7 Comments
founding

The only part of your commentary that I disagree with is the assertion that Chappelle is not transphobic. I don't know how else to describe someone who uses their influence and their access to a microphone and camera to, at a minimum, give cover to others' transphobia on a large scale.

Expand full comment

He may very well be transphobic. But I can think of other motives. He knows there is a market for stupid trans jokes. Maybe he's kind of a lazy comedian who doesn't want to make the effort to come up with more creative and new material, and just wants to grift off of recycling old worn out stupid trans jokes for easy money.

Expand full comment

Bravo! You nailed everything there was to nail on this subject and then some. A few select quotes that really stand out as epically hitting the target:

-"Those people don’t care about comedy. They just want someone to give them “permission” to hate on trans people."

This is exactly right. And I don't believe Dave Chappelle is naive to this reality. He knows that there is a market for this bigoted material. This crucial point regarding permission to hate on also covers the whole range of offensive bigoted-stereotype-comedy that belittles and mocks people based on gender, sexual orientation, religion, poverty, race, nationality, empathy, humanitarian principles, etc. We know what kind of people typically enjoy this non-comedy hate-on masquerading as comedy. It's the kind of thing you would expect to hear on right wing hate media. It epitomizes the primary difference between right wingers' sense of humor vs normal persons' sense of humor, and why the 2 types of people don't understand or appreciate the other types' sense of humor, particularly in regards to how progressives perceive right wing hate "humor." Because it isn't humor. It's just hate. The same old repetitive boring bigotry and hate.

-"But the truth is that there are very, very, very few personal or professional consequences to being transphobic."

This is unfortunately true, although it does appear to be changing ever so slightly towards recognizing transphobia as being similarly unacceptable like other common categories of discriminatory phobias. But one of the problems in getting transphobia to be seen in the same level of seriousness is the subtle ways transphobia manifests in ways that even decent people can be blind to. I'll give an example that hit close to home for me, regarding my trans nephew who committed suicide 5 months ago. His mother - my sister - was convinced that a mood-altering pharmaceutical prescription medication he was on, which is known for bad side effects, one of which is causing suicidal thoughts, was largely responsible for influencing his decision to take his own life. He did not fit the typical profile of a person contemplating suicide in that he was forming new relationships and making big plans, rather than closing down and letting go of things, before his sudden suicide that shocked everyone. My sister wanted to file a civil law suit against the Pharmaceutical company for their misleading marketing and covering up the unacceptably high risk of suicide their medication causes. But after consulting with several legal experts, she came to the conclusion that she had no hope prevailing in court, due to the fact that the victim was a transgender individual, and the stereotype people hold that transgender people are all suicidal. Legal experts explained that the Pharmaceutical company is adept at convincing the jury that if any consumers of their medication who committed suicide were transgender, then the suicide had to have been a "natural" effect of being transgender, and therefore it would be next to impossible to win the case.

This presumption of what caused the suicide was just one example of the subtle ways that transphobia manifests in ways that many people who are not typically bigoted types can be blind to. My sister also noticed that the police investigating my nephew's death seemed to change certain ways they approached the investigation once they heard that he was transgender. But the most hurtful example of transphobia my sister dealt with was the way older relatives were so unsympathetic and cold about the tragedy. This includes our father who watches Fox Hate-News and never accepted my nephew's transgender identity and had subsequently distanced himself from him. It was like we my nephew's parents had to suffer a double tragedy: One from the loss of their transgender son. And then an additional tragedy due to hurtful treatment and responses of others because of transphobia.

Expand full comment
founding

So sorry about your nephew. The cruelty of some people knows no bounds.

Expand full comment

You summed up how I felt. It seems pretty lazy to keep doing the same material year after year. I don’t think Gaffigan is doing hot pockets anymore. Rock isn’t making fun of Eddie Murphy anymore. And Hannah Gadsby only covered her rape in her first special. Just seems like he phoned it in.

Expand full comment

Conservatives only have one joke.

Expand full comment

One thing - Chappelle calls himself transphobic in that 2019 special. When someone tells you who they are...

Expand full comment