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View Full Version : Ricky Gervais criticised over 'transphobic' jokes in new Netflix special


Crimson Dynamo
19-03-2018, 02:24 PM
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DYNQ8grX4AEse-e.jpg


His monologue during that awards show included a joke aimed at Caitlyn Jenner's fatal 2015 car crash, which led to the death of another driver.

The gag, which ended in the punchline that Jenner's transition "didn't do much for women drivers", sparked backlash at the time. Gervais was accused of transphobia and criticised for "dead-naming" Jenner, after he referred to her by her pre-transition name.

In Humanity, The Office star doubles down on the quip.

"It wasn't transphobic in the slightest. It was a joke about a trans person, but the joke had nothing to do with that aspect of her existence," he says in the new special.

The disclaimer's a setup for a provocative bit aimed at baiting his detractors.

In an extended segment, he reimagines Jenner, pre-transition, walking into a doctor's office with a butch voice and manly gait. He then goes on to equate Jenner's transition to his own self-identification as a "chimp".

"If I say I’m a chimp, I am a chimp," Gervais says. "And don't ever 'dead-name' me, from now on you call me Bobo."

After a beat, he closes the gag with an ironic shrug: "And that's why that joke isn’t transphobic," he says.

https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/comedy/ricky-gervais-criticised-over-transphobic-jokes-in-new-netflix-special-20180314-p4z4a3.html

Epic.
19-03-2018, 02:49 PM
Ridiculous. Dark humour is a type of comedy that's existed for generations. Fair enough if it's not your kind of thing but to accuse a comedian of being transphobic or discriminatory is ludicrous most of the time. Comedians have free reign to make fun of anything, it's their job. Your entitled to not find the joke or him funny but this is so far away from what the word prejudice actually means. If the joke was that he outright hates transsexuals then maybe I'd understand the upset, but it wasn't. It was just another out-there joke that most comedians tend to do for humour.

Kizzy
19-03-2018, 02:56 PM
I've neve been a fan but this is funny.

"If I say I’m a chimp, I am a chimp," Gervais says. "And don't ever 'dead-name' me, from now on you call me Bobo.

Jamie89
19-03-2018, 03:10 PM
It's comedy, I think it should be allowed to be more offensive if that's his thing. People will decide with their wallets if it's too much. Unless it's extreme I suppose, but none of that is imo. He's taking the piss, but with the women drivers joke he's being more offensive to women (and of course the person who died in the crash) than he is to trans people anyway. And I don't really get the chimp joke, unless it's not meant to be funny :laugh:

I dunno, is this really getting a lot of criticism over transphobia? Or is it just a headline trying to cash in on what is currently a popular topic of conversation?Trans issues/controversy are very good for the clicks at the moment. Looking at the excerpts of the reviews of him that the article is actually based on I'd guess it's the latter.

Alf
19-03-2018, 04:16 PM
I watched this a couple of days ago, and I wasn't offended at all.