Dave Chappelle has released a new Netflix special, The Dreamer, which is full of jokes about the trans community and disabled people.

“I love punching down!” he tells the audience, in a one-hour show that landed on the streaming service today (31 December).

It’s his seventh special for Netflix and comes two years after his last one, the highly controversial release The Closer.

That programme was criticised for its relentless jokes about the trans community, and Chappelle revisits the topic in his new show.

He tells jokes about trans women in prison, and about trans people “pretending” to be somebody they are not.

  • cmbabul@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    In one of Dave’s early Netflix specials he talks about Bill Cosby and how complicated his crimes were for a black standup who was both inspired and influenced by Cosby as regardless of how shitty he is as a person is a giant of that medium. I sort of feel that way about Dave now, his show and early standup sets were so fundamental to how my sense of humor formed that I can’t completely divorce myself from them, but who he’s become is shameful and i can’t ride with him anymore.

    Like fuck him for being so shitty and bigoted in general, but an extra fuck him for letting down the people he inspired and influenced. He’s become the very thing he should have destroyed

    • TommySalami@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Yeah, I’m right there with you. He came up in a conversation over the holidays and I had to go through how in my opinion he had potential to be one of, if not the best, comic of his generation and he squandered it by needlessly punching down and taking oddly vindictive stances. Maybe this is always who he was, but I think the fame and frustration that came with how his career played out changed him.

      I can’t reconcile the Dave from old interviews and shows with this one, and it’s kinda sad.

      • ReallyActuallyFrankenstein@lemmynsfw.com
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        1 year ago

        Unlimited money lets people be who they truly want to be.

        Chappelle may have moderated his views early on because he was still trying to “make it,” or he may have gotten worse over time, or both. But what reassures me that he’s actually just not a good person now is the fact that he can afford to be anyone he wants, and this is who he chose.

        • Buddahriffic@lemmy.world
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          He didn’t need to moderate his views. The 90s were anti-gay, let alone trans. He just didn’t have material about it because it wouldn’t have generated controversy. People would have agreed and moved on, or disagreed but the media wouldn’t have cared or maybe would have put them on for extra laughs.

          It’s hard to believe how different things were back then, looking at it from how things are now. Trans jokes would have been considered offensive, but because they referenced transexuals, not because they made fun of them.

            • cmbabul@lemmy.world
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              11 months ago

              IMO best thing to do is put videos of pro wrestling(a thing I still really enjoy from time to time) from between 95-00 and tell whoever that at one point this was the hottest fucking thing in the world. The promos, antics, announcers, and fan signs will tell the rest of the story

  • gedaliyah@lemmy.worldM
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    I am so sick of his comedy of grievance. Every act he does over the past few years is about how unfair the world is to him and how people don’t acknowledge how great he is.

    He’s riding out the glory of an okay sketch show that he made two seasons and then torpedoed 20 years ago.

    • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Yeah, I’m reminded of Jerry Seinfeld. Some comedians are great for life, most have a time and a place and excel then and there. I’m the 90s Seinfeld was bigger than big, in the 10s he was telling college campuses they’re too pc for not laughing at jokes about trans people. In the 00s Chappelle left on a high note and was a popular icon of comedy who quit too soon. In the 20s he was a raging bigot who should’ve stayed quit. Meanwhile Larry David is still making tv and fairly popular, but that’s because he mostly sticks to punching himself in the face.

      • gedaliyah@lemmy.worldM
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        1 year ago

        Chappelle has said that Key and Peele were just doing “his show.” But look at how Jordan Peele has reinvented himself as one of the iconic horror film directors of our generation (and maybe all time?). He wouldn’t be out of place in a list alongside Alfred Hitchcock, Eli Roth, M. Night Shyamalan, Clive Barker, or George A. Romero.

        • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Also, like so? People wanted more and you quit so others said they could do something similar. And as you said, Peele is doing stuff nobody dared do before in a different genre now.

