Did you even watch this? He's not saying political correctness is bad. He's saying that sometimes we trip over ourselves and misunderstand what that's supposed to be, and it can often be used for humor. I've seen almost every episode of Community, and the only character on the show who is even remotely racist is repeatedly mocked for it and he's considered by the other characters to be a dick.
Even Pierce isn't a racist solely because he is a dick. He is racist because he represents the older, out of touch demographic of a community. He was inherently wealthy and grew up in a time much earlier than the rest of the cast, while social change was in its infancy. But at the end of the day, just wants to be accepted by the group. It's an allegory for millions of 75yr+ ers out there that have to change everything they were taught and told just to assimilate into new-age society and "fit in".
I'm writing a master's thesis on the characters of Abed and Troy as representation of the geek stereotype, and this interview is SO helpful for the part on the deviation of the stereotype by casting people of colour as geeks. Thanks.
HE didn't even notice he was on the spectrum until he noticed abed responded well with the autistic community and he realized he might be more like abed than jeff
Actually Joel McHale has some room for improv, particularly coz he was constantly discussing his role with Dan Harmon. Dan even said in a Reddit "Ask Me Anything" he felt Joel is the one who should be complaining about him, but it seems he's way more professional than Chevy to do that.
It's all about your reality, that you make from your life experiences. As I understand it, Dan went to a mainly black school, so his experiences are going to be different from the norm. I know that myself and my peer group are certainly less obsessed with race but that seems to me to be (not consciously) a reaction against the embedded racism in our realities. We just try and ignore issues of race because it's such a hot button in our community, and people are afraid of being branded racists.
To be honest, he speaks about the show with much more bravado because it's HIS show. Everyone else on that panel can only give small snippets about the shows they work on because they don't explore nearly as much in terms of comedy that Community has, and these shows aren't their complete brainchilds. I'm not saying he's totally articulate or a great public speaker, but he is the brain behind Community, so I expect him to be intense and a little all over the place.
dan's day should be 32 hours long so he can get every genius sentence out of his brain to explain everything he wants to. what an extraordinary man! a true genius. it takes 4 different people and all their notions to get every aspect of one scene he thought of alone.
Dan seems like an intense dude. I can see that he might have been difficult to work with, and probably was too obsessed with his work. But you know who else fit that description? Steve Jobs, Mozart, Tesla, Van Gough, effing Batman and just about anybody else who's awesome and done anything worth a damn. Hopefully he can find a place doing a comedy on HBO or somewhere where they can take the shackles off, and let him do what he does best.
That's funny. The asian guy says he's proud of the fact that his writing staff is a perfect blend of races and sexes. RIGHT after Dan says how racially obsessed America is. Man, i can't wait for the majority of Americans to catch up and realize that the key to being truly un-racist and un-sexist is to not see those characteristics as noteworthy. You can have a writer's room wit just 8 white males and ITS OK, PEOPLE. You could also have a room with just 7 black females and IT'S STILL OK, PEOPLE.
Yup. But if you have an industry where 200 TV shows all have 8 white males, then maybe that's a really, really, terribly bad thing. Not saying that's the reality, per se, but we've got to be afraid and aware of that. And in fact, if you want a whole bunch of difference races in a writing group, then that's cool too, according to your theory.
And in fact at 9:55 Dan Harmon talks about the point where he realized he'd hired all white cast for an all white writer's room and that's where he decided to be proactive and try other stuff outside his comfortable norm. It's not that there's nothing inherently *bad* with an all-white-male writing room, it's just that there's so much room for so much more, and I think the best thing you can do is be aware of that and allow for that. Because understanding other cultures is a super important thing and if we're afraid of that, we're not being open enough.
