Current Events > Ricky Gervais Netflix special draws criticism for jokes mocking trans people

(+) Yeah! (+)

Gobstoppers12 posted...

I'm yawning. Specifically, I'm yawning at you.

I didn't realize laughing at transphobic jokes was so tiring. I'll let you get to bed.

I hope one day y'all learn to understand comedy. I think you'd be happier if you figured it out.

I get comedy. But I think at a time when trans people are being made out as predators, and there are governmental efforts underway to deny them their identity, the effect of these jokes is societally negative.

So to summarize: You find the joke funny, but not based on the timing or delivery since you only read it, but don't want to explain what it is about the content of the joke you find funny because "that's a trap".

Really not doing a good job at convincing people you don't simply find anti-trans humor funny, Gob.

Funny stuff

qqq posted...

Funny stuff

Oh look another one

Gobstoppers12 posted...

I hope one day y'all learn to understand comedy. I think you'd be happier if you figured it out.

I hope one day you'll learn to understand that not everyone has to find every joke funny. Also, if people have problems about the joke they're allowed to talk about it too.

Gobstoppers12 posted...

I hope one day y'all learn to understand comedy. I think you'd be happier if you figured it out.

Explain to us why the joke is funny, then.

Gobstoppers12 posted...

I hope one day y'all learn to understand comedy. I think you'd be happier if you figured it out.

Comedy can be bigoted, mate.

Saying "it's just a joke" doesn't mean you can say anything you like.

Antifar posted...

I get comedy. But

You can just say you don't get it.

Gobstoppers12 posted...

You can just say you don't get it.

"You don't get comedy."

"Explain the joke to us then."

"..."

Gobstoppers12 posted...

You can just say you don't get it.

Did George Carlin not get comedy either?

Because we already have a video in this topic where he talked about how this is shit comedy.

Stewman_Magoo posted...

I hope one day you'll learn to understand that not everyone has to find every joke funny

That's pretty much my entire point here. It's okay for people to find things funny, even if they're offensive. Laughing at an offensive joke involving trans people is not a hateful act.

DrizztLink posted...

Did George Carlin not get comedy either?

Sure he understands it, but that doesn't mean he speaks for everyone.

Gobstoppers12 posted...

Sure he understands it, but that doesn't mean he speaks for everyone.

But you do apparently

Did I ever see the writing on the wall when I stopped listening to Gervais' content when he went absolutely mad attacking all people who hunt.

Gobstoppers12 posted...

Sure he understands it, but that doesn't mean he speaks for everyone.

Cool, but you do, apparently.

Despite your grand qualifications of "can shitpost about minorities for years and then act like it never happened."

One of the fictional people in the joke was meant to be a right winger spouting rhetoric about trans people being rapists, as they do in real life. That doesnt mean Gervais believes it.

mario2000 posted...

"You don't get comedy."

"Explain the joke to us then."

"..."

I'll give a more thorough breakdown of it when I'm sitting at a keyboard. It's too much to wrestle with on my phone.

Flauros posted...

I think the joke is supposed to be absurdist, about a conversation between 2 fictional people.

The punchline isnt that rape is funny. It is that Person B is more offended that Person A is misgendering the fictional rapist in question than the act in of itself.

This is how I read it too. It's fitting with his normal style of shouting obscene shit simply for the sake of it.

Gobstoppers12 posted...

I'll give a more thorough breakdown of it when I'm sitting at a keyboard. It's too much to wrestle with on my phone.

I'll be waiting then.

Tenlaar posted...

One of the fictional people in the joke was meant to be a right winger spouting rhetoric about trans people being rapists, as they do in real life. That doesnt mean Gervais believes it.

The joke clearly wasn't mocking those people though. In fact, they are put across as the rational thinker in the "joke"

CrimsonAngel posted...

But you do apparently

DrizztLink posted...

Cool, but you do, apparently.

Never said I did. I'm only speaking for myself, and my personal goal in this topic is to defend the scope and versatility of comedy as an art form. It's still just my opinion, though. I just want you all to recognize that comedy is a broad concept with a lot of aspects at play.

