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 Dave Chappelle Gets Real About the Death of George Floyd in New Comedy Special

Dave Chappelle continues to shatter the boundaries between social commentary and comedy in his newest special, “8:46,” which was released on Netflix's comedy YouTube channel Thursday evening. The Mark Twain Prize recipient notes in the video’s description that “Normally I wouldn’t show you something so unrefined, I hope you understand,” linking resources to the Equal Justice Initiative. Touching on racial turmoil, police brutality, the death of Kobe Bryant, slavery, and conservative commentators, Chappelle packs a punch with this 27 minute special inspiring important dialogues.

In the opening sequence of the special, audience members clad in protective face masks echo the dark atmosphere of current events in America. Due to the pandemic, “8:46” marks his first time performing on stage in 87 days. The comic takes on a casual, conversational tone with the audience when he admits these are, “weird, less than ideal circumstances for a show.” Despite the unorthodox context surrounding his show, Chappelle dives head-first into his material. 

Chappelle first remarks at the historical significance of the special, calling it “the first concert in North America since all this shit happened.” He takes a moment to recognize that his otherwise ordinary special may well end up in history books simply because of this.

After thanking young protesters for being on the front lines of racial activism, Chappelle struggles to open up his discussion surrounding George Floyd. This quickly dissipates as Chappelle recounts his near death experience as a survivor of the Northridge Earthquake. He remembers being awake at 4:00am, gathering his essential belongings in survival mode. Emotionally, he recounts not allowing himself to scream so he wouldn’t have to remember the visceral terror. While the natural disaster lasted no longer than a minute, he remembers it as, “the first time I was certain that I might very possibly die.” Although his fear lasted mere seconds, the palpable anxiety of death was enough to leave a lasting impact. 

He relates this to the anguish Floyd must have felt while an officer kneeled on his neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, the poignant time stamp that became the show’s namesake. According to Chappelle, this is also the comic’s time of birth, creating a parallel between the two men. As Chappelle relates to Floyd, the charismatic on-stage persona he normally sports begins to fade, morphing into deep reverence, recalling, “When I watched that tape I understood this man knew he was going to die.”

Chappelle relates the brutality inflicted upon Floyd to numerous victims including Trayvon Martin, Philando Castile, and Eric Garner. The audience is solemnly captivated.

He then focuses on political commentator Candance Owens, calling her, “the most articulate idiot I’ve ever seen in my life.” He criticizes her belief that Black Americans chose George Floyd as a hero, countering with the passionate statement, “Anyone who survives this nightmare is my goddamn hero.”

In this special, Chappelle used his platform not to make his audience laugh, but to bring to their attention societal issues occurring in the United States and how his individual experiences relate to them. He admits, “This is not funny at all … I don’t mean to get heavy, but we’ve got to say something.” Ultimately, Chappelle felt a need to speak out after being criticized for not doing so. He addressed these issues in a manner at which he is masterful: by turning complex matters of race and death into relatable and digestible narratives.

Streaming Femininity

The television industry has a notoriously convoluted relationship with gender. Online streaming services have taken advantage of this prejudice as of late, and Hulu is no exception. The Hulu series Harlots is produced by all female writers and directors and handles feminist issues on screen. Producer of Harlots, Alison Owen, represented the show in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter regarding its development and the progress the television and film industries still need to make regarding feminist values. This progressive attitude is not unique to Hulu; trade journals like Variety have recognized the industry's relationship with gender and discussed it like in the article I studied: “Sexism’s Still Alive and Kicking It In H’wood.” I posit that Harlots along with many other conventionally liberal programs that capitalize on their feminist agendas and female below-the-line employees do so in order to pander their show more heavily to a liberal demographic. This technique is not unique to liberal media as I will prove in my consideration of the arguments presented in “Sexism’s Still Alive and Kicking It In H’wood.” While the intention of this action does not come from an inherently sinister place, the purpose the of the indulgence is clear.

As Caldwell states in his piece “Cultures of Production,” work environments of those involved in the television industry function as important cultural expressions composed of professional communities and subcultures. The purpose of these semiotic rituals is to frame the program’s identity, legitimize their significance, and to interact with society in ways that allow them to prosper. Harlots represents these factors through the social commentary the show strives to make. Owen states in her interview with The Hollywood Reporter that the program takes place in the 18th century and focuses on a woman running a brothel and improving her motherhood. Since the show prioritizes sex as a trope, Owen states that a goal of the show was to view sexuality through a female perspective. The prioritization of the female gaze on screen is in tandem with the mission of the below-the-line female workers. As Owen says, the trope of female sexuality and objectification has been done in the industry extensively. The article makes it clear that the feminism surrounding the show is just as important as the script being enacted by the actors. Owen insists, “[It’s] not to say that we wouldn’t have hired a guy if he interviewed well for that job, but as it happened, we just found a great group of women and it worked out incredibly well.”

