Ricky Gervais says people can handle fictional comedy 'because real life is worse'
"Humor is to get us through dark times," Gervais said.
Actor and comedian Ricky Gervais says fictional shows imitating reality can serve as "an inoculation to really bad things" that people experience in their own life.
On Monday, the star talked about his hit dark comedy series "After Life," which focuses on a man's grief after his wife dies of cancer.
Gervais attributed the show's success to viewers' interest in watching content that "they're not used to seeing."
"We second guess the audience too much as creators or studios. We think, 'Oh, this is a bit dark or this is a bit controversial or this is a bit taboo or this is a bit harsh. Can they take it?' Well of course they can," Gervais said on "The View."
He went on, "People can take anything in fiction because real life is worse. When people see something they haven't seen before, and it's true and it's uncompromised, they're drawn to it because they think, 'Yeah. That's real. I like that.'"
"People like seeing real life reflected in fiction because we create our own heroes and villains its role play for the soul," Gervais added. "Humor is to get us through dark times, over dark things, over bad periods... I think no harm can come from discussing really taboo subjects. It makes you stronger."
At the Golden Globe Awards in January, Gervais didn't hold back from taking aim at the actors in the audience as the show's host.
"If you do win an award tonight, don’t use it as a platform to make a political speech," he told the nominees in his opening monologue. "You’re in no position to lecture the public about anything. You know nothing about the real world. Most of you spent less time in school than [17-year-old environmentalist] Greta Thunberg. So if you win, come up, accept your little award, thank your agent and your god, and f--- off."
Gervais said he doesn't include politics in his own comedy.
"I should entertain, I should make jokes and that's it," Gervais told "The View" cohosts. "I keep politics out of my comedy, not just because I think people are sick of hearing celebrities ... telling people how to vote, but also, I think if you're relying on people agreeing with you with your jokes politically, you're losing something comedically."
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