          I think at the root of his problem Chappelle seems to think that he’s the greatest and people just refuse to see it. He seems to lack the humility that is needed for a comedian to stay relatable

          • hypnotoad@lemmy.ml
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            1 year ago

            Yep, dude is just hurt that no one considers him the comedy king anymore. Not that he deserves it, but HE certainly thinks he does. It’s sad, really… I remember respecting him for stepping down for a bit. What a disappointing return, I wish he had just faded away with positive memories instead of torpedoing himself, his legacy, and the fight for equal rights.

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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          You could also absolutely argue that what Key and Peele were doing was continuing on with a successful team-up that started on MadTV. If SNL got cancelled and Keenan Thompson got his own sketch show a couple of years later… I mean, that would make sense, wouldn’t it? People find him likable and he has sketch comedy writing and performing experience.

        • SCB@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Jordan Peele has reinvented himself as one of the iconic horror film directors of our generation (and maybe all time?)

          I mean I’m happy that Peele has found success, but this is not accurate in any way.

          He has one okay movie, and none of his movies can really be considered horror.

    • Zahille7@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I remember in “The Closer” he said "now Key & Peele are on Comedy Central, doing my show."

      Like dude, you did not invent the sketch comedy show. SNL had been going on for decades before he even thought of doing his own spin on it. I used to like his comedy, but not so much after that special, and definitely not after this.

      • glimse@lemmy.world
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        I grew up with (and loved) the Chappelle Show but Key & Peele is sooo much better. I rewatched some of his show a few years ago and most of the skits don’t hold up well at all. It’s mostly just black stereotype caricatures that are only “not racist” because a black guy wrote them

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          The fucked part is one of the reasons he stopped doing Chapelle Show was (according to him sometimes) because he recognized a good chunk of his audience was laughing at the black stereotype shit instead of with him about how ridiculous it was. And now he’s cashing in on punching down at other groups and cares not a bit about it.

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            Yeah. I like some edgy humor but the show was an invitation for racists to be more public with their opinions…which they did

            • deejay4am@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              Yeah, seems Dave’s always had a problem with misreading the room. Still does, just is bitter about it now

    • Son_of_dad@lemmy.world
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      Dude is a multi millionaire in his 50s who does nothing but bitch about how other rich people “stole” his money. Sooooo relatable Dave, wow!

    • elbucho@lemmy.world
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      I mean, yeah, he’s a piece of shit, and yeah he’s still riding on that old fame, but come on. That was a great sketch show, not merely an ok one. The fact that he has turned into Clayton Bigsby should not distract from the fact that the first episode of his show featured a faux documentary about a black white supremacist. That was some amazing television. I’m all for bashing Dave for the many, many shitty things he’s said and done in the past few years, but let’s not rewrite history here.

      • gedaliyah@lemmy.worldM
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        It’s far from the worst, but great? I guess there’s no accounting for taste. I’d prefer Mr Show, Monty Python, In Living Color, Key & Peele, Portlandia… does Robot Chicken count?

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    What. The. Fuck.

    I’ve never been the biggest Chappelle fan, but years ago, before he started going down this path, I had basic respect for him as a comedian. Now he’s actually promoting punching down? And he didn’t feel like he was punching down enough with trans people, so he had to be an ableist as well as a transphobe?

    And Netflix would not have put this on their site sight unseen, so they 100% knew that this was a celebration of attacking vulnerable people.

    Christ, even when I was in high school I knew that the guy who pushed the kid in the wheelchair over onto their side was a shithead and so did almost everyone else. So basically Chapelle wants his fan base to be the little weasel kid who stands behind the bully with a grin on his face because someone else is getting it when it could have been them.

    I wonder if anyone will come in here and defend him with some mumbo jumbo about free speech?

      • Son_of_dad@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Chappelle still tries to act like he’s one of the disenfranchised black people, while living in a mansion and hanging out with Elon Musk.

        • NatakuNox@lemmy.world
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          Money literally rotts the brain. Study after study shows wealthy people become more sociopathic as they accumulate more wealth and power. We shouldn’t cap wealth just because it’s morally right, it also prevents those in power from becoming all consuming sociopaths.

