empathy – noun – the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.
Oxford Dictionary of English
“Netflix transgender controversy”
“transphobic Netflix special”
“ridiculing trans people”
There is no way to avoid the headlines relating to Dave Chapelle’s Netflix special The Closer, which has generated a faux controversy and the headline extracts quoted above. Or should I say “clickbait”?
” I don’t know what this nonsense is about.”
Dave Chapelle
Dave’s too modest. He knows, and so do I. If you actually watched The Closer, you would too. And that’s my point; Most of this outrage must be coming from people who have not watched The Closer, but would rather just rant about some imagined offence.
I watched it just to see what the fuss was about, as Sheryl Crow would say. A few days prior I read the New York Times’ review that slagged it off. The columnist Roxanne Gay was not amused, saying Dave’s ego is “brittle”.
Sorry Roxanne and all the offended self-proclaimed woke people out there, but what I witnessed was a study in empathy. Dave described real people of the trans community that he has encountered, supported, put on stage as his opening act. That doesn’t quite sound transphobic or disrespectful.
And mixed in with the empathy was humor. Outstanding humor. Some of his funniest jokes. I doubt that I’ll get any sleep tonight because I’ll be lying in bed giggling while thinking about his Walmart men’s restroom spiel.
This feined outrage surrounding The Closer is as authentic as Kayleigh McEnany‘s indignation that Jen Psaki violated the Hatch Act. Really?
Oh stop. Stop. Stop now or I’ll send a Tweet.
photo: Netflix screenshot
roadkill and other observations 
Agreed. I read Roxanne Gay’s column before seeing it so I was expecting something different. But when I watched it with my husband we both said at the end “wow, he’s such a genuinely good guy.” Hilarious too!
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