Dave Chappelle is being criticized for his most recent Netflix comedy special. Specifically, he is being accused of bigotry towards towards, among others, transgender people and the LGBTQ community in general.
Some have referred to Chappelle’s critique of transgender people as transphobia, but I don’t like this word at all. A phobia is a fear. While the source of bigotry is often fear, I don’t think labeling hatred, cruelty, disrespect, and in some cases, violence toward a certain segment of the population as fear is accurate.
Bigotry is a far better word. It encompasses the possibility of fear but also more accurately identifies the behavior, belief system, and intentions of the bigot.
But I digress.
I watched Chappelle’s special The Closer – twice now – and have decided to wade into these treacherous waters with two simple observations entirely unrelated to Chappelle’s possible bigotry.
- Whether or not you feel that Chappelle was expressing bigotry of any kind in his special, he was punching down quite a bit, which I find unappealing, easy, and almost always wrong. I was not impressed.
- More significantly, I didn’t think Dave Chappelle was funny.
I often think Chappelle is exceptionally funny and have enjoyed much of his comedy for years, but not this time. Beyond the possibly bigotry that he expresses, this is where his special ultimately fails for me. There are many things that a comedian can accomplish while performing onstage, but the first is to be funny, and I don’t think he was funny at all.
I did not laugh during Chappelle’s performance.
This isn’t to say that his special was objectively unfunny because humor is, of course, subjective. So if you thought Chappelle was funny, then he was funny for you. And you’re certainly not alone. The audience members in the special seemed to find him funny, though I might argue that they were oftentimes cheering in support rather than actually laughing.
These two things are very different.
But if you thought it was funny, then it was funny.
I simply didn’t think so. You and I clearly find different things to be funny.
I thought the special was the least funny thing that he has ever produced. I thought is was a failure of comedy.
As for Chappelle’s possible bigotry, I’ll say this:
I would never say many of the things that Dave Chappelle said during his special about members of the LGBTQ community because I don’t think they are true, don’t think his comments were amusing in any way, and am sure that many of my friends in the LGBTQ community would find them offensive.
I can’t imagine ever saying or thinking some of the things that Chappelle said during his special.
Does this make Dave Chappelle a bigot?
I’m honestly not sure.
But it made him unfunny, which was enough for me to consider this latest effort a failure.