Raikuro posted...

What were the specific jokes?

Doesn't matter. Someone labeled it as transphobic and that is it. No more room for discussion.

TommyG663513 posted...

Doesn't matter. Someone labeled it as transphobic and that is it. No more room for discussion.

He says, after dozens of posts of discussion

DrizztLink posted...

He says, after dozens of posts of discussion

And someone posting the jokes ITT

DrizztLink posted...

He says, after dozens of posts of discussion

Bout what you'd expect from someone that was straight up lying about trans people in that topic about the skateboarder

People like that come crawling out of the cracks like roaches to defend bland humor like this

Watched the special, first joke that got posted on page one came across more about taking the piss out of people who get bent out of shape over pronouns than trans people themselves.

Second one was aimed at trans people though.

They say when you lose one sense, your other senses get enhanced, due to Neuroplasticity, they spent over $55,000 on this study (by following people who had lost one sense, and using MRIs to view their brains). -- https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/superpowers-for-the-blind-and-deaf/

They could have saved that $55,000 and just come onto CE, they would have seen that when you lose your sense of humor you gain a an enhanced sense of your own self-importance.

So that means Netflix will give him more specials.

Oatcakes posted...

Watched the special, first joke that got posted on page one came across more about taking the piss out of people who get bent out of shape over pronouns than trans people themselves.

Second one was aimed at trans people though.

The first one is aimed at trans people though. It's putting across as a fact that they "are rapists" and people are more interested in getting pronouns right than the fact trans people "are rapists"

Funkydog posted...

The first one is aimed at trans people though. It's putting across as a fact that they "are rapists" and people are more interested in getting pronouns right than the fact trans people "are rapists"

I didn't think it was putting the point they're rapists across, came across more like it was the classic Terf v ally argument, where the Terf goes straight to the accusation of ill intent as the reason they want to use a certain bathroom.

I'm not saying I'm right, just how it came across to me when watching.

seeing as alwasy right wingers dont get it

the problem is the jokes normalize dehumanizing transgenders

using comedy to make others be less than is an old tactic that right wingers have used for centuries

Funkydog posted...

The first one is aimed at trans people though. It's putting across as a fact that they "are rapists" and people are more interested in getting pronouns right than the fact trans people "are rapists"

Yeah, that's really not what's happening in the joke. I think it's totally okay to be offended by the joke because it's in poor taste and hacky (and is also a shitty joke!) but twisting it as him painting all trans people as rapists is disingenuous at best and really does nothing other than prolong these drawn out arguments like the ones itt.

I'm not defending Gervais at all and I don't think he's been funny in a very long time, but I really don't see the point in misrepresenting the joke like this. There's plenty of shit to criticize in this special without getting caught up on the make believe.

Smashingpmkns posted...

Yeah, that's really not what's happening in the joke. I think it's totally okay to be offended by the joke because it's in poor taste and hacky (and is also a shitty joke!) but twisting it as him painting all trans people as rapists is disingenuous at best and really does nothing other than prolong these drawn out arguments like the ones itt.

I'm not defending Gervais at all and I don't think he's been funny in a very long time, but I really don't see the point in misrepresenting the joke like this. There's plenty of shit to criticize in this special without getting caught up on the make believe.

The fact that many trans people are already vilified as sexual predators and the fact that Ricky Gervais just so happened to use rape as the example for correcting someone's pronoun usage instead of literally any other misdeed for why then?

It's not twisting his joke, it is definitely part of it.

Scintillant posted...

The fact that many trans people are already vilified as sexual predators and the fact that Ricky Gervais just so happened to use rape as the example for correcting someone's pronoun usage instead of literally any other misdeed for why then?

It's not twisting his joke, it is definitely part of it.

Exactly, most other crimes wouldn't have raised the same issue. If he said armed robbery or terrorism, then it's just a bad joke about overly sensitive wokists. Standard fare for his type of boomer adjacent comedy. He clearly understands what he was doing because he referenced TERFs who are the very people who use that smear.