    • tocopherol@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      A lot of transphobes, white-supremacists, and similar ideologues would support eugenics for disabled people so that isn’t a far off description. Whether comedians like him realize it or not, they are normalizing social darwinism essentially.

    • TWeaK@lemm.ee
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      At this point I feel like Netflix is encouraging this kind of content.

      • Microw@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        Netflix is a bunch of suits. In their perfect world they can cater different content to trans people and to transphobic people at the same time, in order to make maximum money.

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          And on top of that they know that outrage fuels views. They keep making inflammatory content that will outrage one side and get the other to spite-view it. Of course inflammatory content to left wingers tends to be bigotted and hateful, while inflammatory to right wingers tends to just be anything not overwhelmingly white, straight, and patriarchal.

    • Wanderer@lemm.ee
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      I read a view that not punching down is offensive and not right.

      See it’s based on everyone being equal and there is nothing wrong with being disabled (the person mentioning this view was disabled). So if you rip on all your friends for whatever, but then don’t rip on your disabled friend for being disabled then that is treating them like that can’t handle it or that they aren’t equal.

      Honestly it’s comedy, some isn’t but most is offensive. Comedy doesn’t have to be for everyone but I don’t think it should be stopped just because someone doesn’t like it. The whole punching up, punching down thing is just weird. It’s a self imposed rule people treat like law.

      • Corgana@startrek.website
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        1 year ago

        “Everyone is equal, so it’s offensive to punch up at a bully without also punching down at their victim” …is a weird take.

      • daltotron@lemmy.world
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        I dunno, there’s a couple problems there. You can still punch up or punch down while recognizing that everyone’s equal, because we can recognize that status doesn’t have to really do with whether or not someone’s equal. i.e. someone can be lower or higher status, monetarily, socially, while still being of equal worth, in terms of like, their value as a human. So you can still “punch up” or “punch down”, because there’s still problems in society, we don’t live in a kind of totally equal utopia, or what have you, and to not recognize that and say that we do, and then use that as a justification to be able to punch down, you know, that would be bad.

        Oftentimes, the reason people find ire with “punching down”, is that it makes fun of people from the perspective of their lack of status and their lack of worth as a human. It’s fine to make fun of disabled people, in general, but it’s not really funny to make fun of someone who’s in a wheelchair, for the fact they’re in a wheelchair, most especially if you’re not in a wheelchair, because that’s punching down. You also see this thing where people who occupy minority positions, like being in a wheelchair, will try to ingratiate themselves to the majority, sometimes with some degree of success, by basically punching themselves in the face socially. “Oh, I’m in a wheelchair, isn’t that so funny guys?”, but unironically, which negatively impacts, in this example, the disabled, especially as it is used as evidence for being like “hey disabled people are okay with it” or “hey this other guy’s okay with it, so if you complain, you’re just lame and don’t have a legitimate grievance”. Now it’s their “choice” to punch themselves, but we can also recognize it’s arising from their need to try and improve their situation, and the extenuating circumstances, and so it’s kind of not that funny in the broader picture, and we also try not to blame them for it on the basis that it’s as a result of their circumstance.

        You would probably get better laughs and better comedy out of it anyways, if you tried to point out the kind of existential insanity of being someone in a wheelchair, and moving through the modern world, which has not been crafted for you. People in wheelchairs have difficulty using the restroom, for example, because restrooms aren’t really laid out for them, so you could maybe come at it from the angle of “why do we still have urinals”, or “what the fuck is up with asian squat toilets”, or something to that effect. Maybe make fun of everyone wanting you to cut off your legs, and give you robot legs, when really all you wanted was to have a wheelchair that lets you piss and shit, and like, an elevator that isn’t broken. The reason chapelle’s modern shit isn’t that funny, imo, is because he doesn’t understand the perspective of trans people enough to make effective jokes out of it. Which, to be fair, is pretty hard to do, if you’re not trans. Which is sort of why most comedians don’t try it, the same way most white comedians don’t try to do racial comedy about black people.

