Gary Oldman and Political Correctness

Before I start on the meat of this post: I'm talking about this more because of Gary Oldman's influence and very likely confusion about the term than hating on the actor himself.

I like to say that I'm not politically correct. The term, to me, is more about being worried about what might offend people rather than what does offend people. Of course you should worry that you might insult people, but you shouldn't be so concerned that you are worried about every little thing. Because sometimes you'll find that people aren't as easily offended as you thought.

There's a difference between not like hearing the "n word" from a white person and a totally different thing to edit Huckleberry Finn (by Mark Twain) so it doesn't have the "n word".

The first example you're just having empathy. You're realizing that the word does have a big negative impact on people. You're caring for people in a good manner by not saying the word.

The second example is what I mean by Political Correctness. If you agree with the second example you are entirely forgetting why that word is used in the novel. Mark Twain was an author that liked to use the vernacular, aka how people actually speak, in his writings. And guess what? Back in the day, that Twain wrote the novel, that is how people spoke in that area. Be angry at the people who used the word, but don't censor Mark Twain to put a modern sensibility on the novel.

Recently Gary Oldman seemed to get confused on what Political Correctness means and seemed to state that you can say anything. If you disagree with that, you're just being Politically Correct.

He stated opinions like not voting for 12 Years a Slave during the Oscars makes people call you a racist. Maybe to some people, but I'm not going to call someone racist for not liking the movie. Just because you like different movies doesn't make you a "racist" or a "sick puppy".

One of the worse things that Oldman stated was his defense of Mel Gibson. Now Gibson made some good films, but he has stated anti-semantic remarks. There's nothing Politically Correct about being offended when someone insults a whole group of people. It's just common sense to recognize an asshole.

Of course Gary Oldman had to apologize. The backlash from his comments was huge. In his apology, though, he didn't address every group he insulted.

I really hope that people don't take Gary Oldman's view of Political Correctness to heart. That people who feel Political Correctness is the way to go don't use Oldman as showing why they're right. And that people who don't feel Political Correctness is right don't use Oldman as an excuse to say hate and then blame you for being Politically Correct if you're insulted.