Stand-up comedian Dave Chappelle has seemingly wrapped up his Netflix deal with a special called “The Closer.” It’s currently being pilloried for having the wrong politics. At one point in the show, during a long disquisition on transgenderism, Chappelle explains to the audience what a “TERF” is — a trans-exclusionary radical feminist. He says, “They don’t hate trans people” but they react to it the way black people react to blackface. He names J. K. Rowling, and ultimately says he is on “Team TERF. I agree, man. Gender is a fact.” This was all part of a larger set of observations about the course of identity politics. “I’m not that fond of these newer gays. Too sensitive. Too brittle. Those aren’t the gays I grew up with,” Chapelle says at one point, “They fought for their freedom.”
The OG GOAT #DaveChappelle laying down some truths #TeamTERF pic.twitter.com/SQTliTCYvg
— ZooboMax💯 (@zoobomax) October 7, 2021
One Netflix executive publicly quit over the special. NPR has gone over it, basically telling Chappelle that being black doesn’t give him an excuse for transphobia.
In “The Closer,” Chappelle goes to enormous lengths to try to communicate a very simple idea: I don’t agree with your self-conception, or the words you want to make me use, but that doesn’t mean I bear you ill-will or malice. He concludes with a long story about transgender comedian Daphne Dorman, who laughed at all his jokes and who he supported, even when Dorman bombed before his set. Dorman later committed suicide. Chappelle even goes to great lengths to demonstrate his understanding of “intersectionality” with his sharp observations about how, in certain circumstances, gays “get to be white again” when dealing with blacks. Chappelle was putting in the work.
I have to say, all this work was for nothing. And watching it the night in premiered on Netflix, I knew it would be for nothing. I hate to say it. Wokeness isn’t just making a lot of comedians settle for “clapter” — it’s actually weakening Dave Chappelle, who should be in the strongest position to challenge it. But, he just can’t. He’s trapped. He knows that the media control the perception of his work. There is no mental model in his lifetime of the pendulum swinging the other way. On these issues, no disagreement is tolerated. Good faith is ruled out. You’re not allowed to be famous and to disagree about this without being perceived as some kind of right-winger or moral monster.
I’ve been laughing at Chappelle’s work for a quarter of a century now. Chappelle can make almost anything funny — and there are lots of riotously funny jokes in this special. But the effect of engaging with his past critics, and the criticisms he is anticipating, made this special feel defensive and tedious. Chappelle is unwilling to say, “F*** you, I don’t care what you think” and move on to another subject. In trying to politely carve out some room for disagreement, without actually undermining the power of these cultural authorities, he ends up playing the game on their terms. And we’re all losers for it. When he’s talking about what it’s like to live in Ohio, he’s hilarious. But almost all of this special is a form of pleading with his critics; and it was always going to inspire them to be rougher with him than before. America has this Puritan streak, and it is deadly for comedy.