# Question about Dave Chapelle keeping it real **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 17, 2004, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-dave-chapelle-keeping-it-real/250900 "2004-06-17T18:31:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-dave-chapelle-keeping-it-real/250900/21 "2004-06-18T06:09:48Z")
> [@js\_africanus](#): > > When I see this, I think that he deserved a beating for starting a fight with someone who merely offered an innocuous pleasantry to his girlfriend. That’s part of the joke. Chapelle’s character thought he was a tough guy, ‘kept it real’ at a stupid moment, and got his ass brutally beaten. > [@](#): > > Chapelle seems to portray himself as having come from a rough background fraught with violence and peril, e.g. when he got a job at McDonalds and was mugged for his pay. I don’t know anything about his upbringing since he doesn’t seem to joke about it… apparently he’s from Washington, DC. But the thing I think you’re overlooking is that he’s a _comedian_. The skits are based on what he and his writers find funny, not necessarily anything from his life. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-dave-chapelle-keeping-it-real/250900/22 "2004-06-18T11:01:45Z")
When I first saw the skit I was reminded of an incident when I was a teenager. My and a girlfriend were at the beach. There was a large group having a party and we put our towel down right next to them because they had good music and we didn’t have any. A guy walks by and asks a girl for a light for his cigarette. Out of nowhere a big bruiser of a guy hits the light-asking-guy in the back of the head with a half-filled 40. The light-asking guy goes down on his knees and the 40-swinging guy starts whaling on him. After a short while some of his friends join in. Some very brave other guy comes running down the beach from the boardwalk yelling “I’m a cop! Get the fuck off!” He didn’t have a badge or a gun and was wearing a speedo, but the ass beating stopped. The ass beaters _were_ Italians from Brooklyn and so had their own stereotype they needed to reinforce, but this “don’t talk to my girl” attitude is hardly just a black thing. ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-dave-chapelle-keeping-it-real/250900/23 "2004-06-18T12:09:10Z")
> [@xvxdarkknightxvx](#): > > If you read Code of the Street by [some guy whose name I forgot], it explains it pretty well. Cool. Thanks! **JuanitaTech** , you’re killing me. ---
**Author:** ![Mal\_Adroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@Mal\_Adroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mal_Adroit)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-dave-chapelle-keeping-it-real/250900/24 "2004-06-18T12:45:11Z")
> [@JuanitaTech](#): > > Oh, wait. He hung up on me after telling me I’m never going to get it and to stop asking me. > > I think I love him. 😛 That was great. ---
**Author:** ![down\_by\_law](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/65b543/32.png) [@down\_by\_law](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/down_by_law)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-dave-chapelle-keeping-it-real/250900/25 "2004-06-18T14:07:24Z")
exactly. he’s poking fun at people “keeping it real.” he takes every comment as an insult and completely and utterly overreacts, and gets himself beat, fired, etc. in the process. life, after all, does not imitate hiphop songs. it’s not a documentary. i doubt dave was a multinational businessman and got fired for going off on his coworkers. i doubt he took part in the world championships of dice in the marcy projects. i doubt he was a time-traveling pimp. i could be wrong, but i bet chapelle exagerrates a bit and downright makes some shit up. go figure… it’s a joke, people. and it’s damn funny. don’t try to read deep truths into it. > [@Jimmy Chitwood](#): > > I really don’t think it’s as complicated as all this. The point of “keeping it real” in the sketch was that Chapelle wasn’t going to hide anything or take any crap from anybody, no matter how small the slight. “Good seeing you” isn’t that much of a diss, but it’s a guy talking to your girlfriend right in front of your face, which to the typical guy is a little shot to his pride. It’s the sort of thing that you keep in the back of your mind for the ride home, and then forget about. But in the sketch, Chapelle wasn’t doing that anymore. If he had a problem, he was fixing it. The point is, it _wasn’t_ that big a deal. Normally you just shake it off, think to yourself, that guy’s a dick, and move on. But not when you’re keeping it real. > > Then he got his ass kicked, because it’s funnier that way. ---
**Author:** ![holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e95f7d/32.png) [@holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/holmes)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-dave-chapelle-keeping-it-real/250900/26 "2004-06-18T14:26:50Z")
> [@Jimmy Chitwood](#): > > Then he got his ass kicked, because it’s funnier that way. Didn’t the guy and Chapelle’s “girlfriend” pee on him (Chapelle) when they knocked him out or am I remembering something else? …insult to injury. ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-dave-chapelle-keeping-it-real/250900/27 "2004-06-18T15:21:49Z")