Event Horizon Productions You should hear what Denzel Washington had to say about the difference between having him direct Fences and getting someone who's not black direct it. If someone grew up in a certain culture, it doesn't necessilarly mean they'll be the best fit to write or direct something set in that culture, but they will have certain knowledge that could make the film/show more authentic. I'm Asian, and there's certain obscure things that I can add to a film about my culture that someone who's not Asian who could direct the film might miss out on regardless of how long they immerse themselves in the culture. There's certain smells, certain sounds, and a million other obscure things that made up my childhood that I could add to a film. I could direct an actor to behave a certain way to receiving a certain candy and I could know the importance of that candy and have them behave how I know people would genuinely behave to it. None of this really matters too much, it just captures the authenticity and can help people relate but getting things grossly wrong can be jarring or even offensive. Take that for what you will, I don't much care if people are even offended if the director made a valiant effort rather than just stereotyping. There's no way they could get everything right.
Ok, I'm not taking this back, but, darn it, Dan, what's with this season 2. You are saying you are not scripting it, but it made me LOL twice literally. S0215 - the agent in the dorm scene and S0217 - Pierce leaving with the Chinese chick. This is now 3 to 1 in LOLZ to TBBT. These were not Glover's imrpos (remember the Fun Vamipre in S01). This was pure situation comedy. This was script. Are you a genius or sharlatan?
At the risk of sounding like Abed (which is what you do in this interview), damn it, Harmon. You are lucky. Either by getting the job and great actors or by getting the brain to come up with this stuff by yourself. In any case, if you ever read this, let it be known: I appologise for the harsh critique. It doesn't matter where it comes from, but it's there and we have you to thank for it. Now, go back and work. And if there's any justice out there, we'll meet in a couple of years.
I have a lot to say about this, but I'll just sum it up by saying I think there's something really fucking questionable about some white guy being "obsessed with race," thinking that this is in any a way a kind of post-racial society, and seeming to think that being "politically correct" (a.k.a. not being racist) is a bad thing.
I take it back. I have watched it all. He has a point and a story. Unfortunately he still does not know how to come across as a human without a number of modern day disorders.
This was painful to watch. He is an incompetent speaker. He does not communicate with his audience and generally exhibits many traits ADHD / Asperger’s. I wonder how he ever managed to push his ideas to a major network, but seeing that actors improvise most of the time during his how, he does not have many to start with. He is trying too hard with a show, that just brings back the age old premise of “what have we learned today”, only this time it’s for the antisocial Internet era kids.
this will forever be the dumbest and most terribly aged comment in this comments section. Apart from some throwaway lines, most of the show was very tightly written. It wasnt "let's just make the actors improvise and see what happens durr". Also demeaning someone for having aspergers? You're doubly pathetic.
I find it ironically hilarious that you wrote this in the middle of Community Season 4. i.e. that live experiment where your argument was put to the test and the actors (along with a number of legitimately great writers) failed to continue the show without those precious "not many" of Dan Harmon's ideas
This was in my "watch later" list, I have no memory of adding this 8 years ago, but good interview!
That mascot episode was so far ahead of its time. It’s value is just now being revealed.
Also when dan said "nobody watches". I was like damn if only he knew how popular it would become.. Community was truly streets ahead.
Did you even watch this? He's not saying political correctness is bad. He's saying that sometimes we trip over ourselves and misunderstand what that's supposed to be, and it can often be used for humor. I've seen almost every episode of Community, and the only character on the show who is even remotely racist is repeatedly mocked for it and he's considered by the other characters to be a dick.
You're talking about Starburns, right? ;)
Even Pierce isn't a racist solely because he is a dick. He is racist because he represents the older, out of touch demographic of a community. He was inherently wealthy and grew up in a time much earlier than the rest of the cast, while social change was in its infancy. But at the end of the day, just wants to be accepted by the group.
It's an allegory for millions of 75yr+ ers out there that have to change everything they were taught and told just to assimilate into new-age society and "fit in".
Yeah, but then there are moments where every character could be perceived as Racist - Shirley, The Dean, Britta Etc.
Pierce was the best and he faked his death
I'm writing a master's thesis on the characters of Abed and Troy as representation of the geek stereotype, and this interview is SO helpful for the part on the deviation of the stereotype by casting people of colour as geeks. Thanks.
