One of the things I appreciate about Seth Rogen is that he doesn't shy away from tough questions. In a recent interview on Good Morning Britain to promote his book, Yearbook, Rogen took comedy and jokes head-on. 

After being asked about material and jokes he wrote years ago, the comedian said, “There are certain jokes that for sure have not aged well, but I think that’s the nature of comedy. I think conceptually those movies are sound, and I think there’s a reason they’ve lasted as far as people still watching and enjoying them today. Jokes are not things that necessarily are built to last.”

Rogen continued, “To me when I see comedians complaining about this kind of thing, I don’t understand what they’re complaining about. If you’ve made a joke that’s aged terribly, accept it. And if you don’t think it’s aged terribly, then say that.”

Rogen said acceptance is better than bemoaning that tastes and times change.

"To me, it’s not worth complaining about to the degree I see other comedians complaining about,” Rogen said.

I think this is an important shift in the way many mainstream comedy people have viewed cancel culture. For far too often we've heard that comedy is not possible because people are afraid of being canceled. But what's actually the case is that time changes tastes and improves cultural understanding. 

After being asked by Good Morning Britain hosts if Rogen would have to search Twitter to delete his controversial jokes, Rogen said, “I was never a comedian that made jokes that were truly designed to target groups that were subjugated in some way. Have we done that without realizing it? Definitely. And those things are in our movies and they’re out there, and they’re things that I am more than happy to say that they have not aged well.”

Rogen continued, “But in my Twitter, I’ve never made a joke that’s outwardly horrific in some way, and if you have, I would question why you did that."

Rogen said that writers should face their mistakes.

“Saying terrible things is bad, so if you’ve said something terrible, then it’s something you should confront in some way, shape, or form," he said. "I don’t think that’s cancel culture. That’s you saying something terrible if that’s what you’ve done.”

Of course, times change, and the jokes society found funny can lead to cringes now. No one is saying you can't be funny today, but you have to be okay taking things back or addressing them later. There are offensive statements or mean ones that come out in poor taste or anger that aren't really comedy, so people aren't being canceled for making jokes, but for being jerks. 

There's lots of nuance here, but I think Rogen is right. If you want to make a comedy, you have to be okay apologizing later or owning what material doesn't age well. 

Let us know what you think in the comments. 

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