Dave didn’t give up $50 million because “he was uncomfortable with the momentum of his career and the reactions of ignorance to his comedic style”.
He turned down the money because it came with a quid pro quo, which was you take the money, and us corporate suits get to tone down and control your act. As I recall he was quite clear about that. That’s not the same thing at all.
I’m not sure where you get the idea that well known and wildly popular comedians suddenly stop getting heckled, especially “positive” heckling where fans are trying to show their worthless drunken and obnoxious appreciation. I find it to be the exact opposite. The more well known a comedian, the more they have to deal with obnoxious fuckhead fans who know their set and want to “participate” by screaming punchlines or calling out for their favorite joke to be told.
I am sure they do blame the hecklers. Everyone agrees that hecklers suck. I am also pretty sure that they rightly blame the guy that sat on stage and basically told them he was going to sit there doing nothing just long enough to make sure he gets his cut of their money, which they foolishly parted with in the expectation of seeing a stand up routine.
Hecklers are obnoxious to be sure, but simply refusing to even make the attempt to power through means that maybe stand up isn’t for him anymore. I bet that there was more than one person that laid out far more for those tickets than was financially comfortable with the expectation that the financial pain was going to be worth the experience of seeing a comedian they really appreciate and enjoy. Chappelle deciding that some small portion of the overall crowd just isn’t right for the set he had planned and deciding that he is just going to throw the show, waiting only long enough to collect his slice of the their cash, is shitty.
Yes, I did, and I was wrong. I was tired, and “posted while fuzzy-brained”. I meant to say I didn’t see the blatant white on black racism.
As for conjecture…exactly my point about it not being specifically directed “white vs. black”, rather than “generally white assholery towards anyone of differing socio-economical backgrounds”.
Meaning…I don’t think it’s targeted racism as much as I think it’s a group of white asshats who think they’re entitled to some white privilege no matter who they offend.
Alternatively, he could have been upset at the venue. Some asshat stage manager might have been trying to mess with him back stage. He might not have been totally focused on the crowd, and didn’t want the venue to steal his money, so he just sat there on stage, like he had agreed to in his contract.
From the description from the concertgoer, he came out guns ablazin. I bet it was something back stage.
Only if you consider having the largest concentrations of black people in the country a problem. Racism is everywhere that races mix. I would argue that even though the large black population in the South makes for more incidents of hatred; most people I know have more experience living with and working in diverse environments and are better equipped to recognize and deal with it than people in places like Hartford where they obviously don’t even know when they’re being racist. The Rodney Kings of the world know the truth. The people who were being stopped and frisked in NY know the truth. Henry Louis Gates knows the truth.
As for my alleged “butthurt” illustrating our racism… that is called a “non sequitur”. Look it up. I hope you’re better at recognizing racism than you are at recognizing logical fallacies.
I’m sure black people everywhere would appreciate your blithe dismissal of a sadly experienced black person’s explanation of racism.
So when a black friend or co-worker tells you that the waiter yesterday was racist, do you “kindly” explain that he was probably just having a bad day? And that you too received bad service there once?
Just because white people have a hard time seeing (and feeling) racist microaggressions doesn’t mean that black people do too.
I feel like maybe you missed the first 9/10ths of my post, where I agreed that Chappelle has found himself in a uniquely bad place for a performer of his fame and talent, in part because a large chunk of his fanbase completely misses the point. I’m certainly not denying the dudebros dilemma. He’s basically in a no-win position.
What first struck me about the guy, besides his legitimately edgy humor, was his almost frightening sincerity. He simultaneously came off as being really open, and really fragile (more so than the average sad-clown comedian). Won me over immediately. But that strength is also a weakness, and it seems like he’ll be facing this sort of “blood in the water” situation any time he takes the stage from here on out. That undeniably sucks ass. It’s also the undeniable reality of his career at this time, not some arbitrary definition on my part. So, unless he can somehow muscle through that dumbass/entitled bullshit, he’s not cut out for the (unfair) career life has dealt him.
I don’t think that self-segregating via venue choice, as you suggest, would improve things much. For one thing, it would curtail his ability to speak to everyone, which is an aspect of what makes him special/elite in the first place. Beyond that, while he might indeed receive a warmer welcome to some degree, it’s not like white people are the only humans who enjoy train wrecks. Regardless of setting, live performance is a risk for him now. Were I Dave Chappelle, I’d like to think that I would cede the obvious; the only “professional” choice at this point is to beat a strategic retreat. Wait for a bit. Produce a really good TV show. Do the occasional surprise skit on the internet machine. Etc.
