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.
He also tells jokes that are offensive to Jews and black people. Yes, it’s his brand, but it’s a horrible brand. He continues to double down on his shock comedy and he doesn’t care who he hurts. Trans people are being murdered because of who they are, and when a public figure publicly spreads hatred against them it adds gasoline to that fire and makes the world less safe for people who are trans.
I don’t really care if a comedian is offensive, but in this case it’s actually dangerous.
I agree with the latter, but I also think we should care, depending on the context obviously, if a comedian is being offensive- when they are getting the sort of money and exposure Netflix gives.
I would suggest that most people here, me included, would care if Netflix gave a white Trump-voting racist and misogynist a Netflix special in order to spread their hateful views in the guise of comedy.
What I am saying is that there is offensive comedy and then there is being offensive under the guise of comedy. What Richard Pryor did was offensive comedy. It was offensive without punching down, which is why it’s still so funny. The thing is- that takes a lot more work.
Being offensive doesn’t bother me so much as someone who’s continually offensive and then plays the victim crying out that they’re being cancelled while saying their horrible shit on Xitter, fox news or netflix. Ricky Gervais does the same as Chappele and it’s not funny because he does have a platform and he hasn’t lost money plus as you said trans people are being killed and silenced, disabled people have to fight to have people treated with some dignity.