Comedian Michael Herbig thinks it's right that some things aren't talked about like they were 20 years ago. Today he questions his parody "The Shoe of Manitou". However, the justification does not sound very convincing. He is still looking for answers in the current debate.
Comedian, actor and director Michael Herbig would no longer do the Karl May film parody "Der Schuh des Manitou" like this today. "I made the film 22 years ago and it was a parody of films that were in cinemas 60 years ago," explained the comedian, often also called "Bully" Herbig, on the Radio Bremen talk show "3 nach 9". with Giovanni di Lorenzo. Back then, it had to do with passion, the joy of playing and the realization of dreams. Today he would no longer do it that way, said Herbig.
Why? "The comedy police have gotten so strict." That takes a bit of the innocence and freedom, said the comedian, who as a director will bring the film "A Thousand Lines" with Elyas M'Barek and Jonas Nay to the cinema at the end of September, a cinematic approach to the scandal surrounding the "Spiegel" reporter Claas Relotius, who is called Lars Bogenius here. Herbig said he thinks it's right that people don't talk about certain things like they did 20 years ago. There are many loud voices these days and everyone is "dissatisfied with the overall situation"; he still has no answer for himself, says Herbig.
He was asked about the current raging debate about cultural appropriation and racism. This came about after the Ravensburger publishing house announced in mid-August that it would stop the delivery of two children's books for the film of the same name "The Young Chief Winnetou" and remove them from the program. In an Instagram post, Ravensburger wrote that user feedback showed "that we hurt the feelings of others with the Winnetou titles". A number of users of the social media platform accused the company of giving in to criticism. On the other hand, there was also support for the decision.
Herbig became popular in the 1990s with the comedy show "Bullyparade". The film "Der Schuh des Manitou" is about the two blood brothers Abahachi (Herbig) and Ranger (Christian Tramitz) who are wrongly accused of murder. The images of Winnetou and Old Shatterhand speak Bavarian and are looking for a treasure map, crime boss Santa Maria (Sky du Mont) is on their heels. The film also features the gay Abahachi twin brother Winnetouch, who runs a beauty farm on the "Powder Pink Ranch". Many like the comedy, which has had millions of cinema viewers, for others it is just a cloak. The gay cliché in it has often been criticized.
Herbig said on "3 after 9" that shooting a comedy is much more difficult today: "Because you have the feeling that you step on people's toes very quickly." If someone throws the argument "You hurt my feelings" at you, you can't say "That's not true at all". He believes that there will soon be fewer people doing comedy because many think "that's too hot for me".
Herbig also said that it becomes very complicated when a group that is shown in the film is divided into camps. Then there are people who say "I find it funny, I recognize myself there, I feel caught, I can laugh about it" and others who say "I feel discriminated against or I feel insulted, hurt ". Herbig: "Then I'm out, then I don't know who to listen to anymore."
(This article was first published on Saturday 03 September 2022.)