But that’s just armchairing, I guess. Regardless, if he can’t – for whatever reason – deliver the product he’s selling, then continuing to sell it is not very professional.
As a white person living in the South I’ve never had a black person talk to me about racism. Ever. That’s a line that is only crossed in one on one type of settings with someone that you know really really well.
The ironic part of your comment is that black people can easily spot racism…so can white people. We know when black people are kindly pointing out how “whitey” is keeping them down, and when half of the people you work with are a different race, well how is that suppose to make you feel?
Which is basically saying that he’s got what Humphrey Bogart called “fuck-you money”; he doesn’t have much of an incentive to put up with this shit, and so he doesn’t. (I find this bit from the Ebony post–“he informed us that if we ever see him in a Half Baked sequel, that means he’s run completely out of money”–pretty telling.) I just hope that he doesn’t “come out of retirement” every few years to re-discover that large, drunk crowds who feel free to be assholes in anonymity haven’t become any more polite.
I think Chappelle exists in a little different world than a lot of other comedians. He is mostly widely known for the Chappelle show, not his stand up. So when they bring up the fact that the audience was quoting on Chappelle show references, “Fuck your couch or I’m Rick James, bitch” it makes sense that Chappelle might want to distance himself from that aspect of his career compared to his stand up side.
I imagine any person who is known for that one thing has a hard time moving on in the same venue to create a new or more expanded identity. It’s like musicians who are one hit wonders and never release anything close to that “one” again. Some people embrace it and go with the flow, think of William Shatner…he IS Captain Kirk, but that doesn’t make him any less of a good actor. Or the counter example Anthony Ray…? Oh you mean the artist know as Sir Mix-A-Lot…which people still associate with Back Got Back. As much as he likes that song, he’ll never escape it.
I don’t know what goes on in performer’s mind, much less Dave Chappelle’s mind. I’m sure the alcohol didn’t help, but at the same time there were probably levels of irritance from both sides.
What? You seem to be denying that white people generally can’t spot racism as easily as its victims (in this case, black people) can? That’s silly. White people often don’t even realize their acting in a racist way, while their black victim does, cuz they’ve seen the same thing many, many times before.
As for the second part, the term “whitey” is mostly a butthurt white person’s fantasy about how black people supposedly refer to white people. Some might use it, but it’s rare, and your use of it tells me where you’re going with this. Sadly enough, and typically enough, you apparently think that just because black people can now sometimes get the same jobs that white people do, racism is basically over, and blacks who point it out are crying wolf. Oh wait, I bet you’ve called that “playing the race card”?
So how is a white person supposed to feel? I hope he or she would feel more sympathetic to people of color in a nation that remains in effect a white supremacist society.
Honestly I think Dave has created his own personal hell.
He created a wildly popular show that could have been marketed to the hilt and made him wealthy, all at the expense of “selling out.” Now he’ll just be forever know as Rick James, bitch. He chose to stick to his principles, which I can admire, but now he doesn’t know how to escape what the Chappelle show created.
No I’m pointing out that white people can just as easily spot when black people are being racist toward them…cause racism isn’t a black specific crime.
Have you ever lived in the rural South? I mean rural, I don’t mean a city where a third of the people are transplants. I’ve heard the term “whitey” or any inference to white people in a slang way a LOT, especially if a group of black people are talking about race or society.
I hardly think racism is over…everyone keeps bring it to the damn forefront of every fucking problem that exists. NOT everything is about RACE OR GENDER, sometimes people are just fucking idiots or did something bad - race/gender excluded. Sometimes it is about those things, and if so then it needs to be pointed out. Here in this context with Dave, I’m not 100% sure if Dave had been white that he still wouldn’t have been treated this way.
Yeah…uh…
I’m reminded of an Esquire interview with Spike Lee from 1992:
Outside a telephone cab draws up. In the time it takes us to walk from the entrance of the RCA Building to the cab, six young black men appear as if from nowhere and extend their hands and their love to Spike Lee. He is greeted in a manner that suggests he is not only a moviemaker but a prophet, a savior, a leader.