However coincidental it may be, Harlots carries the identity of female empowerment as a major appeal. Since feminism is such a buzzword in our current media landscape, Harlots resembles Caldwell’s point in that filmmakers internalize cultural identities through the ways the media interacts with society. The program’s mission draws similarities to Becker’s research in “From High Culture to Hip Culture.” Just as BBC America separated itself from the traditional BBC brand, Harlots distances itself from traditional depictions of female sexuality and strength. The ability of BBC America and Harlots to distinguish themselves as contemporary, edgy, and different aids in the conversations surrounding them, ultimately influencing their cultural identities.

From a contrasting point of view, Variety’s article “Sexism’s Still Alive and Kicking It In H’wood” touches on the problematic ways sexism continues to hurt men in the television industry. Variety’s approach in this article goes to show the controversies that the media industry internalizes as a means to pander to the desired audience. The Variety article takes on a tone reminiscent of toxic masculinity. This article is an interesting comparison when taking into account Owen’s interview regarding the industry’s changing stance on the respect of the female form. Tim Gray, the writer of Variety’s piece, argues that men are becoming the new minority in the media. Instead of encouraging the female empowerment, Gray is able to channel his unique male perspective, recognizing that more female representation could lead to more negative connotations associated with males in the industry. The piece is heavily opinionated, but Gray writes in a casual, witty tone that enables male readers to associate themselves with his opinions.

“I have a dream. I dream that someday, there will be cable channels like Lifetime: Programming for Men, or Male Oxygen. Someday, pageants will feature both men and women parading around in swimsuits and high heels, with equal dignity. Sportscasters will offer sexual innuendo to both sexes. Someday, men and women will get kicked in the face with equal frequency,” Gray says.

While the arguments stem from opposite sides of the spectrum, both scenarios utilize essentially the same strategy to gain trust of their followers. The equality Gray advocates for in his piece arguably perpetuates sexism and objectification in its own ways. On the flip side, every question Owen is asked in her interview on Harlots relates to the feminized nature of the program. This can be interpreted as a perpetuation of sexism, as well. Instead of discussing technical elements or the production process, Owen makes clear that the detail setting Harlots apart in the industry is that it is made for women, by women. Gray’s appeal in his piece ties into a point of view that appears countercultural and playful in its pursuit towards male empowerment. The identities of female media employees play a powerful role in the discourse between the program and its viewers. Caldwell’s arguments hold true here as the media industry does not always strive to represent equality ethically, even with the seemingly feminist media we have available today.

Institutionalized Bigotry

Following Kendrick Lamar’s performance. of “Alright” at the 2015 BET awards, The Five of Fox News was ripe with criticism. Geraldo Rivera brings forth out of context lines from the piece, demonstrating an acute use of digitized difference. The song discusses racial issues and the aspirations Lamar has for the future of the Black community.

The Five specifically comments on Lamar’s line “And we hate po-po, wanna kill us dead in the street fo’ sho.’” This object resonates with Lisa Nakamura’s academic article, “Glitch Racism.” Nakamura touches on the way racism in, our society, is seen as more interesting when it takes on new media. The ability to comment anonymously online is an obvious way in which we have incorporated this concept, but I argue this video clip works in the same way. The Five is a talk show produced by Fox that claims to discuss current issues with five Fox personalities. The Five is a way of reimagining media, and, by association, it is also reimagining the ways in which one can express prejudice.

The program’s hosts are very open about their contempt towards Lamar, specifically highlighting more aggressive lines, pointing out his decision to perform on a police car, and seem to smirk as they discuss the performance. Nakamura notes that comments on hip-hop videos receive much more polarized criticism than music of other genres online. The hosts of the show express their hatred of Lamar’s performance in a way that makes their racism feel passive, as if it is not a big deal. They are enabled to do this because they have come to be so reputable. The Five knows their viewers are people who are going out of their way to listen to comments they agree with, so they are enabled to speak freely about the disdain they feel towards Lamar’s music and demonstration. 

Lamar spoke with TMZ in an interview after said episode of The Five aired. He asked, “How can you take a song that’s about hope and turn it into hatred?” Lamar noted that diluting the entire issue of racism by making it part of the colloquial language in our media is a danger to our society. This statement directly aligns with Nakamura’s points. Racism is associated with “free speech” and “sharing code” online, so it is almost impossible to regulate.

One of the only plausible ways to regulate this hate speech is public action. On Lamar’s newest album, “DAMN.” a sample of the episode of The Five is reworked into the two opening songs on the collection. Lamar uses the racist comments made against him to fight against the vernacular racism Nakamura warns us is much too close to becoming our cultural norm online. If our media can sustain different platforms and interfaces, it can meet the needs of all users. This statement includes people of all marginalized groups, including people of color who express themselves through hip-hop.