        That’s not all to overcorrect and say that all his shit in “the closer” was bad, because it wasn’t, and he had a handful of good points, but the problem is going to kind of arise when those good points also come with a handful of pretty bad points and pretty bad jokes. Just like his actual show. If I had to wager a guess, I’d say that a good amount of dave chappelle’s popularity comes from the double tradeoff of it being extremely popular in the 2000’s to kind of be more comfortable with being “edgy” and making fun of black people, on the basis that they’re equal, and “I’m not a racist, so it’s okay” type shit. People laughing at him, rather than with him, but on the basis that we live in a harmonious post-racial society, barring all of the “weird racists”. He even ended up saying as much, as to why he wanted to quit his own show, that he felt people were laughing more at him. The double tradeoff I’m talking about, there, is that he was using the same platform, out the other side of his mouth, to make funny and insightful comedy that pushed the buck. He could attract white people looking to laugh at the minstrel and misogyny, but then turn around and give some good shit on top of it. Even just to portray the reality that black people were still oppressed. Is that tradeoff worth it? It maybe is, if you’re able to give good enough insight to kind of balance the rest out, but if the insight is lacking, if the perspective is lacking, then obviously people are gonna be more likely to get very frustrated with it. That’s all me talking out my ass, though.

  • Son_of_dad@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I said it in his last special, a comedian doesn’t punch down. Apparently he heard this criticism from others and decided to double down. He’s truly become a piece of shit of a guy and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s jumped on the Maga train.

    • logicbomb@lemmy.world
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      “Punching down” also indicates that he thinks he’s somehow on a different level from them. So, it should mean, for example, that he’s making fun of comedians who are less successful than him. Or maybe it means he’s making fun of people who have less money than him.

      But, there’s likely a trans person out there who has more money than him, so what does he actually mean? He’s the one quoted in this special as saying “I love punching down!” Those are his words that he chose. Is he saying that he’s inherently better than a trans person or a disabled person?

      It used to be popular for white people to think they were inherently better than black people. Talk about a lack of perspective.

      • gedaliyah@lemmy.worldM
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        Harshly criticizing a powerful group or system (punching up) is considered fair social critique. Harshly criticizing a group or system that is already vulnerable (punching down) is just bullying. It’s not about feeling superior in this context, it’s just about someone with a huge platform using it to put down people who already have a harder life than they need to.

        • jimbo@lemmy.world
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          No, it’s about people with too much time on their hands and no ambition to fight any real cause being able to pretend like they’re doing something that matters.

      • MeaanBeaan@lemmy.world
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        Pretty sure the whole punching down thing comes from a story he told in one of these netflix specials where a trans woman in a bar told him she likes his comedy but that he needs to stop punching down against her people. He got all indignant about it and tried explaining that it’s not punching down because he’s black. His logic being that black people are so far down the totem pole it’s impossible for any one of them to “punch down” against a different marginalized group.

        Him using the phrase now comes across more to me as him reveling in the position that he’s, in his mind, been mischaracterized into by the trans community. And less so him actually believing he’s better than anyone.

        Still not at all a good look. And he’s definitely an asshole. The fact that he’s still fixated on this one perceived slight that happened to him several years ago should tell you all you need to know about him. My dude has produced multiple Netflix comedy specials focused on getting back at a community he feels wronged by because a woman said something to him once in a bar that he didn’t like.

      • Jayb151@lemmy.world
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        “talk about lack of perspective”

        Just a heads up, punching down is a term used in the comedy world. It’s more like, telling a dumb joke that’s easy. It’s an easy win that most people will laugh at, rather than creating humor using actual skill.

      • RupeThereItIs@lemmy.world
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        OR, ya’ll are missing the joke entirely, in that he doesn’t think he’s ‘punching down’… nore is he making fun of who you think he is.

