Dave Chappelle

[deeconsistent]

I said this in another thread, but I really think we're in the midst of a cultural shift right now. "Cancel culture" was dominant for awhile, but the opposite trend feels like it's growing.

[Deleted]

It definitely sounds bad from that article, but I’m going to reserve judgment until I actually watch the special. Some of what they’re taking literally there sounds like it’s probably satire. And for the record, I’m not excusing Dave; I’m just not comfortable condemning him until I hear the jokes in context and the delivery. There are a lot of layers to comedy.

[celerydunk]

I agree. He did a bit about Elizabeth Smart being kidnapped and how the media was all over that. At the same time, a black girl was kidnapped, managed to free herself and escape but it got almost no media. He made a joke that was something along the lines of 'if you kidnap a black child, you have to take her out of her own neighborhood'. He made light of it,but his point was about the media handling cases so differently.

From the article, it sounds bad. He also isnt saying anything that hasn't been said by people of a certain mindset (he's the same age as me and I have some very vocal "she's asking for it" types in my family) so I'm wondering if he's making a point at the end of these that isn't shared in the article.

[Ginger]

From what I know of Chappelle (which is not that much), I don't think he's going to care much about people being mad at him about his jokes.

I'll bet he does care about how many views his Netflix special gets though, and it sounds like this will get him as many or more views than he would have gotten without the controversial jokes. So he's the winner here no matter what.

[Ginger]

Bumping this because presumably some of us have watched it at this point and I'm wondering what the opinions are.

It's not offensive in the way of Louis CK ridiculing children for being the victims of a mass shooting. But the publicized quotes were definitely representative of the whole special. It's an hour of: I don't believe Michael Jackson's victims and I don't want to pay to support a kid if I get a woman pregnant and she doesn't want to have an abortion and Kevin Hart's a great guy who didn't hurt anybody with his jokes about gay people, etc etc.

In other words, he rattled off a bunch of terrible opinions he holds and pre-emptively called out people for holding him accountable by making the special about the dangers of "cancel culture".

In the past, he's used his comedy to make incisive observations about the media or social issues. I didn't find anything he said to be worthwhile in that regard, and I don't feel like he even tried very hard. He was just grousing.

I've been watching a lot of comedy specials lately, and one way I judge if they are good is how many jokes I can remember in a few days as being particularly funny or on target. The only part I did more than chuckle at was his take on Jussie Smollett. The rest all blends together and none of it was particularly funny.

[groovethang]

Sept 8, 2019 18:31:52 GMT -4 Ginger said:

Bumping this because presumably some of us have watched it at this point and I'm wondering what the opinions are.

It's not offensive in the way of Louis CK ridiculing children for being the victims of a mass shooting. But the publicized quotes were definitely representative of the whole special. It's an hour of: I don't believe Michael Jackson's victims and I don't want to pay to support a kid if I get a woman pregnant and she doesn't want to have an abortion and Kevin Hart's a great guy who didn't hurt anybody with his jokes about gay people, etc etc.

In other words, he rattled off a bunch of terrible opinions he holds and pre-emptively called out people for holding him accountable by making the special about the dangers of "cancel culture".

In the past, he's used his comedy to make incisive observations about the media or social issues. I didn't find anything he said to be worthwhile in that regard, and I don't feel like he even tried very hard. He was just grousing.

I've been watching a lot of comedy specials lately, and one way I judge if they are good is how many jokes I can remember in a few days as being particularly funny or on target. The only part I did more than chuckle at was his take on Jussie Smollett. The rest all blends together and none of it was particularly funny.

This makes me sad. His standup, Killing Them Softly, is one of my favorites and I often listen to it when I’m driving or out walking. He just seems so bitter and unfunny. I’ll watch the new special because I like to see for myself but I won’t be surprised if I don’t love it. I didn’t care much for his other Netflix specials, either.

[Babycakes]

Sept 8, 2019 20:55:23 GMT -4 groovethang said:

Sept 8, 2019 18:31:52 GMT -4 Ginger said:

Bumping this because presumably some of us have watched it at this point and I'm wondering what the opinions are.

It's not offensive in the way of Louis CK ridiculing children for being the victims of a mass shooting. But the publicized quotes were definitely representative of the whole special. It's an hour of: I don't believe Michael Jackson's victims and I don't want to pay to support a kid if I get a woman pregnant and she doesn't want to have an abortion and Kevin Hart's a great guy who didn't hurt anybody with his jokes about gay people, etc etc.

In other words, he rattled off a bunch of terrible opinions he holds and pre-emptively called out people for holding him accountable by making the special about the dangers of "cancel culture".

In the past, he's used his comedy to make incisive observations about the media or social issues. I didn't find anything he said to be worthwhile in that regard, and I don't feel like he even tried very hard. He was just grousing.

I've been watching a lot of comedy specials lately, and one way I judge if they are good is how many jokes I can remember in a few days as being particularly funny or on target. The only part I did more than chuckle at was his take on Jussie Smollett. The rest all blends together and none of it was particularly funny.

This makes me sad. His standup, Killing Them Softly, is one of my favorites and I often listen to it when I’m driving or out walking. He just seems so bitter and unfunny. I’ll watch the new special because I like to see for myself but I won’t be surprised if I don’t love it. I didn’t care much for his other Netflix specials, either.

"Is that....is that a baby?" Killing Them Softly was up there in my top 5 standup specials.

It breaks my heart to see what he's become. So bitter and jaded. He literally has no reason to be this mad. No one was coming for him. And he can't see anything wrong with LCK masturbating in front of women, and silencing them? Children anuses as punchlines? Threats of violence against children for displaying non-conforming gender-roles? This is different than "edgy" comedy where the teller is ultimately the butt of the joke. Richard Pryor, Martin Lawrence, George Carlin, even portions of Eddie Murphy's standup, all had jokes that most comics couldn't tell today, but still weren't punching down on powerless people. Even Bernie Mac's infamous joke about the 3 kids he took in, is still funny today with slight tweaking. At the root of it, he's still the butt of the joke, not the kids he's hopelessly unready to parent.

Dave was so good, because he was so smart. His jokes weren't just crude, or over the top. He weaved a story. Now he's made it. He's solidified in the echelons of the greats. He's worth nearly 100 million dollars. He can do anything he pleases. He is his generation's Richard Pryor. And with all that power, he chooses not to complain about the trappings of his wealth, his notoriety, or changes his life going from poor to rich. No. He takes up for his rich friends and doubles down on them being the ultimate victims and targets. Not women struggling to make it in a male dominated industry. Not women getting their faces beaten to a pulp. Not literal, actual children being raped. Nope. Rich men, who have their millions to cushion them from the worst of the consequences. They are society's true victims. The Old Dave would have actually made a hilarious joke about how insane and out of touch New Dave is.

[madangela]

I used to absolutely love and die over “Chappelle’s Show”* and now I just find him loathesome. What a waste. He had a voice that could have been used for good and not evil.

*(I still cannot see Wayne Brady anywhere without thinking, “Is Wayne Brady gonna have to choke a bitch?”)

[bitca]

I, too, used to adore him, but I'm not even going to watch his Netflix special after everything I've heard. He doesn't even deserve the view. I guess I also don't want to see what a dick he's turned into.

[celerydunk]

I'm not even sure what I think about the special. He was out to offend as many people as he possibly could.