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.

  • Noble Shift@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    My takes are - He’s doing this on purpose. He’s doing this for what he believes in, comedy, and the freedom to say what one wants no matter how distasteful, especially in comedy. Either everything is ok to be made fun of or nothing is. Pushing buttons and boundaries.

    Or he’s a Troll and he’s out to top South Park.

    Or he’s gone around the bend. Like bye bye …

    I mean out of all the groups & things taking place in American and the World there’s a fuck tonne better people and groups to be taking the piss out of, and other boundaries that could use the pushing. Regardless of reasons the direction and optics are abysmal.

    • ersatz@infosec.pub
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      11 months ago

      He’s gone around the bend. He does photo ops with people like Lauren Boebert. It’s the Kanye West and Elon Musk thing. They get criticism for their bad takes and instead of correcting themselves they double down because they can’t handle criticism. And then they find comfort in the right wing grifter sphere because those people kiss their ass. And then it’s just a downward spiral.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        He does photo ops with people like Lauren Boebert.

        Wow. You weren’t joking. Not just photo ops, but photo ops specifically to pass on a bigoted message.

        But sure, he’s an equal-opportunity offender and besides it’s just a joke, bro.

        • jimbo@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          What evidence do you have that he knew how this photo would be used? He doesn’t exactly look like he’s excited to be in the photo.

        • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          Pretty sure she stopped them in a hallway for a pic. And after they saw the caption they asked her to take it down.

          Dave might legitimately not know who she was

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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            11 months ago

            Doesn’t sound like just a stop in the hallway, but it does look like he objected to the messaging.

            He said during his standup act at Capital One Arena in Washington that he granted the photo request by Boebert for a human moment to bridge the political divide but felt “blindsided” by her, according to a progressive influencers’ blog.

            https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/dave-chappelle-poses-lauren-boebert-164759657.html

            Firstly, it’s not his job to “bridge the political divide,” nor does anyone expect him to be the one to do it, so he needs to turn his ego down about a thousand notches.

            Secondly, you do not “bridge the political divide” by posing with one of the craziest and stupidest people in congress. You tell her to fuck off and find a Republican who has a tiny shred of credibility (hard, I know, but you can do better the Boebert).

            • speff@disc.0x-ia.moe
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              11 months ago

              I’m not sure why you’re being hostile towards Chapelle after finding that context. He was trying to make some sort of peace and got slighted.

              And it’s everyone’s job to try to bridge divides in this climate. Would you also tell Swift to stay in her lane? How about Schwarzenegger?

              Also despite her being trashy and stupid, Beobert is a representative of her district. If she’s shut out, then her constituents are shut out. And that snubbing is exactly how the maga virus started and keeps perpetuating.

              • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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                11 months ago

                Because you don’t try to make peace with someone who wants to destroy the fucking country and turn it into a fascist theocracy. To tell them to fuck right off out of congress and take her recently-acquired GED with her.

                Sorry, I don’t praise Neville Chamberlain either.

                • phillaholic@lemm.ee
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                  11 months ago

                  What’s he making piece about? They have identical views on this subject. Maybe he should take a step back and re-learn that lesson he learned back on Comedy Central.

    • EnderMB@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      I used to believe this, because I truly believe that we should be able to joke about everything and anything.

      But when you have photo ops with right-wing nutters, run exclusively in circles with conspiracy nuts, and placate the likes of Elon Musk at your shows, it shows that even the great Dave Chappelle isn’t beyond being sucked into the anti-woke brigade.

      When your act starts to focus almost solely on certain subjects, you become typecast, and that’s what’s happening to Chappelle and Gervais. When you’re putting out more material on trans people than what you were initially known for covering, something has changed in you. Most comedians that strike a nerve or hit gold on a specific topic don’t make their entire identity about it, like Jim Jeffries and the infamous gun routine. They reference the impact, and move on. IMO, Chappelle and co should have moved on maybe one or two specials ago…

      • detalferous@lemm.ee
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        11 months ago

        We should be able to home about everything and anything. But the more politically incorrect your humor is, the funnier (and more true) it needs to be. His new material just isn’t funny.