        In fact, the joke is at the expense of people like those in this thread who are getting bent out of shape taking words out of context. It was tailor made to upset YOU, specifically. YOU, and your unnecessary outrage, are the butt of the joke. He’s mocking those who go overboard with the virtue signaling, and you all here are taking the bait hook, line & sinker.

        There is a problem right now with self elected ‘thought police’ trying to remove all discourse, and that is VERY unhealthy for a liberal society. Totalitarianism is not healthy, no matter what your motivation is. Sacred cows are ALWAYS something to be targeted by comedy & satire, and the left wing totalitarianist word/thought police are very much a valid target, every bit as much as the MAGA idiots. For society as a whole, they are equally as dangerous, the end goal is the same but with different underlying motivations.

        That being said, the special was lackluster. It felt like he was contractually obligated to give Netflix another special by the end of 2023 but didn’t have enough material yet & even what he had wasn’t very polished.

        • Drivebyhaiku@lemmy.world
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          This represents a common issue in the discourse. Conservatives tend to use a group of people to try and score points against leftists, liberals people NOT a part of the minority while using the minority as nothing more than a weapon. It doesn’t matter how much we get banged up. In this case it’s cis people using the existence and expressed needs of trans people to try and discredit other cis people while misrepresenting the needs and causes of trans people. We are not bullets to be fired at our own defenders.

          You think no trans people are made to feel alienated by this? That in the shockwave following another bombing run we don’t get to hear variations of this rhetoric in our workplaces and get to feel like we need to chose between our mental health and the precarity of keeping food on the table? That people won’t feel empowered to come at us with new fodder to make us to routinely have to defend ourselves against whatever transphobic nonsense is getting panned as a “dig against the libs”? We fight for rights to actually live in our bodies with a mental load out that is hard for cis people to comprehend at a basic level and that gets represented as high humor by someone who very obviously hasn’t got a clue during a time when we are under political fire and human rights campaigns have labelled the USA actively hostile to trans people. It’s beyond poor taste, it’s preaching to the ignorance and intolerance of people directly.

            • BrooklynMan@lemmy.world
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              it’s totalitarianism vs freedom to have intelligent discourse

              bigotry isn’t “intelligent discourse”, and calling out bigots for their bigotry isn’t “totalitarianism."

              • Sarmyth@lemmy.world
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                Netflix is entitled to a Dave Chapelle special. Contracts were signed. We could be getting a Kanye moment, though.

                • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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                  That’s a separate issue. That’s a contractual issue. We’re talking in terms of speech here. Because this whole ‘thought police’ thing sure makes it sound like his rights are somehow being violated if he doesn’t have a Netflix special.

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            I’d think that trans people would feel more alienated by being treated with like they, unlike other people, are too fragile to handle being the butt of a joke.

            • Drivebyhaiku@lemmy.world
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              There is definitely trans friendly humour that can see us be the willing butt of the joke… But representing us as “just pretending” or appealing to the squeamishness of cis people about our potential medical choices or making open commentary on our genetalia or coping strategies isn’t exactly humour we can laugh along with when we face that shit from people regularly and have to either pretend it doesn’t bother us or ask people to drop it just to move on with our day.

              For you it’s a novelty, for us it’s fucking routine annoyance. People want to confront us to have these conversations about how we’re weird or wrong or liars with us over and over again and repeat like mindless parrots idiotic shit people believe about us that is patently false and then have the gall to wonder why we dislike them for it.

              Chappelle wants to make believe he’s saying the taboo things that people are forcibly restrained from saying to our faces… But we hear this shit from family members and friends we have to let go of and coworkers and random idiots who corner us in public. But when we ask people to please for the love of god just STOP they get offended and wheel out the “you can’t tell me what to do!” and the "you’re so fragile! "

              We aren’t fragile, we’re just tired of your stale bullshit.

        • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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          When I tell someone to shut the fuck up I’m merely expressing my own right to free speech, I’m not taking away someone else’s right to speak! How is that “thought police”? They are still free to ignore me, they just have to deal with the fact that I disprove.

