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As a non American, I must say that I found Chappelle's special to be way too much in the defensive, as if he was preparing for a cancellation that was sure as h

As a non American, I must say that I found Chappelle's special to be way too much in the defensive, as if he was preparing for a cancellation that was sure as hell not going to happen. Why would trans people be mad, when he was basically dealing with his duel process on stage about the loss of a trans friend? Then I saw Twitter. Wow. I just don't understand how people can be that mad about something that _they've clearly not watched_. It's beyond me. Perhaps I lack some fundamental cultural context.

psyc 5y ago
The context is there is a playground game being played at scale. In order to be accepted in certain circles, one needs to discern who the thought leaders are, display the proper deference to them, and above all adhere to approved talking points. Chappelle is experiencing backlash for writing his own talking points.
zdragnar 5y ago
It goes something like this: - someone gets offended from clips, or watches the whole thing but dislikes bits they feel can taken out of context - they say it is hateful - everyone who listens to them takes the judgement and runs with it. No need to subject yourself to hateful content when you already know it is - the judgement spreads, and people wanting to feel important add their own (uninformed) thoughts, which are just exaggerations of the original - enough people say it that it becomes a foregone conclusion, and anyone who speaks up in opposition obviously only does so because they are anti-X, bigoted and hateful themselves, and so their opinions dont matter It is basically how all stereotypes spread, with an added hint of malice thrown on top to be extra divisive. In a world of things like "anti-racism" where you must parrot the orthodoxy loudly and often, this is the natural course of things. Culturally, I think "celebrification" is to blame for the intensity. We have spent so long worshipping celebrities, and celebrity status, that social media gave us the added shot of each of us being our own mini-celebrities. Being liked and mentioned has become a form of self fulfillment for some people, and the easiest way to do that is parrot every bandwagon you can find.
- throwoutway 5y ago
  I agree with everything you said and have seen it play out on Twitter multiple times. It’s the same as flaming and why Twitter is such an awful place
oceanghost 5y ago
I haven't seen the special because I don't think Chapelle is funny, so I don't know what he said, and I am not defending him. However, there's a minority of folks who are engaged in this "outrage porn" to score points on social media. They need something to rail against every, single, day. They don't care about what was actually said. If you take 90 mins to watch the special you might miss the wave of hate you're trying to ride. It happens on the right and the left (which in the USA are really both pretty right).
hagbard_c 5y ago
> I just don't understand how people can be that mad about something that _they've clearly not watched_. It's beyond me. Perhaps I lack some fundamental cultural context. There is a very simple explanation for this type of outrage: many religious people get offended when what they consider to be sacred gets criticised or denied. This is even more true for new converts who often fail to see the nuances in their religion and take religious dogma as absolute truth. Religious extremism is incompatible with rational discourse, as is proven time and time again - it does not matter whether the extremists follow a theistic religion like Islam or Christianity or a secular one like "Wokeness", the "new religion of the left" or whatever name you want to give it. Now add this this a faith without atonement or salvation and the seeds have been sown for a life of outrage.

psyc 5y ago

The context is there is a playground game being played at scale. In order to be accepted in certain circles, one needs to discern who the thought leaders are, display the proper deference to them, and above all adhere to approved talking points. Chappelle is experiencing backlash for writing his own talking points.

zdragnar 5y ago

It goes something like this: - someone gets offended from clips, or watches the whole thing but dislikes bits they feel can taken out of context - they say it is hateful - everyone who listens to them takes the judgement and runs with it. No need to subject yourself to hateful content when you already know it is - the judgement spreads, and people wanting to feel important add their own (uninformed) thoughts, which are just exaggerations of the original - enough people say it that it becomes a foregone conclusion, and anyone who speaks up in opposition obviously only does so because they are anti-X, bigoted and hateful themselves, and so their opinions dont matter It is basically how all stereotypes spread, with an added hint of malice thrown on top to be extra divisive. In a world of things like "anti-racism" where you must parrot the orthodoxy loudly and often, this is the natural course of things. Culturally, I think "celebrification" is to blame for the intensity. We have spent so long worshipping celebrities, and celebrity status, that social media gave us the added shot of each of us being our own mini-celebrities. Being liked and mentioned has become a form of self fulfillment for some people, and the easiest way to do that is parrot every bandwagon you can find.

throwoutway 5y ago
I agree with everything you said and have seen it play out on Twitter multiple times. It’s the same as flaming and why Twitter is such an awful place

oceanghost 5y ago

I haven't seen the special because I don't think Chapelle is funny, so I don't know what he said, and I am not defending him. However, there's a minority of folks who are engaged in this "outrage porn" to score points on social media. They need something to rail against every, single, day. They don't care about what was actually said. If you take 90 mins to watch the special you might miss the wave of hate you're trying to ride. It happens on the right and the left (which in the USA are really both pretty right).

hagbard_c 5y ago

> I just don't understand how people can be that mad about something that _they've clearly not watched_. It's beyond me. Perhaps I lack some fundamental cultural context. There is a very simple explanation for this type of outrage: many religious people get offended when what they consider to be sacred gets criticised or denied. This is even more true for new converts who often fail to see the nuances in their religion and take religious dogma as absolute truth. Religious extremism is incompatible with rational discourse, as is proven time and time again - it does not matter whether the extremists follow a theistic religion like Islam or Christianity or a secular one like "Wokeness", the "new religion of the left" or whatever name you want to give it. Now add this this a faith without atonement or salvation and the seeds have been sown for a life of outrage.