Why “cancel culture” doesn’t apply to “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”
Since its creation 14 years ago, the sitcom “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” has brought both glory and disgrace to our city. The premise seems harmless: two twins, Dennis (Glenn Howerton) and Dee (Kaitlin Olson), their dad Frank (the almighty Danny DeVito), their two friends Mac (Rob McElhenney) and Charlie (Charlie Day) run an unsuccessful bar in South Philly called Paddy’s Pub.
The Gang, as they’re called, attempts to navigate adult life, find love and tend to their bar over 14 seasons, as season 14 premiered on Sept. 25th. However, it is far from an innocent sitcom about friends in Philly.
The show has had a politically incorrect history since the beginning. Its very first episode is titled, “The Gang Gets Racist,” in which Charlie says the N-word, and then dates a black woman to prove that he isn’t racist. In another episode, Mac does blackface, and later in the show there’s a sign on the bar that says “speak American.”
Up until season 12, Mac’s internal homophobia and struggle to come out of the closet was a running gag. The Gang repeatedly uses transphobic slurs to refer to Mac’s transgender girlfriend, Carmen. Dennis, who is probably a serial killer, got tricked into hooking up with a girl in high school and consistently talks about women as if they’re pieces of meat.
Dee seduced a priest into leaving the priesthood to help with one of their money-making schemes, and on more than one occasion pretended to be mentally disabled to get welfare money so she and Dennis could buy drugs. And Frank and Charlie are, well, Frank and Charlie.
So why hasn’t the show suffered from being so outright backwards and offensive? Because that’s literally the entire point of the show. The Gang consists of horrible, irredeemable people. And that’s why it’s funny.
McElhenney, Day, Howerton and the other writers aren’t endorsing the ideas portrayed in the show, they’re calling attention to the fact that offensive people like this actually exist and do so in a way that has been consistently funny for 14 years.
Where else can I laugh at people with a blatant misunderstanding of voting and the entire American democracy system like in “The Gang Runs for Office,” (other than in the White House)? Where else can I get a good, long chuckle out of a grown man kidnapping a little person because he thinks he’s a leprechaun (“Charlie Catches a Leprechaun”)?
The characters don’t say the punchline—they are the punchline. And they’ve managed to stay relevant through three presidential terms. Every season presents new episodes that are still funny and bring up “the same discussions that people are having in any given year,” said McElhenney in an interview with Rolling Stone.
“We’re certainly not lauding characters for their homophobia or misogyny or casual racism, […] it’s the complete opposite, we’re degrading our own characters for holding some of those views.”
McElhenney also mentioned the offensive, derogatory language used in some of the earlier seasons, saying that at “certain times, certain terminology we were using, […] we didn’t realize at the time was derogatory or inflammatory,” and addressed how they’ve retroactively tried to right those wrongs.
McElhenney, the creator of the show, is an alumnus of Philly’s own St. Joe’s Preparatory School, and it’s clear that he’s from the area. On the show, The Gang has mentioned Fairmount Park, our own backyard, as well as the Strawberry Mansion Bridge and other West Philly landmarks.
VisitPhilly.com has an entire page dedicated to spots in the city that The Gang has visited or that have been featured in the show. The show has poked fun at how Philly fans really do “get blasted” at Phillies games, and McElhenney Olson, and DeVito all attended the Eagles’ legendary Super Bowl LII victory, and victory parade down Broad Street.
The show has brought yet another funny aspect to our infamously crappy city, and has done so in the best way possible. Cancel culture, boycotting a person (or in this case a show) due to offensive behavior and/or comments, won’t have any effect on “It’s Always Sunny,” because true fans understands that the characters and plotline in the show are supposed to be awful.
You aren’t supposed to root for The Gang, and you aren’t supposed to want The Gang to be happy (although you might, after a few episodes). It’d be easy to say that fans are just so used to the show’s lopsided jokes that they can overlook The Gang’s awful tendencies, but that’d be incorrect too.
The show seems to gain viewers every season, and I swear I see more Paddy’s Pub shirts and stickers on campus every month (I’m literally wearing a Paddy’s Pub shirt as I write this). I have also coerced my roommates into watching a few episodes with me, and now they’re completely hooked.
It’s practically a personality test—if you watch “It’s Always Sunny,” you have a sense of humor that’s worthwhile. You don’t like “It’s Always Sunny” because you ignore its racist, homophobic, insensitive characters and their jokes. You like it because you know that the racist, homophobic, insensitive characters are the whole joke. And the joke is funny.
So “It’s Always Sunny” will prevail against cancel culture and continue being relevant, silly and unfailingly funny, and my roommates and I (along with the other viewers) will continue to laugh at the abject awfulness of The Gang.