> [@down by law](#): > > it’s a joke, people. Right. I think we all have that. _Animal House_ doesn’t _really_ portray fraternity life. Nevertheless, there are many aspects to it that can be identified by many current and former frat members. Maybe not a toga party, but a pajama party or such; getting stoned with a professor; road trips to unusual places; pranks, though generally not leaving a dead horse in the dean’s office; and the pledge-pinning ceremony, along with the debate over to whom they will extend bids, are things that parallel fraternity life for many people. My fraternity experiences may not have been as egregious as those in _Animal House_, but the parallels are strong indeed. So Dave Chapelle might watch _Animal House_ and ask, “Do college students really smoke pot with their professors?” I’d say, “Yes.” _Animal House_ is much funnier to me now because there is a lot of reality woven into it—it isn’t absurdist comedy like _Green Acres_. In the same token, Chapelle may be using hyperbole for humor purposes, yet that doesn’t mean that there isn’t an element of truth. It isn’t absurdist comedy, and the sketch in question is funny whether Chapelle’s character was acting realistically. Indeed, like _Animal House_, the sketch may be _funnier_ if he were acting realistically, if for no other reason than the discongruity between him keeping it real and him collapsing helplessly after the double-clavicle strike is enhanced dramatically. When I was sixteen I was a Fisher Brat for a vendor shop, doing detailing on auto checking-fixture designs. I worked with a bunch of Sicilians. One guy’s cousin beat up another guy because the other guy hit the cousin’s sister. The cousin spent a week or two in his house, with all the shades down and carrying two guns on him at all times, unable to go outside, until his dad was able to smooth out the incident between the two families. Another guy’s dad killed his first man when he was 13, and when his dad sad, “When I was your age…” his grandfather would interrupt the dad and say, “When you were his age, you were in prison!” It is reasonable that some people’s experience is different from mine. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-dave-chapelle-keeping-it-real/250900/28 "2004-06-18T18:00:04Z")
> [@js\_africanus](#): > > Right. I think we all have that. _Animal House_ doesn’t _really_ portray fraternity life… As you say, just as Animal House is a comic exageration of fraternity life that any former fraternity man can relate to on some level (toga parties, underage girls hanging around the house, the battle between preparing for leadership and adulthood vs care-free immaturity and freedom symbolically represented by the conflicts between the Delta and Omega houses) Chappelle’s “keeping it real” is a parody of what happens when people allow their pride and ego to override their common sense and good judgement. Someone who is “keeping it real” says exactly what’s on their mind. They can’t let the slightest insult or affront, intentional or not, slide. They refuse to “sell out” or comprimise their values. This is, of course, an impractical way to go through life if you have to me around other human beings. It’s funny because we either know people like the KiR folks - a guy who shoots his mouth off , a women who holds a ridiculous grudge or have wanted to react as they reacted at one time or another - I don’t know how many times I wanted to shove my boss on the ground and scream WU-TANG!!! at him. I can even remember times when I have kept it real (I threw a full beer at a guy from a rivial fraternity because he hugged my girlfriend…she did not appreciate the realness). Basically, it’s funny because we are watching annoying characters overreact to a minor slight and then get their comeupance with hilarious results…that and it’s just funny watching a 110 lb black man yelling “WU-TANG BITCH!!!” ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-dave-chapelle-keeping-it-real/250900/29 "2004-06-18T18:16:47Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > KiR folks Heh, heh, heh. _KiR Eye for the Straight Guy_ “You gonna wear those pants, cracker?! WU-TANG, BITCH!!” ---
**Author:** ![Exgineer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Exgineer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exgineer)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-dave-chapelle-keeping-it-real/250900/30 "2004-06-18T18:59:31Z")
What does “wu-tang” mean? ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-dave-chapelle-keeping-it-real/250900/31 "2004-06-18T19:11:08Z")
Rap group. Nine of 'em. One of the best rap groups ever assembled (still have much luv 4 The Sugarhill Gang and Public Enemy). Screaming “Wu-Tang, Bitch!” Just sounds unnerving. Oblique reference to their reverance of the Shoalin martial arts and that you don’t want RZA, Ghostface Killah or ODB on your ass. ---
