Dave Chappelle has released a new Netflix special, The Dreamer, which is full of jokes about the trans community and disabled people.
“I love punching down!” he tells the audience, in a one-hour show that landed on the streaming service today (31 December).
It’s his seventh special for Netflix and comes two years after his last one, the highly controversial release The Closer.
That programme was criticised for its relentless jokes about the trans community, and Chappelle revisits the topic in his new show.
He tells jokes about trans women in prison, and about trans people “pretending” to be somebody they are not.
True, news platforms definitely know how to game these controversies, thank you for giving me an idea of what the thing actually is hah. I’m not surprised it wasn’t a hate-filled tirade, as people might be inclined to think with this headline.
Like you said though I feel more sad than anything usually in relation to this sort of thing. Even if he is saying offensive things, I think you are right that he genuinely doesn’t understand what being trans really is and that ignorance can be hard to separate from more malicious bigotry. Even supportive people can come off as “oh what’s the harm, they can be a woman if they want to pretend” at times.
If a person isn’t queer or trans, or good friends with people who are, it can probably be hard to understand how much hate still exists. A comedian might think these people just need tougher skin, not realizing the potential harm, so I don’t usually blame them much.