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New Chappelle special searing hourlong takedown of trans cashier who forgot to smile at him
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this post was submitted on 06 Jan 2024
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I'm actually really curious about this; I see people using this same line all the time: "You do understand what jokes are, right?" or something very similar.
Do you legitimately believe that the people upset with Dave Chappelle really don't understand what jokes are? 'Cause, like, that's really not the case. If you legitimately believe that, then I think it's probably time for you to re-evaluate how you view reality, 'cause you've got some big discrepancies between it and your belief about what reality is.
I used to love Dave Chappelle. He gave a huge fuck you to the establishment back in the day, and deserved credit for that. He was punching up.
But he decided it bothered him that trans issues got the spotlight, and that he wanted to punch down. Ok: fair play. Yell some jokes.
But then the jokes suck. They're not insightful. They're not full of commentary. They don't highlight dissonance on people's words or actions.
And if you're punching down and aren't funny, you're not a comedian... you're just an asshole
Most of us grew up with him and were excited for him to come back. I watched his first special on Netflix the very first night it came out.
I loved him growing up. Now I see him for the moron/bigot he is. He isn't a comedy genius. He's just good at making fun of minorities. He thought he was hot stuff until he realized it was just giving white people an excuse to say more racist shit instead of opening their eyes to the stupidity of bigotry.
He literally quit his show because he didn't want to do that to black people... but he's fine doing that to trans people!? He's either a bigot or a fucking idiot completely unable to see the problem even after he quit his show over it.
I think you'll find that most of the people watching his comedy are former fans.
So you believe that the people who don't like what Chappelle has become in the last few years understand what jokes are, but don't think that Chappelle is joking?
I think that speaks much more to how you define a joke. From what you said, it seems to me that you believe that a joke is completely devoid of meaning and context; that the selection of material and the way it's told has no bearing on the beliefs of the person telling it. I think you'll find that most people don't share this definition.
Jokes, like every other form of communication, are a type of rhetoric. You can tell a lot about a person from the things they find funny. Dave, for instance, seems to find the idea that Trans people are crazy or lying about being trans to be hilarious (judging from his last couple of specials). Most of the people here don't share that belief.
Dave will never play catch with you or tell you he's proud of you, find another father figure.
The word 'apologist' comes from the same Greek root as 'apology', apologein, meaning 'to defend'. Apology is now a synonym for saying sorry, but an apologist is a defender of a cause. Apologists typically don't apologise for being apologists, if you catch my drift!