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.
Yeah, I’m right there with you. He came up in a conversation over the holidays and I had to go through how in my opinion he had potential to be one of, if not the best, comic of his generation and he squandered it by needlessly punching down and taking oddly vindictive stances. Maybe this is always who he was, but I think the fame and frustration that came with how his career played out changed him.
I can’t reconcile the Dave from old interviews and shows with this one, and it’s kinda sad.
Unlimited money lets people be who they truly want to be.
Chappelle may have moderated his views early on because he was still trying to “make it,” or he may have gotten worse over time, or both. But what reassures me that he’s actually just not a good person now is the fact that he can afford to be anyone he wants, and this is who he chose.
He didn’t need to moderate his views. The 90s were anti-gay, let alone trans. He just didn’t have material about it because it wouldn’t have generated controversy. People would have agreed and moved on, or disagreed but the media wouldn’t have cared or maybe would have put them on for extra laughs.
It’s hard to believe how different things were back then, looking at it from how things are now. Trans jokes would have been considered offensive, but because they referenced transexuals, not because they made fun of them.
Yes, agreed, all very good points.
Growing up in the 80s and 90s and trying to explain how different it was culturaly is challenging.
IMO best thing to do is put videos of pro wrestling(a thing I still really enjoy from time to time) from between 95-00 and tell whoever that at one point this was the hottest fucking thing in the world. The promos, antics, announcers, and fan signs will tell the rest of the story