedian who tries to make his jokes as inclusive and inoffensive as possible. It doesn't work.

[[caption-width-right:300:Ah, but they forgot that only the Northern Hemisphere has Winter in December! (they also forgot that some religions DO celebrate the Winter Solstice as such, as well as forgetting that Christmas takes place a few days AFTER the Winter Solstice)]]

* The Viz release of the ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' manga changed an image resembling a crucifix (a man nailed onto a cross) into a man nailed to a stone slab.[[note]]This type of change is not completely unheard of, however. Furthermore, this one is often justified.[[/note]]

** Except that Gaiman is wrong. E.g. from my personal experience, a woman who mostly has sex with other women was told her sometimes choosing to have sex with men was "politically incorrect" (and that phrase was literally used in the criticism). This page is filled with counter-examples, such as the objections to displaying the Confederate Battle Flag in connection with historical material concerning the Civil War.\\

Similarly, censoring "Speedy Gonzales" to "avoid insulting people" who aren't insulted in the first place shows contempt, not respect. Automatically assuming you know what other people will think about a subject without asking them is ''NOT'' respectful.

* In the late 1980s, as Americans were becoming more health-conscious (itself an example of this trope), UsefulNotes/McDonalds introduced three kinds of salads, one of which was called "Chicken Salad Oriental" (and the "[=McDonald's Menu Song=]", recorded and released in 1989, reflects this). Neither the name nor the dish itself appears on the menu anymore, and in more recent decades other versions of that salad offered at other fast-food restaurants have taken to calling them "Asian salads." This is because, since the 1980s, many Asian-Americans have objected to being called "Orientals", claiming that it is a colonialist term and that it dehumanizes them because it's also used to describe things (such as "Oriental rugs").

All of this is especially ironic, considering that Political Correctness took on its contemporary meaning when the radical left began using it as a [[SelfDeprecation self-aware joke]] about the intrusion of Academic (the capital "A" ''is'' required) feminist and socialist argot into their everyday lives. Expect most of those invoking MarsAndVenusGenderContrast to imply, if not state outright, that they're taking a brave stand against this trope in the name of TruthInTelevision.

* ''ThisAmericanLife'' staffer Elna Baker, talking about letters from listeners about drug experiences, mentioned that several people on mushrooms had had visions of a Native American elder beckoning them along a path. Both Baker and host Ira Glass characterized such visions out of hand as "racist".

* In an episode of ''AllInTheFamily'', Archie did this intentionally. When a black man said that Hispanic people tended to avoid birth control, Archie responded, "Well ain't that the black calling the kettle pot?"

* The [[YanksWithTanks USAF]] fighter pilot band ''DosGringos'' has a song called ''You Gotta Be In The Guard'', which decries the increasing restrictions on fighter pilot behavior. The Air National Guard, according to them, is ''more'' lenient on conduct than the Air Force.

* The events in Philip Roth's ''The Human Stain'' are set in motion by this trope. The protagonist, Coleman Silk, is a college professor and after noticing that two students have not appeared for any of his lectures, asks his class "Does anyone know these people? Do they exist or are they spooks?". As it turns out, both of the missing students are black ''and'' "spook" is not only a term for "ghost" or "spy", but also a racial slur. Coleman then quits his job at the college amidst unfair accusations of racism, [[spoiler:which is very ironic, since he is black himself, albeit very light-skinned]]. [[note]]This whole episode happened in RealLife to Prof. Melvin Tumin, although, fortunately, he did not suffer Coleman's fate.[[/note]]

* In the ''Uncanny X-Men'' graphic novel ''ComicBook/GodLovesManKills'', ComicBook/KittyPryde's dance teacher Stevie Hunter attempts to keep Kitty from beating up a boy who'd called her a "mutie lover" (not knowing that Kitty herself was a mutant), by telling Kitty that "they're just words." Kitty immediately throws Stevie's seeming hypocrisy in her face, asking her if she'd be so calm had the boy called Kitty a "nigger lover." This is the second time Kitty has used the [[BerserkButton word "nigger"]] to highlight hypocrisy and xenophobia. Both examples got a lot of flak and continue to do so, where a number of readers objected to the use of the word ''even if it was to make a point about tolerance''. (Admittedly, part of said objections were disquiet with explicitly equating fictional prejudice and fictional slurs with real-life prejudice and real life slurs, instead of leaving them in the realm of subtext.)

** Somewhat lampshaded during Creator/KurtBusiek's run, where the team was forced to add at least one ethnic minority to its [[MonochromeCasting decidely-white roster]]. ComicBook/IronMan spends most of the issue complaining about how idiotic the notion of "diversity" is, while ComicBook/TheWasp feels crappy after realizing just how few minority members the team actually had up until that point. Thor and CaptainAmerica are also shown to be deeply angry and frustrated over the issue, believing that the Avengers should base their recruitment on actual talent, ability, competence, teamwork and dedication and not on ethnicity. Thor even goes so far as to ask "What does the color of a man's skin have to do with the content of his heart?"

* From ''Series/DoctorWho'':

* There is a story called ''[[http://www.gutenberg.org/files/24302/24302-h/24302-h.htm The Highest Treason]]'' by Creator/RandallGarrett. A society where you cannot say that one man can be better than another in ''anything'', promotion is strictly according to age, and that society is quickly losing a war against aliens. So, the protagonist, as a desperate patriot, [[spoiler: joins the enemy, helps them conquer a planet, and [[ZeroApprovalGambit slaughters the people there, showing the humanity that one person can be ''worse'']] than another]]. In the end, the humanity is victorious, and their philosophy is now that one man cannot be better than another in ''everything''.

** In another show, he discussed religious people who kept coming up to him after he made jokes about Catholics and Protestants for being "too scared" to make jokes about Muslims instead. Dara pointed out that the real reason that he didn't make jokes about Muslims was that neither he nor his likely audience [[SmallReferencePools actually]] ''[[SmallReferencePools knew]]'' [[[[SmallReferencePools anything about Muslims]], so even if he was to make a brilliant joke about Islam most of the people in the audience wouldn't get it anyway.

[[caption-width-right:300:Ah, but they forgot that only the Northern Hemisphere has Winter in December!]]

* ''Salon'' online magazine ran a Randa Jarrar rant about "white bellydancers" that was promptly demolished by commenters from all races, including a number of professional ''raqs sharqi'' instructors.

* Hilariously mocked in Saturday Night Live's fake advertisement for "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gj52y9kscwA Asian American Doll]]". The doll was made after a lot of "sensitivity meetings", she comes with a bland outfit, no name, a useless pull string, an empty dollhouse, and only two accessories (a puppy and a chef's hat). The girl in the commercial keeps coming up with a stereotype for the doll, like asking if she can help her with her homework, calling her Kiko, adding an Oriental rug to her house, and wondering if she can eat the puppy.

* ''Film/DemolitionMan'' takes place in a strange future where everything improper has been completely scrubbed out of society, including anything that could possibly be offensive.