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.

  • ersatz
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    11 months ago

    Trans people aren’t the fuel of these jokes

    Have you heard the jokes? He absolutely hates us. He loves punching us. He brags about it.

    You can be a chapelle fan or you can be a trans ally. You cant be both (gaslighting not accepted).

    • fosforus@sopuli.xyz
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      11 months ago

      Have you heard the jokes? He absolutely hates us. He loves punching us. He brags about it.

      Not the current ones yet, admittedly. Ironically enough, this article informed me that it even exists. I did watch the earlier one, and found it rather mild.

      You can be a chapelle fan or you can be a trans ally.

      I’ll take C) neither, but will both watch this show and support equal human rights for everyone.

    • utubas@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      They are jokes. He is a comedian. Or should we cancel every comedian that is not 100% PC?

      No need to answer though, I am pretty sure I know what is your stance on this.

      • PoliticalAgitator@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        Bullshit apologism.

        They are jokes. He is a comedian

        Functionally zero comedians actually think being shitty to minorities is part of their job. It was an excuse invented and adopted by people who think dogshit views are acceptable if you sprinkle humor on them.

        Or should we cancel every comedian that is not 100% PC?

        Exactly the alarmist, pearl clutching nonsense you’re trying to accuse other people of. Seen any of Jimmy Carr’s standup? He hosts multiple light entertainment shows.

        Fuck, this Chapelles second Netflix special so who exactly who has been cancelled for “not being 100% PC”?

        The reality is that vulnerable groups can absolutely tell the difference between jokes and elaborate setups for bigotry. Dave Chapelle built an entire career out of it.

        The person who apparently can’t tell the difference is you.

        • utubas@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          If you think that way, stop watching it, as I am sure you already did, and so many other people.

          Now, if I do watch it and find it decent or even great, does that mean I am a transphobe?1

          • PoliticalAgitator@lemmy.world
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            11 months ago

            Yeah thanks for the sage advice grandad but we’re all perfectly aware that we don’t have to watch Netflix specials if we don’t want to.

            Yet despite Chapelle’s specials and Hitler’s speeches not being mandatory viewing just yet, we can nevertheless discuss the men, their rhetoric and the broader impact that rhetoric has on individuals and society in general.

            Are you sure you didn’t mean “just ignore it so nobody has this conversation in public where someone might change someone’s mind”?

            If people discussing transphobia in mainstream media bothers you, you can just not look at it, right? But here you are, sharing your opinions about people sharing their opinions.

      • nelly_man@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        If he were merely telling unfunny, inoffensive jokes, people would stop listening. But people wouldn’t call that canceling; they’d just say that he used to be great and place the blame on his shoulders. But because it’s unfunny, offensive jokes, it’s suddenly the audience’s fault for walking away.

        Don’t blame the audience for refusing to listen to him. It’s his job to draw people in, and it’s his fault if he fails to do so.

        • utubas@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          That’s fine for not liking his content. That’s exactly what you should do, watch something else.

          Now, to put everything into good vs bad, and say he “wants to kill us”, and that by enjoying Chapelle’s (which I don’t even like so much these days) content you are automatically transphobe.