If you think he delegitimized trans people you didn't watch it. Or the other specials in the series. He makes fun of and tells trans jokes and if a person is offended by that, okay I can see that. But if you watched all of those specials and listened to him I think you'd have a tough time proving that he is anti-trans or delegitimizes trans people.

One of the earlier specials he basically made the argument that joking about LGBTQ stuff is a way towards understanding and progress. Again, he may or may not be right about that but the breathless outraged hot takes I've seen this week would have you think that he's black Mike Pence or something.

I have watched it, and I'm happy to disagree. Most of his take on the trans activists is fair. I don't begrudge him that. I'm not calling for him to be cancelled.

Bi_3 asked what people thought and for 10 minutes starting with his comments about JK Rowling, he makes the argument that trans women aren't women, and then says, "I'm not saying that trans women aren't women."

That's exactly what he was saying, and denying that he says it doesn't make it not true. Having a trans friend that defended his previous specials doesn't make that not true.

Mocking trans women as "blackface for women" is a cheap, uncreative joke at the expense of people who don't deserve it and his special would have been better without it.

This is Netflix's favorite thread, right now.

I mean, I would have watched this special anyhow.

I have two separate thoughts, here:

1. Expecting Dave Chappelle to change his act now is a bit like expecting Mick Jagger to clean up the Stones old material.

Like Mick, Dave is at the point in his career where he mostly exists as a piece of history. He’s one of yesterday’s great performers…one who we hope goes onstage from time to time, so that we can remember and relive something. He’s not going to venture from his greatest hits or explore new creative territory at this point in his life. Why would he? He has literally zero impetus to do so. He’s a multimillionaire with a devoted following, and that following mostly wants the same thing that any audience wants: for the old and familiar material to feel new and magic again for one night. At various points during his Netflix specials, he delivers on this hope.

The trans material in these specials is just an extended jam on his older trans jokes. It's a part of the greatest hits package. I’m not sure I even believe he has the creativity left to reinvent himself on as extreme a level as it would take to decouple all of the other-targeting content from his act, even if he DID have the motivation to try. But that’s ok. Dave Chappelle’s new material isn’t helping to chart the course of tomorrow's comedy, any more than a new Pearl Jam record is influencing the future of guitar rock. It's the cutting edge of nothing. He’s just a really, really fun memory, and goddamn it’s nice to see him again.

So that's my review of the special. But the other thing is...

2. There’s nothing wrong with a targeted group being offended by or protesting something.

I find the gatekeeping on hurt feelings that recurs every time a comedian gets blowback for being a dickhole to be baffling. People…all people…are emotional creatures, with pain in their past and anxieties about their future. So of course they’re not going to divorce those things from their reaction to your making fun of them. What a hilarious expectation to have.

If you want to tell these kinds of jokes, or to laugh at them, then the "you must be at least this tall to ride the ride" line is that you can accept that other people will have a different response than you. Just grow up enough to be okay with other people being offended by a thing you liked. Good grief. Their feelings are as valid as yours.

I like Chappelle, and that includes retirement-era, old dog/old tricks Chappelle. I have fun. But I don’t have any problem with someone else being offended by or protesting it. I don't know why I would.

Today's the day. Will Netflix stand strong for artistic freedom or has the great erasure begun?

This is certainly the point and place in human history that is most appropriately described as the Great Erasure.

Dave Chappelle said what he wanted to say. He got paid millions to say it. It's been discussed in public for over a week.

When will we stop suppressing the critical message that trans women are a lesser class of human worthy of mockery?

B, literally no one involved (including scapegoats like Rowling for that matter) thinks that trans people are a lesser. Trans people, whatever their presenting gender, are just as worthy of love, respect, dignity, representation, and opportunity as anyone else. Trump nominated Neil Gorsuch wrote the decision when the Supreme Court affirmed that and Netflix is one of the most progressive companies in the world. But no group is completely off-limits to criticism and mockery. There are no protected or "more equal" classes in our society and there never should be or else everything devolves into an endless fight over who is most victimized by the other groups. Wait...


It doesn't matter as the activists have pivoted from Chappelle already. They are going with "pay us" instead:

https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/18/22733098/netflix-trans-employees-demands-dave-chappelle-walkout

"I'm not saying that to say that trans women aren't women. I'm just saying that those pussies that they got ... y'know what I mean? I'm not saying it's not pussy, but that's like beyond pussy or impossible pussy. It tastes like pussy, but that's not quite what it is. That's not blood. That's beet juice."

If that wasn't written specifically to belittle trans women as lesser than women, then the term "hate speech" has no meaning.

Given your take saying "you know I'm not saying people who've lost a leg and wear a prosthetic don't have two legs. I'm just saying that one of the legs they got... y'know what I mean"? would qualify as hate speech.

Why do you refer to them as trans women and not just women? How is that not delegitimizing them by your own standards? Chapelle denotes a difference in their pussies and you note a difference in them as women but you cite Chapelle for hate speech.

Sullydish had this right:




It's a strange requirement to say that not repeating the lie that trans women and cis women are biological identical is being transphobic. We can (and should) support trans people and treat them as equals without lying to them and ourselves. After all, what is love if not telling the truth?


And here's what actual hate speech looks like:

I know Chappelle had a trans friend who killed herself after he put her in a position to argue against the rest of the trans community, but 30% of trans women have attempted suicide and I'm guessing at least of few of those attempts weren't because they were Dave Chappelle fans.

When they consider suicide, at least some trans women must think something very similar to Chappelle's routine in their head. That they'll never pass as a women. Women will always hate them. Men will be disgusted by them. He takes all the nightmares of trans women and leads an auditorium full of people in laughing at it. It pained me to watch it, and it must devastate a trans person or even a questioning person. How alone they must feel.

I'm not sure the harm of that is balanced out by the good Chappelle does by pointing out that trans women were, in fact, born biologically male. Nor is it justified by pointing out that non-Netflix-employee, Ashlee Preston, is probably a shitty person too.

B, I'll respond to that tomorrow as it deserves more than 30 seconds of reactionary typing.



This is a perfect symbol the whole thing though:




A neck beard troll vs a mindless zealot

.

Chappelle says outrageous things about every single group out there, always has. He doesn’t discriminate or back down, and he’s very smart about his jokes. He’s one of the greats, screw the haters. The Closer was great, though not on par with Sticks and Stones, in my opinion.

Much like every storm trooper, they missed the mark