Thread by @SarahSpain

Finally watched the new Chappelle. In trying to be “edgy” I actually found him to be predictable. It felt like a long, intentional provocation punctuated by a couple smart, clever jokes. “Rich guy punches down” just doesn’t move me. (1/)

Neither does “rich guy protects other rich guys by blaming ‘cancel culture’ for their abuses of power.” (See:Defending Michael Jackson & Louis CK) Many bits relied on shallow takes on major issues that everyone else has been talking about for a while earnestly & thoughtfully.(2/)

He took advantage of comedy being a one-way street - no opportunity for others to interject with facts, rebuttals or nuance. And a lot of the worst moments that resulted weren’t punchlines or jokes at all, they were social commentary said with sincerity. (3/)

For instance, claiming his gay friends haven’t literally had a dollhouse broken on their heads by their fathers, as if some haven’t been physically or emotionally abused by their fathers in other ways, which was why Kevin Hart’s tweet was criticized. (4/)

Or saying that he should be able to say fa—— on his sketch show if he’s allowed to say n——- & blaming the double standard on a rule in show business that you can’t offend gay people. Glossing over, of course, the obvious reasons that white & black (gay/female, etc) people get(5/)

to or don’t get to use words. The worst was an “I told you so” moment blaming the MeToo movement for recent passing of stringent anti-choice laws. And reducing the entire gender equality argument to “there’d be no WNBA & women would have to be good enough to play in the NBA,”(6/)

so women should just “shut the f*** up.” Also, in the Q&A epilogue, while telling an interesting anecdote about a trans woman, not saying she was NAMED, but instead “who called herself” Daphne. And saying, without any self-awareness, that *he* was the one “traumatized” by a (7/)

woman leaving a show during his MeToo jokes b/c she announced she’d been raped on her way out. I understand comedy is tougher to do now than before, because we finally grasp the power words & jokes can have in shaping society & fostering hate, but the over correction by (8/)

some comedians to aiming for every taboo subject feels lazy. He knew if he brought up those subjects people would write about this show - pro or con - so he reached for the buzz instead of looking to make the best comedy. It had its moments, but it was disappointing for (9/)

someone who can be so smart & incisive to be so superficial & predictable, especially when compared to something like Hannah Gadsby’s latest, Douglas, (not out yet) which is not only brilliant but makes you think more deeply & thoughtfully about all of these things. Fin.