Being a comedian nowadays has to suck. We have a whole generation that grew up on SpongeBob Squarepants but can’t laugh at Married With Children.
This whole kerfuffle with Dave Chappelle has got me perplexed. Chappelle is a gifted comedian. He does things his own way and he really could care less what others think, including the people who pay him handsomely. I applaud him for controlling his career and his life on his terms. I think he is funny but not Eddie Murphy funny, or Jerry Seinfeld funny or even Dave Attell funny. He can dig into things in such a way that you really have to look at yourself and reflect. It’s comedy with a deeper core. I did think his comedy sketch show was very funny. He would skewer anyone and everyone in such a way that you just had to laugh. No one got offended, no ones feelings got hurt even though he literally made fun of every gender, race, ideology, you name it. That was great TV and he got away with it. What has changed?
I watched his latest special “The Closer” and it was funny. Maybe he spent a little too much time talking about his relationship with the trans community but he was honest and without agreeing or disagreeing I saw it as a heartfelt coming to terms with a community that has had an issue with him for years.
Comedians make a living ripping on people. Be it their friends, their enemies, their families, their race. That’s what makes comedy so special. It can tear open wounds and take a look at the pus underneath and make fun of it.
I don’t get upset if a comedian makes fun of Italians or Canadians or men. It’s humor, it’s not going to be for everyone and at the end of the day, you don’t need to watch or listen.
To see Netflix being torn apart by their decision to continue to air this special is mind boggling. Cutting edge humor is not going to be for everyone and everyone, once again, has a choice not to watch something they feel insults or offends them. To try and coerce a network that presents all sorts of mildly offensive shows is offensive in and of itself.
Silencing comedic voices strikes to something a lot deeper and more sinister. While I believe that if you are sensitive to the path of the transgender community this special might have been a step over the edge, I don’t think in any way, shape or form, this special is going to incite some sort of backlash against the transgender community. Seriously, this is comedy and no one loads up a truck with baseball bats looking for transgender people to beat just because a comedian throws some shade their way. It is comedy and everyone knows it is comedy. If people are laughing at your expense, so be it. Everyone is and should be a target of comedic impulses.
Every great comedian has ripped apart some ethnic minority ( or majority) at one point in their careers. A joke is a joke. It offends you, I’m sorry but I thought it was funny. It offends me, too bad, move on.
The bigger issue and this has been an overriding point of a lot of my Substack articles, is that one of the basic rights of being an American, Freedom of Speech, is being reappropriated. Small minorities speak out to silence the larger majorities in so many ways that this right is under heavy fire. If you look back historically, the transition from one form of government to another, it starts with freedom of speech rights being marginalized. Silencing voices whether they be political or comedic, is one of the first steps of governmental change. Just saying.
The transgender community is upset with Dave Chappelle, fine, I can respect that. However, in no way should Dave Chappelle’s voice be silenced because a minority has an issue with it. They want to make a statement, don’t subscribe to Netflix. If your voice reaches enough people and enough people agree, Netflix will hear you. I just don’t see that happening because it’s comedy and it’s either funny or it’s not.
Now, this situation is small potatoes compared to the bigger picture of how media is handling voices it disagrees with and honestly, that whole narrative is much bigger than the tail end of one of my Substacks. I will write about this whole “Wokeism” in the near future and in the meantime, take note of how we might be bringing ourselves into into a future we may not want or recognize.
Great analogy. They would shut down George Carlin, Rodney Dangerfield, and every comedian of the twentieth century except maybe for Carol Burnett.
Yep, the snowflake/woke generation would pull a Lemming had they seen or heard Don Rickles. They'd go over the edge of the cliff as lemmings do.........