      • phillaholic@lemm.ee
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        11 months ago

        You can joke about everything and anything. Dave Chapelle wasn’t arrested and put in jail. The conflation of what’s legal and what’s in the etiquette of society is troubling. You can have shitty views and be entitled not to be arrested for having them. You can have shitty views and not be entitled for anyone to pay you or listen to you say them. I have the same right to complain to Netflix about promoting this asshole as he does being that asshole.

    • eatthecake@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      What is the difference between ‘pushing buttons and boundaries’ and trolling? I don’t think i can tell. It all seems designed to generate emotional responses and controversy.

      • Lonnie123@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        I would say pushing boundaries (and maybe to a lesser extent just pushing buttons) is categorically different than trolling.

        Trollings sole purpose is the reaction, to rile people up. You dont have any intention behind your words besides that. Or heck maybe you even lie to do it. “What if I post pictures of sad looking polar bears to Greta Thunbergs twitter account? Wouldnt that make her mad!? hahaha!” Thats a troll - Nothing is gained, nothing is learned, nothing is advanced.

        Pushing boundaries is something different. You can have intent, social movement, and a message with it. Star Trek pushed boundaries when they had an interracial kiss, it wasnt just for shock value or trolling white people. Ellen coming out on TV pushed boundaries without trolling people.

        Boundaries are generally placed by people for the purpose of holding certain groups back, and they deserved to be pushed and in fact broken. Trolling does none of that. Trolling is putting a flaming bag of shit on someones porch and ding-dong-ditching just to watch them get their shoe dirty. If they are old, fall over, and break their hip when they do it thats all the more fun to the troll.

        Pushing buttons… more on the trolling end of things, but probably done in a more playful way, maybe even to someone you know and hope to have a positive relationship with afterwards. But really its a more mild form of trolling

    • Pratai@lemmy.ca
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      11 months ago

      He’s a sellout. Nothing more. And it’s painfully obvious. He was barely relevant before this bullshit- now look at him.

      • CaptnNMorgan@reddthat.com
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        11 months ago

        He might be a sellout but to say he was “barely” relevant before he made trans jokes is just false. Before the trans jokes he was considered the GOAT stand up comedian and it was pretty much uncontested. If you aren’t a comedy fan then I get why you wouldn’t have heard much about him before the jokes but that’s just your little bubble, bud.

        • Pratai@lemmy.ca
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          11 months ago

          ROFL! Comedy isn’t a competition. You’re either funny or you aren’t. And if you’re only funny because you are controversial, then you’re not funny- you’re just popular.

          He WAS funny. Then he became relevant. Now he’s just controversial.

          • CaptnNMorgan@reddthat.com
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            11 months ago

            Chappelle was never controversial before this though. He was just recognized by his peers as the FUNNIEST. SMH

            • Pratai@lemmy.ca
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              11 months ago

              He was recognized by his peers as FUNNY. Because comedians are funny. Again, it’s not a competition. Grow the fuck up.

              • CaptnNMorgan@reddthat.com
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                11 months ago

                Lmao I like how you changed the argument. All I’m trying to express is that he was VERY relevant before the trans shit. You have a lot of unprocessed anger huh?

                  • CaptnNMorgan@reddthat.com
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                    11 months ago

                    I’ve never heard of that website but I’ve listened to a lot of different comedians having conversations and every time Chappelle got mentioned before COVID all of them would express how legendary he was. That legend is definitely gone now, he shouldn’t have come back. But back then him and Louis were the two living comedians that had absolutely everyones respect.

                    Edit: Decent list but Carlin shouldn’t be on there because his funny specials were not in the 2000s him and Lewis black got significantly less funny later in their career. Whoever made the list is an idiot for not having Chappelle on there but it’s nice seeing Bryan Reagan get some respect.

                    Edit edit: after looking up his specials Carlin did actually get a decent special in, in 2001. But he is by no means a “2000s comedian”

                    Edit edit edit: my point being this article is irrelevant and you are still wrong.

        • phillaholic@lemm.ee
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          11 months ago

          Do you wanna give me a source on that uncontested claim because that sounds like it was pulled out of your ass.

    • paholg@lemm.ee
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      11 months ago

      If it were truly about comedy, wouldn’t he at least try to be a bit funny while doing it?

    • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Why is it all or nothing? I am not sure how that was established. What experiments were conducted to show that result?