On Laughter (Part 1) - - the cause of and solution to all of life’s problems?
(Apologies to Simpsons)
I love to laugh. That may seem hard to believe to some who’ve met me but that’s in part because laughter is a double edged sword. But my friends who know me, know that about me. I’ll never claim to be a comedian myself, but I am a fan: Chris Rock, Ellen, David Allan Grier, Chapelle. Now why do I mention minority comedians. Because unfortunately I have a point to make.
Dave Chappelle. Once a rising star (at least on TV - unfortunate that being on TV is our standard but validated in the eyes of all too many because of fame and wealth) Funny as Dave is, his experience with Comedy Central was tragic. Sadly ironic that this story that proved the double-edge nature of comedians played out on one of our most gifted comedians (one of high principle) and not the recipient of humor (which is what public debate focuses on, see Mohammed drawings, reaction; Curb episode of someone pissing on Christ) Many have speculated why Chappelle left his popular show. Everyone has an opinion and I’m sure anyone’s guess is as good as mine. But here’s my take on the situation (hat tip to DWWP- David G.).
Emasculating black men in movies can be a laugh- the question is who is laughing hardest? And why? Chappelle himself talked about lines in the scripts that were being inserted by those on his team and wisely noted, getting rich doesn’t necessarily change you, it changes those around you. What kind of change? Put simply, money/perks to enact a broader agenda or politics of division that has been with us for a long, long time. That force is a great boon for some kind of people - you can switch loyalties, sell out, be disloyal, and earn a pretty penny (however that’s defined). So after a while some of the staff weren’t really writing jokes for Dave anymore. But the public admission in a major newsmagazine he gave an audience member had the wrong kind of laughter. It’s not a matter of “well, I wish that one audience member stayed home that day”. That was the tip of a very deep iceberg. That wrong laugh was the tip not the iceberg.
Chappelle could have been rich, but instead knew how he was being exploited (in a way all too familiar for some) so as to denigrate all African-Americans. And too much had been fought for in that area to let it come to this.
Chappelle didn’t leave because he was “crazy”. He left on principle operating in a system where those who decide sometimes, just maybe have a collective, broader agenda and the people around him weren’t tought enough to say no to them. He left because some things are so important and vital, and people have died for certain causes - the civil rights movement - being one one of them, including on the battlefield of war and in life, that to unwind the dignity earned African-Americans would be the wrong thing to do. That’s what the “wrong kind of laughter” that Chappelle referred to is about, I believe. And it’s not the first time someone who stood up on principle was made out to look “crazy” nor will it be the last.
footnotes / counter-points accounted for:
*I am not anti-American so don’t even try; I am not a humorless schmuck f*ck etc., or anti-anything. Interested in having a fair-minded discussion on the subject, and adding light not heat to the subject.
