We have a wide range of entertainment options to distract us from the problems we face. When I am discouraged by rising seas, crumbling democracy, and widening economic inequality, I try to remember how inconvenient it would have been to live in the past. I used to only have a few channels on my TV. I may have felt compelled to watch Dave Chappelle on SNL.
I used to consider his appearance appointment viewing because he was a familiar name on the program. The creator of Chappelle's Show was not just a master of jokes but also a moral compass who defended the little guy. SNL poked fun at the powerful people driving our nation into pointless wars in the lateaughts. To a younger version of me, Chappelle on SNL days after an election would have been a balm for my fears that the forces of greed and prejudice were going to win.
The fear that the status quo has held as old powers perpetuate old ideas is confirmed by Chappelle on SNL.
I stopped watching Chappelle's stand-up specials after he made fun of trans people, marking the comedian's shift away from elevating marginalized communities to centering the concerns of people as famous and wealthy as he is. A comedian who rose to success by interrogating systemic racism has become obsessed with the claim that he is a victim of so-called cancel culture, a specious argument for a multimillionaire still regularly signingNetflix specials The powerful NBC producer is not among those who have turned away from Chappelle. Some SNL writers planned to boycott the episode in protest, but Chappelle was given the hosting gig.
I didn't watch on Saturday because I was boycotting I didn't know Chappelle was hosting until the next day. SNL hasn't been a part of my weekend routine for a long time, but I'm not one of those people who think it's gotten worse. I don't think it's a problem. Sometimes I find sketches that amuse me. I still like him. When I have so many other important things to attend to, such as catching up on the 14 other prestige television shows my friends tell me I need to watch, I don't usually watch SNL.
I only got to watch Chappelle's monologue on Monday because my editor gave me the assignment to write about it. I was afraid of this assignment. I haven't thought about SNL or Chappelle in a while. When necessary, the archives of my memory can be accessed, but they are covered in dust. I think that both are relics of an old age along with CD players and other things.
Chappelle's monologue was mostly dull commentary on issues he didn't seem to have anything interesting to add to, while repeating antisemitic tropes in provocations that aimed to shock but failed to do so because his current style has become predictable.
He made fun of the fact that the two people who have legally changed their names to Ye are the one who promoted antisemitism and the one who made fun of the fact that their biggest sins weren't about their beliefs but publicizing them. He stayed in the lane that has consumed him in recent years, directing his starkest criticisms towards the social norm his fellow celebrities had run up against.
He broke show business rules. Rules of perception. It is a gang if they are black. It is a mob if they are Italians. You should never talk about it if they are Jewish.
The NBA and the Brooklyn Nets punished Irving because he was slow to apologize for posting a link to an antisemitic film, leading to a lengthy list of conditions he had to meet in order to return. Chappelle drew the line at this location. You can't blame Black Americans for the terrible things that Jewish people have been through. He made a joke about how a fair punishment would be for Irving to post a link to the list.
At the halfway point of his 15-minute monologue, he pivoted to politics and began to joke about Donald Trump. His assessment of Trump's appeal was sharp, filled with uncomfortable but essential truths, calling him an "honest liar" who admitted to knowing the system was rigged because he used it to his advantage. Chappelle said that he chopped a line of cocaine. White people who support Trump echoed complaints that Black people have made for a long time. He said that they have been on that topic. The FBI needs to be dismantled. We have been talking to Martin Luther King.
If Chappelle hadn't diverted his attention to the frivolous matters that now occupy him, there would have been more of that cutting insight we could have had.
He ended his monologue by circling back to the issue he was most focused on.
He said that it shouldn't be frightening to discuss anything. To be honest with you, I am getting sick of it.
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