AR US

» Dave Chappelle strikes again, and audiences aren’t all laughing

 

Matthew Fraser
Editor-in-Chief

 

Fo comedians have commanded the feelings and interests
of audiences as thoroughly as Dave Chappelle. Over his 33
years long career, Chappelle has entertained and delighted
audiences from the small home screen to the biggest theatres
and arenas in the world. His eponymous sketch series, The
Chappelle Show is often considered the greatest sketch
comedy show ever made and has been immortalized by way
of its satirizations and outstanding quotables. In many ways,
Chappelle’s comedic resume speaks for itself and | count myself
as a fan.

However, over the past handful of years, Chappelle has
drawn the ire of a certain demographic. Despite the arguments
that he punches across lines, equally dispensing his wit and
critique, the LGBTQ community has taken offence to many of
his jokes. In particular, the transgendered community has felt
the most unjustly targeted by the comedian's pen; so much so
that their rage has trended multiple times on Twitter and been
thoroughly expressed in print. According to the comedian
himself, many members and their supporters have made their
grievances known personally to Chappelle. But has Chappelle
really been punching down or are his comments being
misinterpreted by a group he claims to be too sensitive? Could
it instead be that Chappelle has lost his once sharp wit and
instead fallen on clumsily rehashing old, offensive and largely
thoughtless jokes?

In Chappelle’s most recent Netflix special, The Closer, the
comedian sets himself the task of addressing his naysayers and
ending the mischaracterizations he feels they make. However,
along the path to straightening out these misunderstandings,
Chappelle can’t seem to help himself from baiting the very
people that he aims to pacify and address. He goes so far as to
ironically name himself both a feminist and a transohobe. These
often successful efforts at drawing rage have yielded criticisms
both legitimate and bad faith, thoughtful and knee jerk while
obscuring whether or not Chappelle is arguing in integrity.

For most people who are vaguely aware of the controversy,
they probably know that Dave Chappelle proudly stated “I’m
team TERF”—an acronym that stands for Trans Exclusionary
Radical Feminist. One online political commentator named Vaush
picked out this particular line for criticism and reflection. Given
that Dave Chappelle begins his special by stating that he believes
that transwomen are in fact women, Vaush points out that that
beginning standpoint immediately makes him completely and
totally incompatible with the TERF ideology. Vaush points out
that TERFs believe that it is very much impossible for someone
born with male genitalia and assigned male at birth to become
a woman. Many TERFs believe that the very presence of
transwomen in female spaces silences and invalidates the voices
of “real women.” In pointing out this fact, Vaush begins to lay
the groundwork for the argument that Chappelle is woefully
uneducated on the things that his opining on.

This line of thought is expanded on by one Conscious Lee,
a TikTok’er gaining growing popularity on the intersectional

  

and black-led social media scene. In a video made for

TikTok, reposted on Instagram, Lee argues against Chappelle
comparing Blackface to transgenderism. Lee’s point is that the
inherently disrespectful and racist practice of blackface is wholly
separate from the legitimate existence of individuals whose
gender identities do not conform with what they were assigned
at birth. Lee argues that to conflate the two is an act of both
gaslighting and dog-whistling.
He continues his criticism by

pointing out that Chappelle ;

has given five percent thought aT

to the issue of transgenderism

and that in turn, his musings

seem profound to those who .

have not given the question
any thought at all.

Yet the criticisms of
Chappelle did not come
solely from the internet spaces
he doesn’t think are real,
newspapers and magazines
including The Guardian and
Vox Media's Vulture published
critiques as well. Craig Jenkins
in his review for the Vulture
points out that Chappelle
once walked away from $50
million because he realized
too many audience members
were laughing because of
racist stereotypes as opposed
to laughing at the racist
stereotypes. In Jenkins’ eyes,
that comic has seemingly left
behind his previous principles
and sensibilities to defend
millionaires and rehash
old, tired and antiquated
transphobic jokes. As a result
of these jokes—made in
consecutive specials—Jenkins
points out that Chappelle is
at the centre of an outrage
he cultivated; this creation of
his has meant his audience is
populated with people who
cheer at anti-transgender
bathroom bills. In essence,
Chappelle has drawn the
criticism onto himself and
attracted people who may legitimately be transphobic.

The Guardian called upon a trans comedian named Dahlia
Belle, for her response to The Closer. In that response, Belle
criticizes the erasure of black trans people in Dave Chappelle's
special while also arguing against his use of Daphne Dorman
to protect himself. In both of these criticisms, Belle is well

 

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