There comes a time in a generation when someone points out to the rest of society, how far off course we seem to be heading as a collective. Unlike the rest of us, he/she seems to see the warning signs that despite our best intention to head in the right direction we’ve gotten so ensconced in this tunnel vision that we’ve lost our bearings almost completely.
This is what I feel Dave Chappelle’s Stick & Stones stand up Netflix special has done to our increasingly sensitive PC culture that is made up of various groups of people but most especially minorities in today’s western-influenced society. It’s a reminder that we just might be PC-ing our way into a corner where barely anything or subject can be broached or made light of.
I do recognize the need to recognize sensitivities but that doesn’t mean we have to totally make these subject matters untouchable when it comes to humor. Dave Chappelle didn’t just wake up one morning and decide to say things about these people and subjects because he felt he was untouchable, he is doing it because the reaction he is getting is what he was talking about; cancel culture has created a divide between liberals/leftists and mostly centrists who in truth are the real one's advocates and activists need to be winning over but that’s not the case.
Mr. Chappelle speaks for a significantly large number of people who have become a bit irritated at the cancel culture constantly being used to mete out social justice to supposed and actual offenders. He rightly brought up the unfortunate situation with Kevin Hart and you could begin to understand what message he was trying to convey. He’s a stand-up comic who’s material feeds off social situations, we saw the brilliance that was the Chappelle show. His subversion of racial tropes and celebrity culture brought his work to the fore and his unexpected hiatus affected more than just his fans in the United States.
Mr. Chappelle can afford to court controversy because his work doesn’t completely exist on the platforms where SJWs have significant influence to affect brand bottom lines or product association perception. Yes, it’s possible to find a couple of hecklers at his shows while he’s on tour but that itself will buttress his point about this new level of sensitivity he brought up. Part of what he is convinced is driving the continued divide between the right and the left in America is the subject of sensitivity. At no point did Mr. Chappelle say issues that concern minorities or LGBTQ+ communities were not significant. He has simply felt he has a space to express his opinions on these subjects and he has taken advantage of it.
Has he inadvertently demeaned the situations or the standing of the people he has used in his material? I think not, he has simply done what he knows best, make people laugh. Ultimately, all Mr. Chappelle is trying to say in my opinion is, the public space will not always be a nice place to dwell, contrary to what kind of utopian society SJW are seeking to achieve and if there’s one person more aware of this is a self-made, middle-aged African American man in 2019.
Hence, “Sticks and stones may break your bones but words will not hurt you.”