You sound like a dweeb.
Harmon looks so... clean.
lol the cameraman knows who the real genius is
This camera work is pretty distractingly bad. Who's even talking at 8:53? But good interview.
He's mildly autistic, yeah. He didn't even realize it until he noticed how similar he was to Abed.
HE didn't even notice he was on the spectrum until he noticed abed responded well with the autistic community and he realized he might be more like abed than jeff
Could you imagine a conversation between Dan Harmon and Tarantino? Heads would explode
Babbling in stereo.
Actually Joel McHale has some room for improv, particularly coz he was constantly discussing his role with Dan Harmon. Dan even said in a Reddit "Ask Me Anything" he felt Joel is the one who should be complaining about him, but it seems he's way more professional than Chevy to do that.
Harmon has aged three years for every one.
Parks and Rec's address on race was totally awkward and weird lmao
Yep
This camera moves around like Wayne's World's Freak Out cam.
the subtitles at 7:40 feel like a big mistake
It's all about your reality, that you make from your life experiences. As I understand it, Dan went to a mainly black school, so his experiences are going to be different from the norm. I know that myself and my peer group are certainly less obsessed with race but that seems to me to be (not consciously) a reaction against the embedded racism in our realities. We just try and ignore issues of race because it's such a hot button in our community, and people are afraid of being branded racists.
To be honest, he speaks about the show with much more bravado because it's HIS show. Everyone else on that panel can only give small snippets about the shows they work on because they don't explore nearly as much in terms of comedy that Community has, and these shows aren't their complete brainchilds. I'm not saying he's totally articulate or a great public speaker, but he is the brain behind Community, so I expect him to be intense and a little all over the place.
This was insightful...
who is this guy filming
it's a girl
Dan Harmon is like Abed with Anxiety
04:22 you're goldbluming again!
Dude, is Dan Harmon on the Spectrum. Theres a lot of red flags there
Yh while writing for the character of abed he found out he has aspergers
He's not making eye contact, but that could be one of or a combo of autism and or social anxiety.
Dan has that Anime eye shade effect. XD
lol She called him Dave
I'm preety sure she was talking to the moderator David Wyatt
1/2 Polish half Arab
Played by half Polish half Indian man. I felt they didn't make race an issue, they just dealt with it as simple facts.
Ayrab *Pierce*
dan's day should be 32 hours long so he can get every genius sentence out of his brain to explain everything he wants to. what an extraordinary man! a true genius. it takes 4 different people and all their notions to get every aspect of one scene he thought of alone.
Your not wrong, they basically just regurgitated what he said, after he said it, in a less articulate way.
seems like Justin Rolland is behind the camera lol
would have loved to see Shonda Rhimes here.
Dan seems like an intense dude. I can see that he might have been difficult to work with, and probably was too obsessed with his work. But you know who else fit that description? Steve Jobs, Mozart, Tesla, Van Gough, effing Batman and just about anybody else who's awesome and done anything worth a damn. Hopefully he can find a place doing a comedy on HBO or somewhere where they can take the shackles off, and let him do what he does best.
RICK AND MORTY MOTHAFUCKAAA
With genius comes alot of madness
why was he fired?
Alcoholic and extremely toxic to the writing staff and Chevy Chase as well as sexual report allegations, he's talked about it alot
Some dudes don't know not to start.
Let her speak!
I like the way lady being slightly triggered by word Race
That's funny. The asian guy says he's proud of the fact that his writing staff is a perfect blend of races and sexes. RIGHT after Dan says how racially obsessed America is. Man, i can't wait for the majority of Americans to catch up and realize that the key to being truly un-racist and un-sexist is to not see those characteristics as noteworthy. You can have a writer's room wit just 8 white males and ITS OK, PEOPLE. You could also have a room with just 7 black females and IT'S STILL OK, PEOPLE.
I wonder if that dude realized the situation later lol
Yup. But if you have an industry where 200 TV shows all have 8 white males, then maybe that's a really, really, terribly bad thing. Not saying that's the reality, per se, but we've got to be afraid and aware of that. And in fact, if you want a whole bunch of difference races in a writing group, then that's cool too, according to your theory.
