Dave Chappelle’s Netflix Special Is A Giant Middle Finger To Social Justice
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Comedy is no longer about making people laugh. It's about social justice — unless you're Dave Chappelle.
Dave Chappelle’s Netflix comedy special wouldn’t be nearly such a hit if the social justice movement hasn’t wrecked and suffocated every singular part of public life. The movement and its followers have screwed up academia, politics, the news media, and all of the entertainment industry, especially comedy.
That’s why it took comic-sized balls for Chappelle to roast nearly every sensitive topical event of the last year, including Me Too and the increasingly militant transgender political lobby. As described in my forthcoming book “ Privileged Victims: How America’s Culture Fascists Hijacked the Country and Elevated Its Worst People ,” mainstream comedy doesn’t really exist anymore. Social justice has replaced all of it with intersectionality and the privilege-versus-victim dogma.
All working comedians in America know it can cost them their careers if they don’t play along, even if they don’t quite understand when or why this happened.
The Sacrifice of Nimesh Patel
It was a stunning display in November last year when comedian Nimesh Patel was kicked off the stage at Columbia University for telling what is formerly known as “a joke,” because the spawn of the social justice movement on campus didn’t approve. The set-up for Patel’s bit was everything you’d think the grievance fetishists of social justice would appreciate: a commentary on the marginalization of both blacks and gays. The punchline was even a tribute to the privileged victim’s most sacred tenant: intersectionality.
Patel described his New York neighborhood, where he said gay, black men tell him when they don’t like his clothes. The joke ended with Patel’s observation that being gay can’t possibly be a choice because, after all, who would choose to be gay (aggrieved), on top of already being black (oppressed). “No one looks in the mirror and thinks, ‘This black thing is too easy, let me just add another thing to it,’” went Patel’s joke.
That’s it. That was the punchline. It was funny enough, but Patel had breached social justice protocol in making light of those who claim to have been victimized by nature of their race, gender, or sexuality. Student leaders of Columbia’s Asian American Alliance, which had invited Patel for their annual cultural event, stormed the stage to ask that he wrap up his routine and make his exit early.
“Is it because I’m talking about uncomfortable stuff?” he asked, not realizing he was set to endure a struggle session, the kind of public humiliation the social justice movement uses to punish violators.
“I think there’s a distinction between being uncomfortable and being disrespectful,” one of the student leaders said, to whoops and applause from the idiot audience.
“I think I’m being respectful,” Patel replied.
“I just don’t think you’re entitled to certain jokes you’re making, and I don’t think it’s appropriate.”
“Why?” asked Patel, still not fully aware this was not a debate but a public flogging.
“I think the comments you were making about being gay and black is very disrespectful.”
Patel tried in vain to explain that the joke was actually provided to him by a real, living, gay, black man. “This is strange,” he said. Then, in the most depressing and embarrassing moment of the entire incident, he attempted to save himself by trying to pull rank in victimhood.
“Look, it’s a strange time to be an Asian person in this country,” he said. “I’ll give you that much, because it feels like there’s a lot of racial tension. And at any moment, black and white people are going to go to war, and Indians are going to have to choose, and Asians are going to have to choose.”
Patel’s Experience Wasn’t an Anomaly
You almost want to hug Patel and tell him it’s too late. He has already been offered as a sacrifice to social justice and the church of intersectionality.
Patel went on to say he was sure none of his material had been disrespectful and that he thought any offense taken was a matter of “generational” difference. He finally left, and the audience applauded his exit. A week later, he wrote a tepid op-ed for The New York Times criticizing the student leaders who took him off the stage, while missing the point that his experience was not some fluke.
“I do not think we should let the actions of a small group — actions that get blown out of proportion because they feed a narrative many people want to hear — paint college campuses as bad places to perform and paint this next generation as doomed,” he wrote, before naïvely theorizing that the episode was a symptom of “a 24-hour news cycle” that makes it “hard to sift through and find the signal and find what is really being said.”
No, Patel. No, no. This wasn’t the action of “a small group,” and college students aren’t victims of the “news cycle.” This is the new reality, and it works just as social justice dictates.
Countless Comedians Have Been ‘Canceled’
What happened to Patel has happened to others in his field. Popular stand-up comic Colin Quinn is just as confounded by the new reality. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal in February 2019, he said, “I feel like a lot of people now are saying, ‘You know what? Comedy is supposed to be uplifting.’ It’s like, what are you, the new moral majority all of a sudden?”
Steve Harvey, in March 2015, told a joke on his morning radio talk show that he had told several times before, involving a made-up, old, black church lady character named “Sister Odell” and her annoyance at the special-needs daughter of a fellow churchgoer. Social justice took action on the internet, immediately calling for Harvey to be pulled from the air.
He apologized in a note on Facebook, explaining to the willfully ignorant mob that Sister Odell isn’t real and no one else in the scenario of the joke is real, either. Although Harvey had bowed to social justice and the grievance gang, it seemed to go unnoticed that three months later on the Netflix show “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee,” he admitted his apology was contrived to appease the humorless movement.
“You know, I said she was 34 years old, sitting over there blowing bubbles,” Harvey recalled of the fake special-needs person. “Well, that was it. That was it. And boy, they went on Twitter, Instagram. … I apologized, I had to do it.” He further explained that the apology was required to stave off advertisers from fleeing his TV program.
“Because I got a talk show,” he said. “Because now here comes a sponsor — and now all the rest of them have to piggyback and act righteous, too. ‘Oh, they’re pulling their sponsorship, well, we gotta act like we care too.’ They don’t really care. They don’t really care. It’s the deal. We got to act offended.”
