Ricky Gervais is on the defensive after mocking trans women in his edge-lord stand-up special SuperNature, referring to them as “the new women” and “the ones with beards and c*cks.” He went on to joke about a hypothetical trans woman raping cis women.
Last year was the most lethal year on record for trans people, with the HRC reporting some 57 violent killings of trans and gender non-conforming people. Rhetoric like Gervais’ that reduces trans women to sexually violent caricatures based solely around their genitals contributes to the culture that leads to these violent killings, but on a recent interview on The One Show with Alex Jones, Gervais asserted that his dangerous rhetoric was all just comedy.
“That’s when I say something I don’t really mean, for comic effect. And you as an audience laugh at the wrong thing, because you know what the wrong thing is. It’s a way of satirizing attitudes.”
A quick scroll through Twitter shows you that, in fact, his audience does not know what the wrong thing is.
Meanwhile, people with a real handle on trans issues and the violence they face had plenty to say:
Ricky Gervais just called trans women rapists & told us to cut off our genitals for his personal comfort on yet another hate-filled Netflix “comedy” special
Fuck you @netflix, SO glad I cancelled my subscription to your hate service months ago
You’re gonna get more of us killed
— Strewth 🏳️⚧️ (@StrewthQueen) May 25, 2022
Trans ppl get it every single day in the UK press. My trans daughter just wants a break. Doesn’t want to be the centre of attention. Just wants to be left alone. She feels worthless enough as it is without being the butt of the joke. A trans rape joke? Really Ricky?
— Millie Corner (@MillieCorner2) May 24, 2022
ricky gervais being utterly predictable and mocking transgender people in his latest special. it’s fucking insane to me how we take some of the most vulnerable, marginalised people in society… and tear them apart to hundreds of millions on netflix like that’s okay
— David Farrier (@davidfarrier) May 24, 2022
It’s weird seeing Ricky Gervais making money out of shit material that is almost word for word, just an average mumsnet thread.
When an ‘edgy’ comedian (mining the 1970s), and Pamela from Surbiton overlap, its probably not comedy, it’s definitely not edgy.
— Joss Prior🌈 Chromosomally inaccurate 🌈 (@joss_prior) May 24, 2022
Ricky Gervais got comfortable inducing groans, learned to do it like a trick, got famous and wealthy from it. Eventually he saw the groans as the point, and in enlightened circles, the way to induce groans is to disdain enlightenment and be a bigoted piece of shit.
— steve albini (@electricalWSOP) May 24, 2022
Between platforming Ricky Gervais and Dave Chappelle, it’s clear that Netflix is trying to prop up its falling business by wield transphobia to garner viewer gaining controversy, then using shows like Heartstoppers to shield itself from queer criticism. Well screw you Netflix.
— Jessie Earl (@jessiegender) May 24, 2022
i know it’s been way overshared by this point but it is pretty damning that James Acaster shut down Ricky Gervais’ whole routine in about 3 minutes and now 5 years later Ricky is just, still doing it
— dunkin donuts charcuterie board (@amcnal) May 24, 2022
Ricky Gervais stopped eating meat because he cares about animal rights. He hasn’t given up eating shit in his standup specials tho cuz he’s an asshole who doesn’t care about trans lives.
— JEN KIRKMAN Host of Anxiety Bites Podcast (@JenKirkman) May 25, 2022
the same day ricky gervais released an anti-trans comedy special, a sitting US senator falsely attributed a mass shooting to a trans person
metabolize that
— Miss Gender, More Like Miss Banger (@girldrawsghosts) May 25, 2022
I respect Ricky Gervais’s right to identify as a comedian, but he has to meet me half way and tell a joke now and then, that’s all I’m saying.
— small robots (@smolrobots) May 24, 2022
Members of the queer community had hoped following the debacle with Dave Chappelle’s transphobic special The Closer and the subsequent employee walkout at Netflix that the streaming giant would stop platforming violent rhetoric, but that hope seems to be wearing thin.
bachy
Sat through Gervais’ entire comedy special last night. Frankly, it’s not very entertaining. He’s made himself famous spouting the foulest, whiniest, most spiteful attacks on… well, everyone (not just the transgenders). Gervais presents himself as the archetypal bitter curmudgeon with no filter. Basically an Archie Bunker reboot. Didn’t find myself laughing much but rather left me with a sneer and a bad taste in my mouth. It was like listening to some loud, alcoholic asshole in a dive bar. I guess some people get a thrill from that kind of noise.
CatholicXXX
That’s literally every stand up comedian.
