True, Boundary-Pushing Comedy Should Offend Everybody

This is an interesting, black man’s take on Chappelle’s latest Netflix special:

Whitlock: Dave Chappelle’s Netflix special channels Patrick Henry and Malcolm X and lays bare the war between black men and the Alphabet Mafia

The society that outlaws personal offense suppresses truth and freedom. This is the danger of criminalizing thoughts and ideas, including abhorrent ones.Comedian Dave Chappelle is currently the number-one target of the thought police. His latest and allegedly final Netflix comedy special violated th…

I watched the special last night, and there were multiple times I was offended (and not just my Christian sensibilities). However, you shouldn’t watch an “edgy” comedians if a “safe space” is important to you.

And, as best as my difference in experiences can allow, I understand what Jason Whitlock is saying in his article. This was more than bunch of jokes, Dave Chappelle was positing a thesis and providing its proof in the content of his performance.

Was it transphobic or guilty of some other form of bigotry?

Do folks think that Chappelle truly dislikes LGBT+ people? I personally cannot see how someone can listen to his last story and honestly believe that. As for the other groups he is accused of maligning: No, I think he considers everything a fair target, versus prejudiced anomocity revealed in jokes.

Maybe as a middle aged, heterosexual, Christian, white guy you think I cannot understand and/or don’t have standing in this discussion. I would suggest that means you probably didn’t watch (or at least pay attention) to his latest Netflix special. You might claim (in my case) Chappelle was “punching up,” but my demographics didn’t leave unscathed.

I just didn’t let the trees make it so I couldn’t see the forest.

Finally, am I stating he didn’t say anything wrong? No. However, again, why would you expect perfect “goodness” from an edgy comedian?

Listen to what he is saying, not just what he is saying.

Update: Just saw this article about Chappelle’s comedy special, written by a gay man:

Dave Chappelle’s new Netflix special isn’t ‘anti-LGBT’ or ‘transphobic’ — it’s hilarious and moving

In his new special, The Closer, comedian Dave Chappelle jokes about everyone from Jewish people to Mike Pence to Martin Luther King Jr. to himself. But he also had the audacity to poke fun at the gay and transgender community, and for that, Chappelle has (once again!) earned the ire of intolerant…

Brad Polumbo’s piece and with this:

Yes, The Closer is rife with exasperation at the stifling hold political correctness has over our culture, and in it, Chappelle mercilessly mocks many groups of people. Yet its ultimate message is not one of bigotry; it’s one of empathy for those who see the world differently, and that’s exactly what Dave Chappelle’s self-righteous critics are lacking.

You can tell Polumbo actually watched it.

Update: One trans woman’s take (Blaire White)…