As I begrudgingly opened Netflix on my laptop, the very first program that caught my attention was Dave Chappelle. The iconic scarlet letters declaring that firstly, the program was a Netflix original, and secondly, that it was the Dave Chappelle made my heart jump with excitement.
Dave Chappelle is a comedian who was very active and popular in the early 2000’s. He had his own show that broadcasted on Comedy Central titled Chappelle’s Show. This show in particular was responsible for bringing my family together in front of the television screen and unifying us in boisterous laughter. At the time that this show was most most influential in my life, I was a child, and of course I couldn’t understand exactly why the R-rated jokes were so funny, but it felt good to have something to bond over with my family. Considering the rich history that I have with Chappelle’s content, it may be obvious as to why I was so ecstatic to view this spectacle. I clicked on the rectangular box wielding Chappelle’s goofy likeness with high hopes, high expectations, and high spirits in remembrance of my childhood.
The initial ten minutes of Dave Chappelle found me in constant laughter. Even my roommate had to inquire about my hilarity. After those first ten minutes concluded, I was tired. I have no other word for it. I was just tired. For ten minutes, I’d felt nostalgic and full of pride for this comedian that I had once watched, and then I was ready to move on with my life. However, fifty minutes remained in the program, and I had planned on viewing it in full.
So I watched the rest of it. I quickly noted Chappelle’s tendency to gravitate towards controversial topics such as the case of Orenthal James Simpson, Bill Cosby, the LGBTQ+ community, abortion, and racial profiling, amongst other things. While I did expect for him to cover some topics, such as living in America as a black person or his wacky encounters with other celebrities, I wasn’t expecting his coverage of some of the more controversial topics. Once that initial haze of excitement fell off, I took note of a plethora of things wrong with the performance - his habit of subtly stroking his stomach, his tendency to laugh at his own jokes, hitting the microphone against his body, and what appeared to be a desperate attempt to be as controversial as possible.
Controversy is definitely acceptable, and the ability to hear and discuss differing opinions is necessary for survival. That being said, his opinions alone were not what had me checking the remaining runtime every fifteen minutes. I suppose it was the memory of his sketch comedy show. Though I knew that this program in particular was solely stand-up comedy, I still fondly remembered Chappelle’s Show and the manner in which it alternated between stand-up comedy and very memorable sketch comedies.
Watching this program was just a reminder for me that things and people change, and though you may desire for someone or something to remain the way it is memorialized in your mind, it probably isn’t going to happen. Perhaps, if I went into viewing the program separated from my memories, I would have enjoyed it for a lot longer than ten minutes. Regardless of how I felt while viewing it, I find myself happy that I watched it at all. While I don’t foresee my family and I viewing Dave Chappelle together with split sides, I still value the positive emotions that the performance gave to me.
Your post was interesting and engaging. Have you watched the original Chapelle show since you were a kid? It'd be cool to hear you compare the Chapelle show to the comedy special after seeing it recently. I often find that media that I remember from my childhood are really different as an adult, so it'd be cool to see if it's the same for you in this situation.
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