There is a lot of outrage culture surrounding Dave Chappelle’s latest Netflix standup comedy special “Sticks and Stones.”
The funniest thing about his special that was definitely tone-deaf amongst liberal audiences is that he literally was making fun of the “cancel culture” that attempts to bury comedian celebrities for past jokes. Critics and liberals hated his newest special.
But audiences proved critics wrong with Dave Chappelle’s newest standup special “Sticks and Stones.”
We get this echo chamber of outrage culture exclusively on social media all the time. But the reality is that the outrage culture – in the same way that liberals love to assume every President Trump supporter is a member of the Ku Klux Klan – is actually anecdotal. It means that it’s a small faction of the group perpetuates this kind of extreme takes.
When Chappelle’s special first aired on Netflix, the outrage culture exploded because of some of his controversial bits including the “Alphabet People,” “Juicy Smollet (French pronunciation),” Michael Jackson’s recent sexual abuse accusers and the opioid crisis.
Chappelle has a long history of being edgy but “Sticks and Stones” was definitely one of a kind and he was fully aware of the kind of effect his routine would have on certain groups of people.
Take his outfit for instance, Chappelle wore a one-piece jumpsuit as if he was symbolically saying to the audience he was prepared for the bloodshed. What did Michael Myers wear? What did Jason Voorhees wear?
While the blue check mark brigade found it to be completely offensive, everybody else loved it.
On Wednesday, Rotten Tomatoes posted a score of “Sticks and Stones” that had critics rating it as a 17-percent, but the audience score? It was a eye-popping 99-percent.
Has a standup special ever had this kind of clear divide? pic.twitter.com/L061DkiUE7
— Chris Stuckmann (@Chris_Stuckmann) September 3, 2019
But on Thursday it bumped up to 79-percent critics score and 90-percent audience reaction.
Many of his fans, including professional critics, from even just a few short years ago, now think he’s not “evolving” with the times.
Slate reviewer Inkoo Kang compared Chappelle to the stereotypical conservative uncle: “While you changed with the times, he fashioned himself a badge of honor for defiantly not doing so. Now, his jokes make you wince.”
A writer for Paste, another mainstream entertainment website, said Dave Chappelle made “transphobic jokes” and that the comedian was “out of touch.” Saying of the show, the critic wrote, “just him venting about people being held accountable for their own words and actions. I guess it’s a brave way to start off a show, if you equate bravery with just acting like an a–hole.”
It looks like its these people are out of touch, buying into the whole “cancel culture” that Chappelle was satirizing. It’s ironic because those that are offended by his routine are actually who Chappelle was making fun of the entire time. But they wouldn’t get. They’re too self-involved to understand what he’s truly saying, which is to get over yourself; you’re not special and no group of people is safe.