Dave Chappelle The Dreamer review: Controversial comedian promises to ‘keep punching down’ in mean-spirited Netflix standup special

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Chappelle’s unprompted knife-fight against the trans community made him a cause célèbre a couple of years ago, leading to an internal conflict at Netflix, but crucially, nary a condemnation from his own people. Most comedians appeared to be afraid that by criticising Chappelle’s politics, they might endanger their own freedom of speech. Or, perhaps they simply share the same beliefs as him. Who knows? Either way, the streamer seems to be reveling in the debate, as it continues to disregard the bad press that being in business with Chappelle is bringing.

In The Dreamer, the comedian vows to keep ‘punching down’, a statement of purpose that comes across more like a tantrum than the brave act of artistic defiance that Chappelle clearly views it as. Unlike the equally provocative Ricky Gervais, whose humour is laced with stinging satire directed at the elite, Chappelle’s punchlines are invariably aimed at those who can’t really defend themselves. For instance, when he makes a joke at the expense of ‘handicapped’ people — he also mocks them physically — there are no hidden layers. He isn’t calling out the healthcare industry for holding certain people hostage and milking them for money. He isn’t even giving the differently abled something to laugh about. He’s laughing at them. Chappelle doesn’t provoke thought; he simply provokes.

And empty provocation has a way of feeling a little selfish. It aims not to shake people into action, or push them to reconsider how they’re living their lives. It exists only to give the provocateur something to chuckle at for two seconds, and to continue deluding themselves into thinking that they have power —  to influence, to shape, to shock. They do, but egging bigots into being bigger bigots is hardly something to take pride in.

Chappelle also revisits the attack that he experienced during a show in Los Angeles, when a man who was later discovered to be carrying a knife charged him on stage. The objectively terrible incident obviously didn’t nudge Chappelle into investigating how someone could detest him so deeply. If anything, it reconfirmed his own impression of himself, that he is some kind of truth-teller out to expose the hypocrisies of civilised society; a messiah figure sent to save people from themselves. To understand why he might think like this, one needn’t look further than the show’s opening moments, in which Chappelle walks onto the stage in slow-motion, framed like a prize fighter stepping into the ring.

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But for all his jokes about the trans community, Chappelle takes a centrist stance in the Will Smith- Chris Rock tussle. He says that as a Black man burdened with the responsibility of representing his community, he can relate with Smith for having cracked under years of pressure. But he can also empathise with Rock, who maintained his composure in the face of unprecedented humiliation. Chappelle brags that his was the only call that Rock took immediately after the slap — he’d seemingly been contacted by everyone from Obama to Oprah — and that the first thing he asked Rock was, “Did it hurt?” But despite having inadvertently stumbled upon the perfect set-up for a bit of introspection, Chappelle immediately does that thing where he smacks his mic on his thigh, turns around, and laughs at his own joke. There was no deeper purpose to his question; he literally just wanted to know if the slap stung. And that’s The Dreamer for you.

Dave Chappelle: The Dreamer
Director – Stan Lathan
Rating – 2.5/5