It’s the comedian’s first special for the streamer since 2021’s highly controversial ‘The Closer’

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.

  • rbesfe
    807·
    1 year ago

    As usual, the algorithmic media machine is trying to drum up anger and emotion because that gets clicks and ad views. There were definitely a few transphobic jokes that I was not okay with, but to say he the special is “filled” with them is a bit much.

    Also the quote “I love punching down” was clearly not sincere the way he delivered it. I didn’t like the special, but the outrage over it is overblown especially considering that putting it in the news will only get more people watching it.

    • phillaholic@lemm.ee
      159·
      1 year ago

      So he is punching down and is telling Trans jokes still? It’s not a percentage issue.

      • GaMEChld@lemmy.world
        152·
        1 year ago

        Let’s not bemoan specificity. If anything, we need accurate, fine details more than ever.

        All the guy said what he disagreed with the portion of the title which stated that the special was “filled” with specific jokes. That particular claim IS indeed a percentage issue.

        If you are taking the point further and saying that percentages shouldn’t matter, even 1% is too much, that’s a SEPARATE claim. It doesn’t address the original claim.

        • phillaholic@lemm.ee
          32·
          1 year ago

          They’re last sentence apologizes for the content, so let’s not waste our time pretending that’s the real disagreement. The Andy Kaufman bit is 100% transphobic but OP won’t acknowledge it that way.

          • GaMEChld@lemmy.world
            1·
            1 year ago

            Perhaps you’re just seeing what you want to see. I don’t do mind games. Words mean what their definitions are. Anything else is opinion, not fact. Cite me what words exactly you are referring to that would be objectively defined as an “apology.”

        • vxx@lemmy.world
          22·
          1 year ago

          I don’t hate Chapelle, but he clearly hates trans people.

          Edit: And before you get back at me, here’s my reasoning. Trans people are already victims as they get targeted by Neonazis for years now, and made the boogeyman of their whole movement (plus woke people, but that’s a majority, not minority), and he as a minority himself with that giant audience makes several specials that preaches on all the Neonazi talking points to a crowd of millions.

          He’s deliberately supporting Neonazis at worst and is an unknown tool of them at best.

          You know, shit stops being funny when there’s actually victims as an outcome to this.

          His old jokes didn’t make Neonazis think “He’s one of us now”.