Is Dave Chappelle being Hypocrite when talking about Political Correctness?

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There's a difference between outrage culture and a comedian deciding to take time off and reflect on what message his material is sending.

The skits were self deprecation but Dave in that moment felt like it went from the outside audience laughing with black people to laughing at them. That wasn't the intended message and as an artist he wanted to regroup and find a better way to approach it. But Comedy Central wanted to push what sold and that material sold. So he stepped away.

Artistic integrity and outrage culture that seeks to silence others are two incredibly different things. Being against the latter doesn't mean you literally stop caring entirely what message you are sending yourself. It's honestly sad that's even being questioned.

I'm surprised Chris Rock never had a similar moment but maybe back then things were different in terms of feedback. But plenty white dudes I knew grewing up that seemed to think Rock's "There's black people, and then there's ******s" bit was a license to use the word with a hard r (but only to refer to the 'bad ones').

 

[Slick_36]

I'm surprised Chris Rock never had a similar moment but maybe back then things were different in terms of feedback. But plenty white dudes I knew grewing up that seemed to think Rock's "There's black people, and then there's ******s" bit was a license to use the word with a hard r (but only to refer to the 'bad ones').

There's nuance to great comedy and the broader your audience gets, the more people that nuance is lost on. It's like telling a joke to friends versus a stranger.

I don't think Dave was prepared for that kind of audience and realized later he'd have to adapt to it. Because even if that one guy in a suit wasn't laughing out of racism, there were people out there that were.

 

[minute bull]

For the people that don't get it, it would be like if you are telling jokes and people laugh and you like it, then you realise that people are laughing before you get to the punchline because they are just laughing at your goofy accent. It wouldn't be PC to just not tell jokes.

Obviously TS is trolling. For me, it's not really a problem when people are hypocrites, because really all that means is I had a certain notion about a person and then that person says/does something that makes me re-assess that notion; the real question is whether my initial assessment was correct in order for the "change" to qualify as hypocrisy. Oftentimes, it's just an initial misinterpretation -- so really? Whom is the hypocrite in that scenario?

Even though it's "more" unfair than hypocrisy, I am neither surprised by people who hold others at a different standard from themselves. We see it all the time, often in social critics. Celebrities must adhere to XYZ while the anonymous can do whatever we please. That's pretty shitty but so commonplace that calling it out is wasted breath.

Slick makes some good points:

There's a difference between outrage culture and a comedian deciding to take time off and reflect on what message his material is sending.

The skits were self deprecation but Dave in that moment felt like it went from the outside audience laughing with black people to laughing at them. That wasn't the intended message and as an artist he wanted to regroup and find a better way to approach it. But Comedy Central wanted to push what sold and that material sold. So he stepped away.

Artistic integrity and outrage culture that seeks to silence others are two incredibly different things. Being against the latter doesn't mean you literally stop caring entirely what message you are sending yourself. It's honestly sad that's even being questioned.

Yeah, I think that people overlook the difference between being laughed with and being laughed at. Nobody wants to be insulted, even when they are inviting laughter. There's a difference and it's not a matter of you dish it out but you can't take it. The largest factor in Dave's departure was the pressure of carrying the show, which affected him greatly. Neal has a story where he confesses to Dave, worried, that he couldn't perform sexually. He couldn't get an erection. Dave responded, "Me neither, man."

When you're dealing with the insane pressure of performing under deadline conditions, with lots of people counting on you for both entertainment and their own livelihood -- how easy is it to conjure up the funny? What kind of mood do you have to be in -- in order to excel in this space? And what if that mood was infected by the fear that people weren't for you but against you?

That's not hypocrisy. In my opinion, it's more fair to allow for (THE PERCEPTION OF) hypocrisy in others than it is to demand fairness from hypocrites.

I'm surprised Chris Rock never had a similar moment but maybe back then things were different in terms of feedback. But plenty white dudes I knew grewing up that seemed to think Rock's "There's black people, and then there's ******s" bit was a license to use the word with a hard r (but only to refer to the 'bad ones').