          And that’s what babies like this are really mad about. Baby can’t stand the thought that people don’t like him!

          I’m also free to not watch his special, not give him money, and tell other people to do the same. And baby doesn’t like that!

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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          There is a problem right now with self elected ‘thought police’ trying to remove all discourse, and that is VERY unhealthy for a liberal society.

          Is Dave Chapelle entitled to a Netflix special? Does he have a right to a Netflix special? Is not letting him have a Netflix special taking away his basic free speech rights?

          If so, I want my Netflix special too.

        • sartalon@lemmy.world
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          Man, don’t waste your time and energy.

          Most of these commenters just want to be angry.

          I agree with your comment 100%.

    • jimbolauski@lemm.ee
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      The whole notion of you can’t punch down never made sense to me. A group of people that you can’t criticize or make fun of is not a group below you.

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    1 year ago

    Dave Chappelle is the Clarence Thomas of comedy.

    Anybody who’s followed Chris Rock since the 90s will be familiar. It starts out as an “edgy” black comedian with an overwhelmingly white audience. It ends with your core audience using you as a black voice, that one black friend, who justifies regressive politics. I don’t know if Dave is in on the joke, laughing all the way to the bank. Either way, he’s playing the clown.

    I thought the whole reason he abandoned his successful show was in part a refusal to shuck and jive. Kinda disappointing that he’s putting on a minstrel show now.

    • nifty@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      He’s not putting on a minstrel show, he’s just voicing out his biases. The Chapelle Show had a subversive and punk edge to it because it made of fun of regressive attitudes about race, what’s happening right now just kind of proves that Chapelle himself was never subversive.

      • daltotron@lemmy.world
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        The Chapelle Show had a subversive and punk edge to it because it made of fun of regressive attitudes about race, what’s happening right now just kind of proves that Chapelle himself was never subversive.

        I agree with this assessment, but I also have to wonder, based on the percentage of white people who have shown me the “black kkk member” bit, and found it maybe a little too funny, what percentage of his audience was actually in on the joke. It doesn’t really matter whether or not he’s actually putting on a minstrel show, what matters is whether or not people perceive it as one. Partially, impossible to insure against, but still, something to be conscious of.

  • LotrOrc@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I’m not sure how many of you watched this based on the comments here

    But his jokes really were not transphobic in this special at all

    Watch the thing with context and see

    • vxx@lemmy.world
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      But as it was happening… I was very disappointed. Because I wanted to meet Jim Carrey, and I had to pretend this n*gga was Andy Kaufman… all afternoon. It was clearly Jim Carrey. I could look at him and I could see he was Jim Carrey.

      Anyway, I say all that to say… that’s how trans people make me feel.

      That’s extremely transphobic and not even an attempt at being funny.

      Edit:

      “Give me your fruit cocktail, bitch, before I knock your motherf*cking teeth out. I’m a girl, just like you, bitch. Come here and suck this girl’s dick I got. Don’t make me explain myself. I’m a girl”

      Also very transphobic, and there’s more.

      Here’s the complete transcript of his new program.

      https://scrapsfromtheloft.com/comedy/dave-chappelle-the-dreamer-transcript/

      • Socsa@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        Yeah, these aren’t jokes which are trying to push a controversial topic mainstream or create a framework for mutual understanding through humor. These are literally just narratives of hate which underpin anti-trans fear politics and actual violence against trans people

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        “Give me your fruit cocktail, bitch, before I knock your motherf*cking teeth out. I’m a girl, just like you, bitch. Come here and suck this girl’s dick I got. Don’t make me explain myself. I’m a girl”

        that’s a bruh moment, lol

      • Katana314@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        It does seem better to read the full transcript rather than the whole thing (I have more reading time than watching time) but still not so tasteful. He even says he doesn’t want to offend the transgender community anymore, then makes a joke about misgendering himself at a sentencing so he can be the strong man in a women’s prison.

      • LotrOrc@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        When you pull out specific lines without the entire context of the joke, you can make literally anything sound bad.

