I just watched Oprah interview Dave Chappelle. I still don’t know what the hell’s going on.
He mentioned that his writing partner didn’t call him after he returned from Africa. He talked about being “socially irresponsible” and how the people around were trying to make him think he was crazy.
All in all, it was a very strange interview. When asked if he would return to his show, he said he would if he could have the proper working atmosphere and that half the profits from the DVD sales would go back to “the people” who really could use it (like Katrina victims).
For some reason, this whole thing sounds like an elaborate setup for some massively huge joke.
Strange, indeed. Oprah kept putting words into his mouth and (thankfully) he’d correct her. I just don’t think he was ready to articulate what he’d been through. All in all, it was very uneven-- he was funny, then offensive, open-minded, then bitter. First he’s saying he had to got Africa to clear his head, or that he’s hurt his friend didn’t phone him since he’s been back (wondering if it’s a “culural” thing- WTF? He’s known this guy since they were teenagers)-- then he’s joking that no one goes from the U.S. to Africa for medical care, and admitting he didn’t even tell his wife and kids he was taking off.
I understand that he felt overwhelmed and like people were using him, but he made it seem as if, say, Macauley Culkin hadn’t been through that before him (and as a child). Plus I just can’t see Oprah watching the show. I did like when he differentiated between fans who got the points he was trying to put across and those who just yelled “I’m Rick James, bitch!” at him.
I think he’s got plenty to sort out. I’m a huge fan, so hope he comes out on top.
Dude! Have you found any verification for this stuff? I’ve lived under usch conditions before, and it was a nightmare… If it’s true it makes MORE than even sense.
The last page of that site has changed at least three times. The first time it ended with what appeared to be an advertisement for a movie based on the theory, but if you clicked on the “trailer” link, nothing happened. Later, it was a link to a company that sold t-shirts. Now it just ends with May 2005.
He did say he’d do the show again. That’d be interesting, not that I really expect it to happen.
Whatever the Chapelle Theory thing is, I doubt it’s actually a truthful account written by somebody who knows the biz. It could be almost anything else and wouldn’t surprise me.
I thought the “it’s a movie Chappelle is going to make” theory is very plausible, and could be funny. (And I wasn’t trying to discredit ronincyberpunk.) I don’t have a clue what Citizen Bob is talking about, but it sure isn’t an expose.
That site is total crap. A few of the details it mentions seem wrong (mostly the summary of sketches in the first few shows) and it’s odd that every prominent black person seems to be involved in an effort to destroy Dave even though In Living Color already made many of the same types of jokes several years ago.
I’m only about 1/3 through it but I don’t have time to finish it before work but so far it seems very vaguely racist and definitely in the tinfoil hat range.
That site is good for one thing though laughs and many of them.
if Chappelle really reported that he’s totally bonkers. If the maker of that site just made it up out of his own craziness well it’s still comedy gold.
Why do you believe that? As a viral marketing scheme? Or do you believe some of what it says? Or am I being whoosed here?
The site seems to making some rather odd claims. Couldn’t the same people who are accused of bringing down Dave Chappelle easily shut down this website? Couldn’t Chappelle himself for using his name?
Then what about the Comedy Central commercials that promise new Chappelle’s Show episodes that end with the tag “….And we’re serious this time”. There must be some kind of commitment there, right?
Chappelle shot four episodes’ worth of material before he bolted. Comedy Central is going to air those (without his standup interludes) some time in the next couple of months.
Nobody has commented on his problems with his cow-orkers. He was stressed out and they were following him around telling him he was crazy and trying to get him to take medication. That sounds like Elvis all over again.
And his points about being laughed at, not with, I think are valid. I’m white and I laugh at the skits. But I’m not sure I’m laughing in a good way, I think I’m laughing because his skits are outrageous but reinforce racial stereotypes.
He also said (and Oprah agreed) that being a public figure carries social responsibility whether you like it or not. I am not an Oprah fan but I think her example having the the skinheads/KKK on her show and the audience member shouting “You tell her!” or whatever is interesting. By having them on her show most people were shocked, but she was actually exposing them to a wider audience at the same time.
Chappelle seems like a good guy to me. All in all to me it sounds like he was in a hostile or at least weird work environment, and he started questioning whether making and profiting these racially charged skits for the white-guy Comedy Central suits and white suburban youth was a good thing or not.