Scintillant posted...

The fact that many trans people are already vilified as sexual predators and the fact that Ricky Gervais just so happened to use rape as the example for correcting someone's pronoun usage instead of literally any other misdeed for why then?

It's not twisting his joke, it is definitely part of it.

Yes he uses the situation as part of the joke but he is not calling all trans people rapists. We're also looking at the joke as if the bigot is being portrayed as the rational one when both are irrational in the joke. The way he delivers the bigot's line is very clearly making fun of the irrational fear that they're gonna be raped just because they're trans. A lot of that gets lost in text.

Smashingpmkns posted...

Yes he uses the situation as part of the joke but he is not calling all trans people rapists. We're also looking at the joke as if the bigot is being portrayed as the rational one when both are irrational in the joke. The way he delivers the bigot's line is very clearly making fun of the irrational fear that they're gonna be raped just because they're trans. A lot of that gets lost in text.

and even if this is true

IT DOESNT MATTER its still pushing the narrative

again using comedy to make ppl seem lesser is a trick used to justify treating them as lesser

its been used threw out human history

The first joke also just wasn't very good even if you take out the bit about rape. The whole premise of these "new women with beards and penises" is just a charicature of all trans women that gets blasted on right wing media. Idk what's supposed to be funny about an old dude tilting at windmills

AceMos posted...

and even if this is true

IT DOESNT MATTER its still pushing the narrative

again using comedy to make ppl seem lesser is a trick used to justify treating them as lesser

its been used threw out human history

I mean, it's making fun of the narrative just like how people make fun of dumb bigoted views like this all the time. Again, it's a shitty joke and it sucks but he's not supporting the views or even claiming them as his own.

The whole special was about irony and making fun of views from the lens of whatever position.

i feel like i only see this outrage after its posted about on gamefaqs and its like 1 or 2 tweets with a few thousand RTs lol

Can't uk people lay charges against him? This is outright hate, I hope he can get some jail time to think about what he done.

Huh, didn't know ol Ricky had a new special out. Maybe I'll take a peak later tonight after work.

Okay.

I'll focus mainly on the first joke.

The first thing to recognize is that both characters in the joke are being made fun of. The "dinosaur woman" is presented as irrationally fearful and ignorant, while the person correcting pronouns is comically avoiding the "real" issue by focusing on pronouns. The conversation in this joke has played out numerous times over the years, though Gervais dials it up a quarter-notch for the sake of comedy.

For example...the idea that women will be raped in the bathroom if trans women are allowed to use it. This fear is not based on any kind of evidence or study, and it's just a thing that out of touch older people are prone to believe. Gervais has a point that around ten years ago, this was barely even a topic of discussion at all. The whole trans rights movement as it stands today is only a few years old, and as such, there have been some growing pains and some questions that haven't been adequately explored and answered.

Meanwhile, the person focusing so much on pronouns is so militantly fixated on correcting the misgendering that they're completely overlooking the much more offensive, much more pressing issue at hand. Instead of correcting the notion that trans women are likely to be rapists by citing the very low incident rates, they instead take the opportunity to call the first woman a "TERF bigot"

Which is funny, because that's so often how these conversations play out. The point is missed because everybody's too busy insulting one another and taking things super personally. The whole "um actually their pronouns are:" response to incidents such as the "Chrischan" and Ezra Miller situations speak to the veracity of it.

It's a bit more important to focus on the point, but so often it gets bogged down by pronoun semantics.It's NOT made funny because it's hateful, it's funny because it's a true representation of actual conversations that I've seen play out right in front of me.

Bestoffuture posted...

"comedian"

How is he not a comedian?

angeleyes94 posted...

Can't uk people lay charges against him? This is outright hate, I hope he can get some jail time to think about what he done.

Is this real?

Wow I wonder why trans people take it personally when theyre constantly characterized as being violent rapists

Weird how people get angry when they get mistreated like that

greyfox747 posted...

when theyre constantly characterized as being violent rapists

That's not what the joke is doing, though. That's what one of the stupid characters in the joke is saying.