And in fact at 9:55 Dan Harmon talks about the point where he realized he'd hired all white cast for an all white writer's room and that's where he decided to be proactive and try other stuff outside his comfortable norm. It's not that there's nothing inherently *bad* with an all-white-male writing room, it's just that there's so much room for so much more, and I think the best thing you can do is be aware of that and allow for that. Because understanding other cultures is a super important thing and if we're afraid of that, we're not being open enough.
Event Horizon Productions
You should hear what Denzel Washington had to say about the difference between having him direct Fences and getting someone who's not black direct it. If someone grew up in a certain culture, it doesn't necessilarly mean they'll be the best fit to write or direct something set in that culture, but they will have certain knowledge that could make the film/show more authentic.
I'm Asian, and there's certain obscure things that I can add to a film about my culture that someone who's not Asian who could direct the film might miss out on regardless of how long they immerse themselves in the culture. There's certain smells, certain sounds, and a million other obscure things that made up my childhood that I could add to a film. I could direct an actor to behave a certain way to receiving a certain candy and I could know the importance of that candy and have them behave how I know people would genuinely behave to it. None of this really matters too much, it just captures the authenticity and can help people relate but getting things grossly wrong can be jarring or even offensive. Take that for what you will, I don't much care if people are even offended if the director made a valiant effort rather than just stereotyping. There's no way they could get everything right.
lmao "the asian guy"
Ok, I'm not taking this back, but, darn it, Dan, what's with this season 2. You are saying you are not scripting it, but it made me LOL twice literally. S0215 - the agent in the dorm scene and S0217 - Pierce leaving with the Chinese chick. This is now 3 to 1 in LOLZ to TBBT. These were not Glover's imrpos (remember the Fun Vamipre in S01). This was pure situation comedy. This was script. Are you a genius or sharlatan?
Worst cameraman ever.
This guy sounds like the Flu Haten' Rapper hmmm... 🤔 🙃
At the risk of sounding like Abed (which is what you do in this interview), damn it, Harmon. You are lucky. Either by getting the job and great actors or by getting the brain to come up with this stuff by yourself. In any case, if you ever read this, let it be known: I appologise for the harsh critique. It doesn't matter where it comes from, but it's there and we have you to thank for it. Now, go back and work. And if there's any justice out there, we'll meet in a couple of years.
Indian American character? Abed is an Arab
The actor is Indian/Polish
That guy worked on P&R; he was talking about Tom, Aziz's character
I have a lot to say about this, but I'll just sum it up by saying I think there's something really fucking questionable about some white guy being "obsessed with race," thinking that this is in any a way a kind of post-racial society, and seeming to think that being "politically correct" (a.k.a. not being racist) is a bad thing.
Fuckin' Dan Harmon, the dude literally doesn't know how to stop talking.
I take it back. I have watched it all. He has a point and a story. Unfortunately he still does not know how to come across as a human without a number of modern day disorders.
This was painful to watch. He is an incompetent speaker. He does not communicate with his audience and generally exhibits many traits ADHD / Asperger’s. I wonder how he ever managed to push his ideas to a major network, but seeing that actors improvise most of the time during his how, he does not have many to start with. He is trying too hard with a show, that just brings back the age old premise of “what have we learned today”, only this time it’s for the antisocial Internet era kids.
When you create 2 of the greatest shows of the century, we will listen to your opinion.
@@quick2bud what !
this will forever be the dumbest and most terribly aged comment in this comments section. Apart from some throwaway lines, most of the show was very tightly written. It wasnt "let's just make the actors improvise and see what happens durr". Also demeaning someone for having aspergers? You're doubly pathetic.
I find it ironically hilarious that you wrote this in the middle of Community Season 4. i.e. that live experiment where your argument was put to the test and the actors (along with a number of legitimately great writers) failed to continue the show without those precious "not many" of Dan Harmon's ideas