        • vxx@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I posted the complete context. I just left a bit of how much he loves Jim Carrey.

          Read yourself and judge later instead of making up your mind before the fact. You’ll see it doesn’t change for the better but gets worse if you read the whole thing. The part I pasted is pretty much the opener, so you won’t have to dig deep.

        • Jomega@lemmy.world
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          They posted the transcript of the entire special. There is literally nothing they left out.

          • LotrOrc@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            A transcript can miss the tone, intonation, body language, facial expressions, and all those other cues that give an entirely different interpretation of the words being said cant it? All those other cues make a difference in what is being said. As humans we react to facial and body expressions a huge amount in order to understand the context of a situation

            • Stoneykins [any]@mander.xyz
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              1 year ago

              You are just trying to get people to rage watch it.

              The transphobia is obviously, clearly there. It won’t stop being fucked up and shitty because he giggled after he said it.

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      Last time he came out with a special, I watched it blind, not knowing anything about it. The dude “joked” for 30 minutes about trans people. I cracked a smile once or twice toward the beginning. After a couple of minutes, it no longer felt like he was trying to joke. It was just an old man venting anger. These were not even trying to be jokes.

      So why would I give him another chance? Dude sucks now. I’m sure you can tell some jokes about trans people and be funny. But he wasn’t trying. And he has a token trans “friend” he uses to justify it all. What a fucking hack. No, I won’t give him another chance. He lost me.

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      1 year ago

      Thank you

      Context is everything. It’s a very well written special especially if you consider the last two.

      He’s a comedian. If you don’t like it, don’t listen. It’s not hate speech, just comedy. These headlines are trash

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        1 year ago

        Look, rage bait is literally what social media runs off. Well, that and cute animal pictures.

        The upside to Lemmy is that there is less rage bait in general, but we aren’t immune to it.

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      Personally, even if it’s not transphobic, it’s pretty lame to make that your topic for the entire special.

      • LotrOrc@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        It really wasn’t at all That’s why I don’t get this article or the reactions from people in the comments about this article.

        That wasn’t the main topic for the entire thing it was a fairly small part

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    I’m not sure why people are surprised.

    He’s always held these opinions, he just hid them among other opinions that weren’t as noticeable because he spread the hate around, and mostof the jokes were funny.

    This is the same guy that got on his show, and had a segment where a white girl sang his words for him. If you can find the clip without using a service he profits from (I can’t right now, it’s only available in little “shorts” on YouTube), the whole thing is just him saying shit he doesn’t like, that would get his ass “cancelled” if he said them. And the longest segment is about gay sex being gross. Trans issues weren’t as visible back then, but the guy has always said this type of thing.

    But for some reason, he’s stopped doing it to everyone, which is what made it acceptable. He didn’t spare any group, but he also didn’t target any single group more often than others, except perhaps black people. And it’s always acceptable to joke about your own group.

    Now, he’s just being a douche. The jokes aren’t at all funny unless you find it funny to just bash people with no attempt at humor. It has gone far past the kind of abrasive, but exaggerated hate he used to use, but it isn’t something new.

    • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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      But for some reason, he’s stopped doing it to everyone

      That’s what always happens. It turns out when you’re an asshole to “everyone”, eventually you’re just an asshole to minorities.

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    Reminder that Reid Hastings the Netflix founder is a prolific anti union and anti public school pact funder. He is a piece of shit outside of giving chappelle a platform

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      I used to believe this, because I truly believe that we should be able to joke about everything and anything.

      But when you have photo ops with right-wing nutters, run exclusively in circles with conspiracy nuts, and placate the likes of Elon Musk at your shows, it shows that even the great Dave Chappelle isn’t beyond being sucked into the anti-woke brigade.