Each and every working comedian knows the drill. They know they can’t do real comedy anymore, not if they want to break it on a national level.
Today’s Comedy Isn’t Comedy
So instead, we get the chubby Amy Schumer grabbing her crotch and lifting up her dress on stage. It’s called “comedy,” but it’s intended to be a message of women “empowerment” and a middle finger to “the patriarchy.” Her 2019 Netflix stand-up special, “Growing,” boils down to one hour of Schumer lifting up her dress to show her underwear and stomach flab, along with references to her reproductive organs.
When the punchline is always “vagina!” it ceases to be comedy. It is then simply a mantra, a message, a signal.
The movement has overwhelmed each and every part of our culture. Politics is no longer about practical policy. Higher education is no longer about prepping young adults for the workforce. The entertainment industry is no longer concerned with entertaining.
And comedy is no longer about making people laugh. It’s about pushing a cause, reinforcing a dogma, and instilling a worldview. It’s about social justice.
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Each and every working comedian knows the drill. They know they can’t do real comedy anymore, not if they want to break it on a national level.
Today’s Comedy Isn’t Comedy
So instead, we get the chubby Amy Schumer grabbing her crotch and lifting up her dress on stage. It’s called “comedy,” but it’s intended to be a message of women “empowerment” and a middle finger to “the patriarchy.” Her 2019 Netflix stand-up special, “Growing,” boils down to one hour of Schumer lifting up her dress to show her underwear and stomach flab, along with references to her reproductive organs.
When the punchline is always “vagina!” it ceases to be comedy. It is then simply a mantra, a message, a signal.
The movement has overwhelmed each and every part of our culture. Politics is no longer about practical policy. Higher education is no longer about prepping young adults for the workforce. The entertainment industry is no longer concerned with entertaining.
And comedy is no longer about making people laugh. It’s about pushing a cause, reinforcing a dogma, and instilling a worldview.
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pffft. from the crowd that thinks larry the cable guy and jeff foxworthy are the real comedians.
They are real. It’s time to flush PC and defy the SJW’s.
And yet there they are making more people laugh than you--and getting paid damn good money for it too...
When did conservatives become such weak minded pussies? All you do is complain that are you are losing the culture war. Social justice this, social justice that. WGAF? I don't even know anyone in real life who whines about so called "SJW" as much as you do.
If you dont like their culture dont pay any attention to it. Like I do with Fox News.
It’s about time PC and the SJW’s get called out on their attempt to dominate the culture and bully those they don’t like. They deserve exactly what the article headline suggests. Chappelle is an American hero for standing up to the bullies.
It's about time bigots, racists, homophobes, misogynists, faux christian hypocrites are called out and exposed.
The Chappelle show was made just for the secular progressive gang who are the pc social justice warriors and it’s the perfect gesture for that crowd.
Like this is a sign of a strong mind?
You obviously didn't watch "Sticks and Stones", Chappelle's new Netflix special. I did.
Dave has never been PC. It is what has made him stand out from the beginning of his career. He equally mocks both the left and the right.; traditional values and liberal talking points. He sees the irony of our current state of affairs in the US. It was a total shot at the hypocrisy of extremism.
I encourage people to watch his special. Dave makes you think and that is very relevant these days.
I watched it a couple of nights ago. I didn't find it as funny as he used to be, but I still enjoyed it a lot!
I actually thought it was hysterical and spot on. Here is one great piece of it:
On network television, they have a department that’s called Standards and Practices. This is the department that tells you what you can and cannot say on television. And if you’re doing your job well, you should never hear from ’em. But if you’re making Chappelle’s Show, you’ll hear from these motherfuckers all the time.
And remember, this was 15 years ago. I made a mistake. I didn’t even know I’d done anything wrong. I had written a sketch… that had the word… “faggot” in it. So I had to go to Standards and Practices. They call me up. I don’t know why they’re calling me, but I like the lady that runs the department. She’s usually really fair and was one of my favorite people I’ve ever worked with. So she sits me down. We have a nice conversation. She tells me, “Oh, the sketches are great.” I go, “Oh, fantastic. Well, then… well, then, why am I here?” She said, “Because, David, there’s no way… that you can ever say the word… “faggot” on our network.
I didn’t know I did anything wrong. I didn’t try to defend myself. I said, “All right. Fuck it, I’ll take it out. Have a good afternoon.” And as I was leaving, it occurred to me. “Hey. Hey, Renée, quick question. It’s just a question. Seriously, I wanna know. Like, wh-why is it… why is it that… that I can say the word “nigger” with impunity… …but I can’t say the word “faggot”?” And she said, “Because, David, you are not gay.” I said, “Well, Renée… I’m not a nigger either.”
Carson was great. He made everyone laugh and made fun of both political sides. That’s gone. Now it’s all about agenda, PC, and intersectionality for the SJW’s. That Chappelle takes humor shots at all sides is fine. It’s refreshing that someone takes some shots at both sides rather all their shots at one side.
I loved watching Carson and Leno was a good runner up! Making fun of our politicians used to be acceptable on both sides but sadly some have lost their sense of humor. These late night comics now are not even funny. They need better writers or get their sticks out of their asses.
Most people who can actually think for themselves are never going to agree with 100% of what a comedian (or anyone else) has to say. I respect that Chappelle knows who he is, says what he thinks and doesn't apologize for it. That doesn't make him right on any particular issue. The people who want to censor or shame someone like him generally are too insecure in their own beliefs and probably don't even understand whatever it is they think they believe.
You expressed the bottom line here as well as anyone.
Too me it isn't always about right or wrong but about being able to laugh at ourselves like we used to.
I think that's exactly right. Too many people in our society seem to be on a mission to be offended.
I thought it was hilarious!