Resources
This article from iNews explores not only the controversy in It’s Always Sunny, but also why we as viewers think it’s so funny. The author brings up the idea that maybe no human is fully politically correct and that maybe we laugh at these terrible things because we ourselves are terrible people. This article then goes on to provide some examples of how this show has its own way of exploring controversial ideas, which is humorizing them. The author discusses specific scenes as evidence and ultimately asks the question: Is this show controversial, or brilliant?
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/53gxba/does-its-always-sunny-in-philadelphia-still-work-in-2017
This article on Vice expands more on the fact that this show was written in a different time and that it is interpreted differently in 2017. Even season 12 is as crude as the first, and the author explores whether that’s okay in the society we live in today. Is it a good thing to change the basis of the show and make it more politically correct, or is it a good thing that “the gang” stays the same? It opens up questions about whether the plot of the show and the actions of the characters are still relevant today.
https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/1/8/14194356/always-sunny-in-philadelphia-gang-turns-black-recap
This article by Vox focuses on the episode where the gang begins to believe they are African American because they appear to one another in the mirror as African American people (played by African American actors.) This article argues that although the episode was still moderately funny, it does not truly encapsulate the black experience because the show’s creators are white, and that was reflected in the script and the episode as a whole. They argue that although the creators tried to show inequality African American people go through on a daily basis, it is inaccurate because the writers only see this inequality in real life and do not actually feel or go through it.
This article goes into detail about how the show has become more politically correct with season 12. As the times have changed the show has become increasingly controversial, and the creators have now made an effort in season 12 to work on being more politically correct. The most notable example is the “The Gang Turns Black” episode where the message talks about how African American people do face hardships in life while still keeping the comedic theme the show has thrived on for years intact. The article goes through multiple examples from season 12 that seem to trend towards a more politically correct show, although these episodes still make fun of their topics as well.