Demonize the Conversation, Ignore the Problem

              “There I sat, alone and vulnerable inside the confines of my home. I was attempting to process this new gaping wound that was growing ever deeper into my psyche. I had just witnessed the worst possible thing imaginable; it was so deplorable though I can’t seem to even gather the words to describe it. It was fundamentally fucked, fucked on every plausible level. I will never be the same after having those images and those sounds forever seared into my brain. And the last thing I want is for any person to ever have to witness the atrocities that I did. I will do all I can to make sure that this man, if you can call him that, and his actions linger and echo on forever in infamy. I’m referring of course to Dave Chapelle’s new stand up special Sticks and Stones.”

              

               That opening quote was taken from Vice’s actual website, only three hours after Dave Chappelle released the aforementioned comedy special on Netflix. OK, that’s not even a little true. The quote, the Vice news portion, the gaping wound in the film critics psyche, it’s all purely fictitious. But you fucking believed it for a second, didn’t you? Yeah, you did. And why wouldn’t you? Critics and journalists alike, lost their ever-loving minds over an hours’ worth of jokes from a comedian, a comedian that had an existing reputation for being controversial. But that sure as hell didn’t stop people who apparently have the emotional fortitude of a toddler, from getting online in droves and ugly crying all over the fucking place, about what a stranger said, on a program they watched on their own volition. And in all honesty, if you went onto Vice, Buzzfeed, or the Huffington Post right now, and searched for anything relating to Dave Chapelle, that little made up quote of mine would not seem made up or out of place in the slightest.

              Controversial or not, that special was outstanding! As far as relevance being communicated and examined through comedy, it does not get any more poignant than Dave Chapelle’s Stick and Stones. And even more important than all that, that special was fucking hysterical! Now, if you haven’t seen it, it must be mentioned that the subject matter was undeniably atrocious. Chapelle opens the special by making a joke regarding the suicide of Anthony Bourdain, and it only gets darker as he goes on. Everything from gender studies to school shootings received some spotlight during Sticks and Stones. So, let’s see here, we have suicide, outrage over gender, and gun violence particularly by and towards young people, yep, that sounds like America. Sounds a lot like an American comedian got on stage and told some jokes about what was going on in his country. That should not be controversial, but it is because we live in the Golden Age of censorship.  

              Welcome to the era in which we have devolved so far as a society, that we have replaced the facilitation of conversation, with the veil of safety and comfort that is provided by silence. Why, if we live in such trying times, do we seem so fucking adamant on remaining oblivious to it. Our country sucks right now, and that’s why Chapelle’s jokes hit so many people in the gut. That was his intention. We will never see resolution if irrational anger and painful shrieks are the only things we can provide during and unpleasant discourse. Our country sucks right now, but that’s right now, and we can fix it. We can fix it, if we are able to take a minute and acknowledge that we live in very dark times, times where we are forced to find the light in things like school shootings and sexual assault. But that’s all we are surrounded with on a daily basis, that is the reality that we have constructed.

However that’s the same reality in which a guy that used to jump around on Comedy Central saying things like, “I’m Rick James, Bitch!” and “What do the five fingers say to the face?” just made sixty million fucking dollars for speaking the truth disguised as jokes. What a time to be alive.

              Just remember, take the time to examine not just the content but the overall message, you may be surprised what you are able to discover.