How was the Jim Jeffries special on Netflix? Every clip I’ve seen of that guy is hilarious.
I don’t quite understand this argument. He’s rich so, so what if society crucifies him for being a raging homophobe for a 10 year old tweet.? He’ll be fine and we can feel good about ourselves for fighting homophobia?
It’s not that he’s rich, it’s that he’s still getting tons of work – movies, stand up, etc. He lost one gig, but it didn’t seem to negatively affect his career at all.
the point is that “cancel culture” is the notion that anything you’ve ever done, ever- even a dumb or ignorant tweet from years ago- is grounds for having you silenced forever. or until it’s agreed upon that you’ve “atoned” for your transgression to people’s satisfaction.
Louis CK? Yeah, that guy should have gone away for a while, at least a hell of a lot longer than he did. But you want to rail at someone for a decade old tweet and get them fired from a gig? Go find something useful to do instead of recreational outrage.
Ten years ago?? Do you think homophobia was OK ten years ago?
no.
Do you think it should make someone unemployable forever?
Eh, Jeffries is okay. He’s been better IMO. I like Chappelle, Jimmy Carr, Anthony Jeselnik. Louis CK (I know he’s a bad human but he’s hilarious). Common thread is they’re singularly not afraid to be offensive, though I realize they’re not everybody’s cup of tea.
Then there’s a shitload of filler comics on Netflix that I’d maybe watch if I’m bored.
Who are you talking about? Kevin Hart is not unemployed – he’s the one who lost a gig for a 10-year-old tweet.
@Ashtura, when was this golden age when all the stand-up comics were excellent? They were always hit and miss. I think you’re looking back with rose-colored glasses.
I don’t see that society crucified him at all.
Crucifixion is usually a bit more painful than having to cash 8 figure checks. YMMV.
Assuming you are talking about Hart here, he had the option of apologizing for those tweets, and doing the awards show. He chose not to.
I never thought of Louis CK as a bad human. I always thought of him as an extremely mentally unwell person whose coping mechanism was to air his problems in public, rather than to seek professional help.
That we laughed at him was a reflection on us, not on him.
I’m not sure there was ever a golden age. But I think there’s been a dialing back of edginess for the common comedian (they’re not famous enough to take chances). This doesn’t mean you might not get a woman whose whole schtick is to talk about how big of a slut she is (their words, not mine), but honestly that got tiresome a while back. Sarah Silverman’s pretty good and doesn’t rely on that so much. I also think there’s been a drift to be more witty than funny. More worthy of a polite clap than gut busting laughs.
Jim Jefferies talks about that in his “This Is Me Now” tour currently on Netflix. That he doesn’t do the jokes he used to do because it’s a different time now. Then he clarifies that he still does them but differently and not to the same extent.
And that’s why I don’t think he’s as good as he used to be. If you have to explain and contextualize the joke to lower offense, it’s not going to be as funny (to me). It almost comes off as apologetic. Either do the joke or don’t.
And that is reflected in the current tour. Still good, but not as angry and edgy as it used to be. A lot of that has to do with us becoming accustomed to his style of comedy and therefore somewhat less surprised by it. A lot has to do with him becoming older, less angry and more sober.
The only comedian I can recall falling completely out of favor for a while (who hadn’t committed an actual crime) was Michael Richards after his racist rant in 2006. And even he eventually began working again (including parodying the incident later).
Weirdly I saw a clown at a circus do an actual “Ching Chong Chinaman” comedy bit about four years ago. It was extremely awkward. (The guy was a helluva juggler though.)
I think you mean “Hugo Boss”.
Yeah, read about that too. Good on him.
BTW, on this, Louis CK was forcing women to watch him masturbate or risk their careers, and he’s still working, so I honestly don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.
To answer your question directly, no, I don’t think someone should be forever unemployed for a tweet from a decade ago.
Right. To think that the original joke is funny, you have to protect yourself from all the context of the lives of Black people. That’s what makes it racist.
Was that funny? It looked quite painful.