this post was submitted on 31 Dec 2023
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I'm not sure that's the best analogy. As far as I know, Dave Chappelle is still pretty popular. So everyone isn't saying his comedy sucks.
I don't have Netflix so I haven't seen his most recent specials. But my feelings about him are mixed. He has a nuanced take on controversial issues and isn't afraid of voicing his opinions about them to push the conversation forward. I think he is taking a contrarian stance against what he perceives as a lack of nuance in response to his side of the conversation. I can understand being frustrated at tackling a complex issue imperfectly and simply being labeled a transphobe in response. But I also think he's overamplifying these voices in his head.
I think comedy is a great method of breaking societal tensions and exposing people to new perspectives. Bill Burr also has a lot of controversial nuanced takes. I think he gets away with it more because he does more to establish just how imperfect he is. Overall I think Dave should disengage from trans issues because he's already said what he has to say. He shouldn't let the critics get him fired up enough to fire back. He should also acknowledge his own imperfections and avenues for growth. But maybe I'm misreading his intentions and feelings. Maybe I'm mischaracterizing his critics. I just see a lot of complexity in this debate and a lot less complexity in the responses to it.
Bill Burr does not really punch down like this though.
I've watched the specials. Dave's comedy is now "I am black, I have trans friends, I understand oppression so I can bully anyone"
And it just isn't really funny most of the time you're uncomfortable and then at the end of his set when typically you'd expect Dave to wrap up with some moral or understanding he continues punching down.
Sorry but that's just him now we've seen it before. On the bottom you're empathetic, coming up you have words to share, he's loaded now and his richness shows. He is out of touch, ignorant and does not do enough to push in the other direction he fully let's people down and not once stands up for them just constantly joking about it with no clarity.
He's tone deaf and out of touch. Fuck him he ain't funny even my friends who don't share all my views to my level know overall he's just not as funny as he used to be.
Maybe you're right and he's just gotten rich and out of touch. But I think it's worth looking at his history a bit. He had millions thrown into his lap. However he saw the harm in his comedy and decided to throw away the check and abandon his career for years. It seems like it would take more to make that person rich and out of touch. Maybe I'm being too charitable. Recent years have radicalized some of my friends in different directions. He could have fallen victim to the same forces that turned my friends away from a well adjusted life.
I don't think that's a good excuse in general, but for Chappelle specifically it definitely doesn't work.
If I remember correctly, when he walked away from his show is was partly due to the wrong people laughing for the wrong reasons. Bigots were laughing at his "nuanced takes" on the black community for their own racist reasons and missing the point.
Even if you think Chappelle isn't bigoted and he's trying to make some other point, after all this time it should be very clear to him bigots are missing the point and laughing for the wrong reasons.
He had the strength and conviction to walk away when it was the black community he thought he might be harming but not when it's trans people.