The Closer -- A Review

Dave Chappelle's stand-up special where talks about racism, hypocrisy, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ related issues.

Chappelle says this will be his last special "for a minute." His style continues to edge from comic to preacher. While, in general, many jokes are based on misdirection, some of Chappelle's biggest twists are played for drama rather than laughs. Whether or not it's funny probably depends on your own politics.

Someone once alleged that the only truly funny jokes are in-jokes, and Chappelle relies heavily on call-backs, including call-backs to previous specials. While he's speaking across, much of the politics here plays to the audience, symptomatic of the ideological bubbles facilitated by social media. The crowd got a little too excited about a story where he beats up a transwoman -- which reminded of how Chappelle says the catalyst for him quitting his popular show was a white crew member laughing too hard at a racial stereotype.

In the culture wars, there's an interesting tension between Black men and progressive white females. Bill Burr mined it for comedy in his SNL monologue last year. Even though Blacks vote overwhelmingly for the Democratic Party, they're relatively conservative, especially when it comes to social issues.

The narrative in some quarters of the Black community is that "White Supremacy" (as young people now call it) takes the form of feminism and 2SLGBTQQIA+/"alphabet" politics. It's a way of keeping down Black men like Dababy and Kevin Hart. Men, Chappelle says, who are "trying to earn a living!"

We got a glimpse of the Black-vs.-White flashpoint in the Democratic Party's nominating contest between Obama and Clinton, but most left-of-center people can say that resolved for the best because Obama was more liberal.

Like some famous people, Chappelle can get away with saying things most others cannot say. He has a clunky joke about Israeli imperialism and a remark about a holey veteran. He's dismissive of Q-morons and Republicans in general because patriarchial GOP types criticizing absent Black fathers isn't as much of a thing in mainstream discourse.

Maybe there's an incipient realignment going on. I have students now who criticized my Am-Govt. 101 textbook for failing to mention important Black transwomen (these students are all either white females, or were white and "assigned female at birth"). One of them crossed out every mention of "female" on a quiz and wrote "AFAB." In a discussion about abortion, a few of these voices insisted on "birthing people" rather than "pregnant women." They can be exhausting, and they'll no doubt seize on Chappelle's anatomical clumsiness (he fails to account for c-sections and says there are only two genders). I don't know if the anti-"TERF" brigade now even makes a distinction between sex-as-biology/gender-as-social-construction. They seem to be gender supremacists.

More than anything, the special will be about who is punching up vs. down. Are culturally elite white feminists/LGBTers going to get traction when a famous, straight Black man calls them "bitches"? Some of Chappelle's best friends are 2SLGBTQQIA+. He's friendly with Anderson Cooper.

I remember Matthew Yglesias tweeting something to the effect that the RT scores for Chappelle's Sticks & Stones special reflects the Democratic Primary: Critics gave it thirty-odd percent while viewers gave it 99%.

Chappelle dedicates the special to a unique voice in comedy and ends with photographs of him pictured with actors/musicians like Morgan Freeman, comics like Jon Stewart, wannabe comics like Joe Rogan, and what I imagine are industry people.