Chris Rock says the culture he calls “wokeness” has made society less forgiving than it should be, and he links the point directly to his new film, “Misty Green.”
The comedian, 61, made the remarks in an interview with David Marchese for The New York Times’ “The Interview,” released Saturday. Marchese asked about forgiveness, a recurring theme in the movie. Rock said you cannot know you love someone until you have to forgive them, and he described real love as staying close to a person who has let you down.
He drew on his own life. A friend of his, whom he declined to name, has faced cancellation. Rock said he rebuffed another friend who questioned the relationship, arguing that anyone who stays loyal only when friends behave well has no friends. He added that forgiving someone does not mean excusing abuse. Friends can be reprimanded, he said, and that belongs to friendship too.
Marchese pressed him to admit a limit. Rock held firm and cited his Christianity. He said the current moment sits in the Old Testament, a place with no forgiveness. “We’re in the Old Testament right now,” he said, and he suggested the New Testament arrived because the earlier one failed.
Rock did not dismiss the movement outright. He called it good that marginalized people gained a voice and said he is glad the post-George Floyd period happened. He credited it with putting him in front of voices he might not have heard. His objection centered on institutions. Helping people in need is right, he said, but the trouble starts when an idea turns into a bureaucracy.
He illustrated that with what he called half a joke about the Salem witch trials. The first few accused may have been real witches, he said, but once a town builds a witch office, it needs to keep finding more to justify the payroll.
Rock named no specific cases beyond his anonymous friend, and he offered no policy fixes. His argument stayed personal and moral.
“Misty Green” is his first film as director since “Top Five” in 2014. It follows a fading actress attempting a comeback in an unforgiving Hollywood. Rosalind Eleazar stars, with Adam Driver, Daniel Kaluuya, Anna Kendrick and Topher Grace in the cast. A24 opens it in select theaters Oct. 9.
