Why Bill Mayer thinks ‘Trigger Warning’ is ruining America

Bill Maher, the host of “Real Time,” railed against trigger warnings as he wrapped up his programme on Friday night. He claimed that they are a problem in contemporary culture.

Beginning with a study, Maher compared trigger warnings to a “seat belt made of broken glass,” saying that they “don’t work” and even “make it worse” for the traumatised people for whom they are intended.

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“A trigger warning is a kind of ‘Close your eyes, here comes an ouchy’ that like so many bad ideas in recent years got started on college campuses. Students started demanding them so they could get ready in case something a book, or a piece of art, or a history lesson reminded them that life included bad things and not just good and sometimes people were mean. You can’t have that just sprung on ya,” he stated.

Then he made fun of colleges for creating lists of terms that ought to be banned or phased out, including “you guys,” “white paper,” “peanut gallery,” “insane,” and “virgin.”

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The HBO actor disparaged the prevalence of trigger warnings in social media and the entertainment industry, making fun of the way they were inserted into movies like “Dumbo” and “Gone With the Wind.” He reminded his audience that theatregoers at one staged performance in Minneapolis had been cautioned about “haze,” saying, “in case you’ve been groped by a thick fog.” Customers of a Brooklyn theatre were forewarned that a performance of the legendary show “Oklahoma” might contain “moments of darkness and violence.”

“My senior class in high school put on ‘Oklahoma’ and I thought it was corny and provincial then. I cannot imagine the fragility of someone who needs to be warned about it. How did these people get to the airport, let alone through childhood?” he added.

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“London’s Globe Theatre felt the need to tell the audience that its production of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ include suicide. Okay, but ‘Romeo and Juliet’ has been in your Netflix queue since 1596. You’ve had 400 years to prepare. And also, it just kind of gave away the ending. I don’t understand how a society that so in love with spoiler alerts can also be into trigger warnings. ‘Tell me what’s going to happen, but don’t tell me!'”

Maher is renowned for his sociopolitical analysis and political humour. He criticises a variety of subjects, such as politics, faith, and the media. His 2008 documentary film Religulous was inspired by his scepticism of faith. He has supported animal rights since 1997 and is a member of Project Reason’s advisory board. He has also worked on the board of PETA. Maher, a member of NORML’s advisory council, is in favour of legalising marijuana.