The driver of the car, a Latino, doesn’t recognize him and ad makes a face when he hears his destination is Brooklyn. No cabbie wants to go to Brooklyn. (Everything outside Manhattan is Texas.) Spike takes this personally; he thinks he is being discriminated against. I could tell him the number of times I have had to climb out of cabs that wouldn’t go to Brooklyn, my hometown. I don’t.
The whole writeup is cringeworthy.
As is the first situation in the article you linked to:
Two colleagues—one Asian-American, the other African-American—board a small plane. A flight attendant tells them they can sit anywhere, so they choose seats near the front of the plane and across the aisle from each another so they can talk.
At the last minute, three white men enter the plane and take the seats in front of them. Just before takeoff, the flight attendant, who is white, asks the two colleagues if they would mind moving to the back of the plane to better balance the plane’s load. Both react with anger, sharing the same sense that they are being singled out to symbolically “sit at the back of the bus.” When they express these feelings to the attendant, she indignantly denies the charge, saying she was merely trying to ensure the flight’s safety and give the two some privacy.
Without knowing how the plane was set up, oh, come on. Inconsiderate to move the people who were on time? Yes. Racist? That’s a stretch. Equating moving back with go to the back of the bus? FFS.
I’ve been accused of racism when really, in real life, I’m dreadfully shy. It has made me feel bad when it’s happened. To be told that, oh, well, you’re a white dude, it’s obviously a microagression…no, sorry, I can’t be held responsible for you reading more into the situation. If you’ve been talking about bringing your uncle over, and you bring an older black man over, and I ask, “so, are you Emi’s uncle?” In no way am I intending to use a 19th Century slur to imply that you’re a house slave, and your reading that into it does not make it true. If you’ve told me your uncle’s name is Cicero and had instead asked, “so, are you Cicero?” in no way have I intended to give you a common slave name and your thinking so does not make it true. If I absentmindedly scratch my chin in a particular way and you’re Italian, in no way am I intending to flip you off and your reading that into it does not make it true.
Sometimes a cigar really is just a cigar. Sometimes it’s a microagression. Sometimes it’s perception. I’m not responsible for your perception of reality.
Why not just come out and say it? You mean MISperception of reality.
I think your whole comment reads like pathetic white whining. It’s another example of how most white people are far more concerned with, and even pissed off about, those very rare moments when someone who’s not white says something was racist that may not have been, than they are with the much greater, much more frequent, and much more injurious fact that racism against people of color is rampant, and that it still affects their lives in uncountable numbers of ways. We still live in a white supremacist society, but for a lot of white people, the only times racism is worth addressing is when they think someone who’s not white is being racist or “playing the race card,” and when they think they themselves are victims of racism.
tl;dr – That rallying cry, “Won’t someone please think of the white people!”? It’s ridiculous.
There’s always audiobooks; Tina Fey did the reading for Bossypants.
I’m not the world’s biggest Chapelle fan, but I’d read it, sure. I watched his show when it was on and it was always solidly funny. One of my favorite bits from that show was with John Mayer, showing different musical racial stereotypes. Playing metal in the crowd of white people in the restaurant, and to have them instantly form a mosh pit…LOL If not even that part of the bit causes you to “get it”, you’re beyond hope. :->
That rallying cry, “Won’t someone please think of the white people!”? It’s ridiculous.
And it’s very telling when that’s what you got out of what I said.
Sometimes it really is racism. Sometimes it’s Blue Car Syndrome. No amount of throwing out feels changes that sometimes, what someone perceives doesn’t match reality, and doesn’t obligate the accused to grovel for forgiveness for being misunderstood.
I agree that racism is still a problem, and that society still has problems with race, sex, and so on. That doesn’t negate cognitive dissonance nor does it negate the need to be responsible when throwing out accusations of racism.
Some of that is you, I’m from the south, New Orleans, and I talk about race issues with my black friends all the time. I’ve gotten into discussions on race with black people I’ve just met on the bus, friendly discussions, not confrontational stuff, just hey, I’ve been studying this and you’ve been working on that, and this is the name of a website you might like kind of stuff stuff.
Also I grew up in a black neighborhood and went to a few less than fifty percent white schools and never experienced anything I’d call “reverse racism” with a straight face.
So if you’re rude to the performer the performance is off and the ticket price becomes a de facto fine for being an asshole? Sounds pretty reasonable to me!
Mr. A. Kaufman and Mr. R. Pryor understand, IMO.