**Author:** ![hapaXL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/94ad74/32.png) [@hapaXL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hapaXL)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-dave-chapelle-keeping-it-real/250900/32 "2004-06-18T20:22:44Z")
I’d just like to say, only on the SDMB could the dissection of a Dave Chapelle joke require 40-something replies. This can be a strange place sometime - but at least we haven’t reached the depths of the usual “Please explain this Black slang term to me” thread. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Exgineer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Exgineer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exgineer)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2004, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-dave-chapelle-keeping-it-real/250900/33 "2004-06-19T02:45:01Z")
> [@Askia](#): > > Rap group. Nine of 'em. One of the best rap groups ever assembled (still have much luv 4 The Sugarhill Gang and Public Enemy). Screaming “Wu-Tang, Bitch!” Just sounds unnerving. Oblique reference to their reverance of the Shoalin martial arts and that you don’t want RZA, Ghostface Killah or ODB on your ass. Woof. I gather that it’s just supposed to be intimidating, and that it’s widely recognized as such. Have I got it right, or do I need further explanation? ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2004, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-dave-chapelle-keeping-it-real/250900/34 "2004-06-19T03:07:38Z")
Taking excessive offense due to jealosy fueled by foolish machismo is hardly new. Compared to the Duke in [My Last Duchess](http://stellar-one.com/poems/browning_robert_-_my_last_duchess.html), Chappelle was a piker. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2004, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-dave-chapelle-keeping-it-real/250900/35 "2004-06-19T04:11:32Z")
I’m going to ask a really stupid question-what exactly does “keeping it real” mean? Act like a stereotype? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Necro\_Romancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/50afbb/32.png) [@Necro\_Romancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Necro_Romancer)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2004, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-dave-chapelle-keeping-it-real/250900/36 "2004-06-19T04:41:06Z")
Keeping it real means not compromising your work or feelings for the sake of another’s stupidity or ignorance. ---
**Author:** ![Exgineer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Exgineer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exgineer)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2004, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-dave-chapelle-keeping-it-real/250900/37 "2004-06-19T04:43:40Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > I’m going to ask a really stupid question-what exactly does “keeping it real” mean? My best guess at this point is “overreacting to anything that might possibly be construed as an insult.” Somebody will be along to explain why I’m wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2004, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-dave-chapelle-keeping-it-real/250900/38 "2004-06-19T05:35:48Z")
> [@Exgineer](#): > > My best guess at this point is “overreacting to anything that might possibly be construed as an insult.” > > Somebody will be along to explain why I’m wrong. Cuz you a squab from Albany and not Rochester, yah hurr? Ease back, sunn. Your ignorance appalls me. See, this is about realness. Realness varies. Your veneer of confidence, competence and capabilty changes from place to place, situation to situation, and social strata to social strata. You might be big stuff where you from, but can you change a flat tire in a rainstorm? Would you tell your boss exactly what you think of his new idea? You gonna let that fool disrespect you in front of your lady? What’s an overreaction to you might just be a test of my manhood in my frame of reference. Keeping it real – no matter who you are – involves a very low threshold for blish,\* especially when people talk and talk and talk around the issue at hand. That said, it’s better to pick your battles instead of going with first impulses – at situation of lot of youngbloods need to learn. Refusing to adapt to the mores of others when you’re in their world is NOT keepin’ it real – nahwhutImsayin? It’s arrogance. It’s actin’ like a punk. And punks step up to get beat down. That goes for thugs, corporate office types and working class bruhs scraping by. - blish - means “bullshit” sunn. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2004, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-dave-chapelle-keeping-it-real/250900/39 "2004-06-19T16:51:16Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > I’m going to ask a really stupid question-what exactly does “keeping it real” mean? > > Act like a stereotype? > > 😕 “keeping it real” means to to be yourself. To be genuine. To not comprimise your values. Chapelle is poking fun at people who use “keeping it real” as an excuse to act like an inconsiderate asshole. ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2004, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-dave-chapelle-keeping-it-real/250900/40 "2004-06-19T17:18:25Z")
as well as being a Rap Group, they also own a clothing label, hence the “are you going to wear those pants? Wu Tang bitch!” could be to buy wu tang trousers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-dave-chapelle-keeping-it-real/250900.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-dave-chapelle-keeping-it-real/250900.md?page=3)