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Michael “Bully” Herbig has been an integral part of the German cultural scene for years
Photo: Peter Hartenfelser / imago images / Hartenfelser
The times in film have changed, says comedian, screenwriter and director Michael "Bully" Herbig.
The 54-year-old said in an interview with Giovanni di Lorenzo on the talk show “3 after 9” that he would no longer implement his western comedy “Der Schuh des Manitu”.
"I made the film 22 years ago and it was a parody of films that were in cinemas 60 years ago." At the time, that had to do with passion, the joy of playing and the realization of dreams.
New film coming at the end of the month
"The comedy police have become so strict," Herbig continued.
That takes away a bit of the innocence and freedom, says Herbig, who is bringing the film »A Thousand Lines« with Elyas M'Barek and Jonas Nay to the cinema on September 29th.
The film is an approximation of the counterfeiting scandal surrounding the former "SPIEGEL" reporter Claas Relotius, whose name is Lars Bogenius in the film.
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 has no answer for himself, said 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 programme.
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.
There was also support for the decision.
Around twelve million viewers in the cinemas
Herbig became popular in the 1990s with the comedy show »Bullyparade«.
The film »Der Schuh des Manitou« is about the 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«.
The parody of the Winnetou films attracted around twelve million viewers to the cinemas in 2001.
Herbig said in "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 that 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."
flg/dpa