Chris Rock didn't do comedy in a period where kneejerk outrage could quickly mobilize and strike fear. There were definitely grumblies and mumblies, and there always has been and always will be when it comes to race humor.

 

[Tekk]

I’m talking more about the white guy cutting across his property joke. And Dave going “he was white” and talking about wanting a rifle so he could shoot him.

He never said he wanted to shoot him he said he couldn't confront him for cutting across his property because he didn't have a gun and the other guy did

 

[Philo-Publius]

First off before this thread gets flooded with people blindly defending Chappelle just because he's Chappelle.... I'm a big Chappelle fan myself, have been since I was in 7th grade and saw the first episode of Chappelle show the day it premiered on comedy central. That being said.....


Chappelle did quit his show and walked away from millions because...….. He didn't like the way a White man in his audience laughed too long and hard at one of his jokes.." When he laughed it made me uncomfortable, as a matter of fact that was the last thing I shot before I told myself I gotta take a fucking time out after this. Because my head almost exploded". Imagine being a comedian and you get triggered because a white guy laughed too hard at one of your jokes. That has to be one of the weakest and lamest PC things I have ever heard. White men aren't allowed to laugh at muhh jokes. Like WTF?

Also Bonus Dave being a Hypocrite saying he will never wear a dress..


Even though he already had worn a Dress (With fake boobs might I add)....

I understand when people are young 13-21 they usually change their opinions over time but Dave was a 30 year old grown ass man when he did that. Dave is still probably the funniest guy on earth imo I just roll my eyes when he acts like he's Anti PC and Anti Dresses when he made decisions in his past that contradict that. I feel like he is just riding the Cool Rogan Anti PC wave that's been going on the past couple of years.

And No this thread is not Pro PC or Anti PC it's just an observation on someone saying one thing but having done another.

Maybe he has changed his position on that or maybe he wasn't even telling the truth. My understanding is that he took a break because he was buckling under all of the pressure of his fame, work, etc. Maybe that statement was a half-joke in itself, or a cover so that he didn't have to admit he had a nervous breakdown.

 

[shunyata]

I don't think you actually understand what Dave was saying in that quote.

He's performing a sketch that confronts racial stereotypes and the absurd situation a man could find himself in of what he wants to pick from a menu vs whether that choice will reinforce a stereotype.

A white guy in the front row is laughing very very hard at the unpolished sketch and it causes Dave to wonder if he's finding the dilemma funny as Dave does, or if he's just laughing really hard at the stereotype being real from the audience member's point of view.

That gave him pause.


That's not hypocritical just because you don't understand it.

Walking away from a 50 million dollar deal when you don't like what how people are interpreting your work is not fucking political correctness. It's skin in the game.

It's actually been covered ALOT that one of the principle reasons he walked on s3 was that DVD sales of s1 and s2 were insane and he wanted points on the DVD sales. Comedy Central wouldn't budge and would not give him even 0.5% of dvd / merch sales and would only offer the flat salary without points. He kept pushing for points knowing that they were making far far far more than the $50 million they offered him. They kept refusing to share the real money.

If it wasn't for the contract battle he could easily have taken time off to think about his writing and it's impact and come back.

He said he didn't come back to Comedy Central because he realized that the whole entertainment industry is about pimping and he didn't want to be their whore.

 

[blaseblah]

Chappelle did quit his show and walked away from millions because...….. He didn't like the way a White man in his audience laughed too long and hard at one of his jokes.." When he laughed it made me uncomfortable, as a matter of fact that was the last thing I shot before I told myself I gotta take a fucking time out after this. Because my head almost exploded".

I always felt that wasn't the real reason he walked away. And his comments in recent years seem to support that.

I think at the time he was trying to justify his reason for leaving without admitting that the pressure and fame got to him.