      When your act starts to focus almost solely on certain subjects, you become typecast, and that’s what’s happening to Chappelle and Gervais. When you’re putting out more material on trans people than what you were initially known for covering, something has changed in you. Most comedians that strike a nerve or hit gold on a specific topic don’t make their entire identity about it, like Jim Jeffries and the infamous gun routine. They reference the impact, and move on. IMO, Chappelle and co should have moved on maybe one or two specials ago…

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        We should be able to home about everything and anything. But the more politically incorrect your humor is, the funnier (and more true) it needs to be. His new material just isn’t funny.

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        You can joke about everything and anything. Dave Chapelle wasn’t arrested and put in jail. The conflation of what’s legal and what’s in the etiquette of society is troubling. You can have shitty views and be entitled not to be arrested for having them. You can have shitty views and not be entitled for anyone to pay you or listen to you say them. I have the same right to complain to Netflix about promoting this asshole as he does being that asshole.

    • eatthecake@lemmy.world
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      What is the difference between ‘pushing buttons and boundaries’ and trolling? I don’t think i can tell. It all seems designed to generate emotional responses and controversy.

      • Lonnie123@lemmy.world
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        I would say pushing boundaries (and maybe to a lesser extent just pushing buttons) is categorically different than trolling.

        Trollings sole purpose is the reaction, to rile people up. You dont have any intention behind your words besides that. Or heck maybe you even lie to do it. “What if I post pictures of sad looking polar bears to Greta Thunbergs twitter account? Wouldnt that make her mad!? hahaha!” Thats a troll - Nothing is gained, nothing is learned, nothing is advanced.

        Pushing boundaries is something different. You can have intent, social movement, and a message with it. Star Trek pushed boundaries when they had an interracial kiss, it wasnt just for shock value or trolling white people. Ellen coming out on TV pushed boundaries without trolling people.

        Boundaries are generally placed by people for the purpose of holding certain groups back, and they deserved to be pushed and in fact broken. Trolling does none of that. Trolling is putting a flaming bag of shit on someones porch and ding-dong-ditching just to watch them get their shoe dirty. If they are old, fall over, and break their hip when they do it thats all the more fun to the troll.

        Pushing buttons… more on the trolling end of things, but probably done in a more playful way, maybe even to someone you know and hope to have a positive relationship with afterwards. But really its a more mild form of trolling

    • paholg@lemm.ee
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      If it were truly about comedy, wouldn’t he at least try to be a bit funny while doing it?

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    I’m shocked that Dave Chappelle not only went down this route but has doubled down, especially since he walked from his own show nineteen years ago due in part to the negative racial stereotypes being pushed by the show’s execs and the lack of creative control Comedy Central gave him.

    And I’m more shocked that Netflix thought it was wise to release another special filled with transphobic drivel, especially since the last one generated so much negative press for them.

    • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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      He walked because he had a mental breakdown…

      In his own words a white crew guy laughed at a comedy skit they were filming. Lots of white people watched his show and laughed at the skits

      Dave got famous real quick. He played a likable character in Half Baked and next thing you know he was a household name with a giant TV show.

      No one really knew anything about what kind of person he was, good chance he was always shitty.

      • Fedizen@lemmy.world
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        his jokes were always heavily “black people be like this, white people be like that” so he was always a bit overrated. It just sucks he learned so little from his experiences.

    • LotrOrc@lemmy.world
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      If you actually watch it he’s not transphobic in it at all

      Idk what this article is talking about

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    1 year ago

    Ancient comedian desperately struggles to stay relevant, only manages to capture the attention of a few boomers and nazis. news at 11.

  • garretble@lemmy.world
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    And then after every joke he does that thing where he slaps the mic on his leg to make a sound to indicate that it’s now time to laugh.

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    As someone who watched the special I think his greatest crime is just not being funny and thinking he’s brave for doubling down. He’s a boomer with a fan base and tons of money. If anything, this thread is proof that cancel culture is fake. He’s Elon musk if Elon musk used to be funny.

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    Cannot watch him now. For me he has even tainted my fun recollection of his early stuff that I’d liked.

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      Spot on. Dave wasn’t cancelled he just moved to Ohio and started doing conservative humor…he’s simply not funny anymore.