Stop me if you've heard this one before -- an obscenely wealthy white man is worried about "cancel culture."
Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has voiced his concern about this media-created bogeyman in a new interview published by The Ringer on Friday.
The comments came while Rodgers was discussing his favorite works of pop culture. The 37-year-old former Cal Bears standout cited "The Office" -- both the British and American versions of the hit sitcom -- as two of his favorite shows.
But Rodgers is apparently concerned that many of the gags on the US version of the longtime NBC hit comedy, which ran from 2005-13, wouldn't fly in "today's culture."
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"I think the thing I love about it the most is that show, unfortunately, would get canceled in today’s culture, probably," Rodgers said. "Because everybody’s always looking to cancel something for some reason.
"It’s not precious humor, it is a lot like British humor. And British humor is not precious, you know. They talk about topics in jest using comedy to make light of things that maybe people are too offended about. Or maybe topics that [we] need more conversation around. I think that’s what The Office did."
While The Office hasn't exactly been "canceled" -- it's still widely beloved, and reruns air on at least a couple networks -- it has come under scrutiny for problematic jokes and story lines since it wrapped eight years ago.
Asked to explain why he thinks The Office would be "canceled," Rodgers cited "social media" and the lowly peons who dare pause from the "misery" of their everyday lives to express their opinions.
“Everybody wants something to be offended about,” Rodgers said. “People have a voice now with social media. There’s a level of misery to people’s lives, and instead of working on themselves and trying to better themselves, it’s almost more fun for them to feel better about themselves by canceling somebody else and tearing down somebody else instead of building more connection and love in this world. I think that’s unfortunately a path that too many people take.”
Yikes.
At a time of unprecedented social and economic inequality that has now surpassed that of the Gilded Age -- compounded with a raging global pandemic that's taken millions of lives over the course of 18 months -- A-Rod thinks all that misery can be rectified with a little self-reflection.
Just spitballing here, but might Rodgers have a vested interest in redirecting public anger, given his vast fortune?
In railing against "cancel culture," the three-time NFL MVP joins reactionary sports luminaries such as Mike Milbury, Bob Baffert and Curt Schilling.
All the more curious is Rodgers appears to be out of step politically with "wokies" such as his own fiancee, Shailene Woodley, who has been active in progressive politics and was arrested and "strip-searched" in 2016 while protesting the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline at the Standing Rock native reservation in North Dakota.
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