Cancel culture has become quite the hot pop culture topic over the last couple years, most recently fired up famously and furiously with the debate over some controversial comments in Dave Chappelle’s newest comedy special.
Leave it to an old pro like Dan Aykroyd to walk in and put a little calm into the situation, as he did while out on the promo trail for the new "Ghostbusters" sequel, “Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” in which Aykroyd reprises his hilarious character from the first film, Ray Stantz.
Within a fairly wide-ranging interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Aykroyd gave his take on the debate.
"There is enough range in humor where you don’t have to go scatological and you don’t have to go pulling any divisive cards to get a laugh," said Aykroyd. “There is more intelligent writing that can happen if you stay away from the offensive material."
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The breadth of Aykroyd’s career gives him a workable perspective that goes back to the edgy, social commentary comedy revolution of the late 1960s, whose then-cutting edge leaders (Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, Bill Cosby) are today being re-evaluated for certain race or gender-related bits.
And Aykroyd's experience means he has a wily way of dancing on the edges of some of the deeper wounds of the debate. "Who can be the subject of an impression today?” asked the funnyman. “That’s an area of discussion. Can I do my James Brown imitation? He was one of my best friends. I do his voice pretty good. But maybe I shouldn't anymore."
Largely known for his legendary stint on the earliest days of “Saturday Night Live,” and the resultant Blues Brothers characters and movies, it’s easy to forget Aykroyd is also an Oscar-nominated film actor (“Driving Miss Daisy,” 1989).
And it’s not like he’s far away from the always-changing pop culture landscape. He’s been very busy lately. Recently, he's been attached to a Blues Brothers docu-series being developed. The actor also narrated the Travel Channel’s ghostly reality series, “Hotel Paranormal.”
Thinking back on some of his most iconic characters from the early SNL days -- Erwin Mainway, Fred Garvin: Male Prostitute, and one of the Festrunk Brothers -- Aykroyd proved that, even way back then in the wildest days of the 1970s, he could create potentially offensive characters that could repel criticism with their multi-layers of smart social commentary.
Not to mention he was just really, really funny.
So being a highly respected and successful star, his well-chosen words carry more weight than some of the younger shouters on either side of the cancel culture debate bring to the table, or ring as it were.
And his deliberate stance of simply saying that comedy can be mined from many areas and doesn’t have to delve into degradation sounds logical coming from such his seasoned voice.
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“Ghostbusters: Afterlife” will arrive November 19, and is directed by Jason Reitman and produced by Ivan Reitman, Jason’s father who helmed the first two movies in the comedy-fantasy franchise.
How did Aykroyd feel about visiting the whole Ghostbusters world again?
“It was full joy, wall to wall,” he said. “What a privilege to be asked back to do that. It was creative satisfaction working again with Ernie [Hudson], Bill [Murray] and Sigourney [Weaver]. If it weren’t for Jason and Ivan, I don’t know if we would have had the magnificent cast. To hang with brothers like that, family, it’s always fun — memories of good and maybe bad.”
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