Screenwriter Shade Rupe sent me this 1992 Siskel and Ebert review of Roland Joffé’s “City of Joy.” In it, Siskel goes for the jugular (4:22 mark) as he lambasts Hollywood’s obsession with politically correct moviemaking. Tell me the truth, would this type of film criticism fly in 2022? Of course not. Siskel even uses the word “gays.” The horror!
“I saw Hollywood people working in front of this movie and it bothered me. You know, increasingly, we’re getting pictures now … for example, last week’s show was full of films about different politically correct issues, being on the right side of the issue, like Puerto Ricans not being employed in the film industry and gays not getting a fair enough shake in the world .. the films are obviously politically correct but I don’t think the drama is there.”
This wasn’t the only time Siskel and Ebert slammed political correctness. I’ve already posted an old clip where Ebert states that “Political correctness is the fascism of the ’90s.”
“A lot of college writers are either working for their student papers or they’re writing papers that are gonna be read out loud in class,” Ebert added. “Political correctness is the fascism of the ’90s. It’s this rigid feeling that you have to keep your ideas and your ways of looking at things within very narrow boundaries or you’ll offend someone.”
I’m sure there are plenty of other anti-PC moments, but the Siskel and Ebert archives are so vastly labyrinthine that it’s damn-near impossible to find all of the times they mentioned it.