I’ve always felt that Chappelle, to the extent that he was trying to do anything beyond making people laugh, was playing with stereotypes and words to take their sting away. How many times can you pound people with the N-word before it loses all of its meaning (sports commentators use the word “Redskins” all the time and lets face it, most people most of the time don’t even think about what it means).
My favorite was a 50’s sitcom-like sketch about a white-to-the-point-of-translucence family named “The Niggers.” The name was repeated ad nauseum, in every possible context, and it was hilarious. But what made it for me was Chappelle sticking his head in frame at the end of the skit and shouting “This racism is killing me!”
Chris Rock did a famous bit about street culture in which he used the line: “I love black people, but I hate Niggas!” The bit was great, but he has since said that his regret is that that line has developed a life of its own among frat-boy types and other whites who are not overt racists but are slightly uncomfortable in mixed-race situations (i.e. Michael Scott in The Office), who use it to justify their discomfort.
I think that Chappelle’s decision to quit when he did was made to a great extent because of his popularity – he was afraid that at some point he would simply become Carlos Mencia, just another minority comic justifying racism for money.
From what I’ve read, Chappelle got the idea that a white crew member was laughing at a sketch for the wrong reasons, like has been mentioned above. He found out, I guess, that there were people who didn’t get the way he was making fun of everyone, with maybe a little more thrown at blacks just so he didn’t accused at truly “hating whitey”. The idea of promoting bad blood and having people laugh at others with actual malice drained the fun out of the job for him. He’s already well off, and he didn’t need the job so his kids don’t starve, so he quit.
I agree. He’s the only comic on comedy central that makes me yell out loud at the TV because his “comedy” is so pathetically ham-fisted and uncreative.
Sure, Chapelle’s humor is mostly racial, too, but it’s done in a fairly clever way. Even obvious jokes, like “blacks like drums” and “whites like guitars” play out in funny and unexpected ways (as in the John Mayer episode). When Chapelle is on, his brand of racial humor is classic and up there with SNL skits like Eddie Murphy in whiteface.
Doesn’t get better then this really. Though, in order to get the joke you’d have to notice that 2pac has had more albums of “old” material released since he died then he’d released when he was alice. And 3 movies, a few videos and what not. Hardest working corpse in show bussiness that Tupac is.
I thought the show was absolutely brilliant at exposing continuing racism in a society that doesn’t think it’s very racist any more.
One of it smost clever moments was the bit where the cops break down the door of the white-collar criminal and drag him off bodily, but have a long apologetic phone conversation with the street dealer to try and arrange a convenient time for a low key surrender.