It was a bad “joke” but it was more of attack on terfs.
Jami Stardust
No such word as transgenders. transgender is an adjective.
monty clift
@CatholicXXX, Judging from terf twitter, they seem to think he’s on their side. :/
Brian
Yes, it’s ignorant and bigoted. It’s also LAZY. His jokes weren’t brainstormed or workshopped or improved in any way. There’s no real twist or punchline. There’s no substance. He’s just being mean about a small minority because he knows that most people in the audience aren’t a part of that small minority.
Polaro
Audience seemed to like it. A lot.
Eternal.Cowboy
@Polaro –
Not big on critical thought huh?
White supremacists have rallies with audiences that like what they hear. By your reasoning that somehow makes it okay.
Polaro
Jokes, sweetie, not white supremacy. No topic should be made sacred from humor or ridicule. Your thought police nonsense is dangerous. Hard to believe policing thoughts has become a liberal cite value.
Eternal.Cowboy
@Polaro
At no point have I tried to control anyone’s thoughts.
What I did was point out the absurdity of your reasoning to which you have no response. You equated audience approval with something being okay, all I did was point out where that line of reasoning goes.
Ronbo
Eternal Cowboy, like most Republicans, thinks “critical thought” means that he has to criticize and insult.
Joshooeerr
Gervais has always been odious. But I can’t help noting that everyone seemed to be cheering for him when he was taking aim at celebrities at the Emmys. I know it’s supposedly more acceptable if you’re “punching up”, as they say, but Gervais’s schtick has always been mean and nasty, whether he’s punching up or down. The entire entertainment industry has nurtured his nastiness all this time, so it’s a bit odd that only now he’s being called out for “stepping over the line”. The line was way back.
Polaro
Funny, he has a shelf full of awards…what do you have? Nothing.
Creamsicle
A lot of stand-up is just the art of having a mean conversation with nobody. Lots of us have these mean conversations with ourselves in our heads. That’s what makes stand-up so appealing. It’s giving a voice and a stage to someone who knows how to make that kind of non-conversatiom fun instead of upsetting.
Just look at San Francisco-style alternative comedy. It’s often not even comedy. It’s political ravings with a couple pauses to insert an immature joke for the sake of contrast.
Did a comic say something you don’t like? I have good news for you. There are literally THOUSANDS, if not millions, of other comics in the world. Go watch and support them instead.
I love Kathy Griffin, but she’s not everyone’s cup of tea. She was even blacklisted by the entire industry in the U.S. following her Trump head photo. She got legitimately Cancelled and harassed by actual law enforcement. The kind with real weapons and real legal teams and real consequences. She went on a comedy world-tour and came back vindicated as a hero of the anti-Trump Left because her only mistake was releasing that photo pre-Charlottesville.
Comics are hard to cancel. It doesn’t take a lot of money and resources for them to put on shows in alternative spaces and bring their following with them. You can be mad about it, or you can direct your time and energy towards entertainment that you DO enjoy, including the multitude of queer-centered and queer-affirmative stories that Netflix is also producing.
Eternal.Cowboy
@Polaro
Your comment is basically saying that anyone that hasn’t had RG’s level of success has accomplished nothing. It’s a false dilemma fallacy. Using your criteria, you have also accomplished nothing. But you are a sycophant and your identity is tied to these people that you idolize. Given that you see yourself as an extension of them rather than a separate person it makes sense that you see their accomplishments as your own.
Polaro
@cowboy not at all. I was replying to the ridicule of Ricky as being “odious”. The world says no, and, sadly, your opinion about jokes is sad. You’re playing games with your virtue signaling. It’s getting tiring. Trans women with penises are not women. You can’t handle the truth and Ricky made that clear. It’s not his opinion, it’s reality.
Support trans women, I do, but I don’t pretend they are something they are not. Saying trans women are women is gender appropriation. Think on that.
Eternal.Cowboy
Couldn’t even address my actual comment and had to go with personal attacks and non-sequiturs.
Polaro
what personal attack? If anyone is dodging, its you. Did you even watch the RG show? No.
Eternal.Cowboy
Polaro –
I haven’t watched it. You know what I also haven’t done? Comment on it. You know why I haven’t commented on it? Because I haven’t watched it.
What I did comment on was what you said. You said that if a person doesn’t have a “shelf full of awards” like RG then they have “nothing”. It was an inane comment on your part.
Polaro
It’s gotten to the point I want people to tear the pizz out of everything cancel culture triggers on. You people are pathetic. So fragile because you know your nonsense is paper thin, like you skin. Women do not have penises. It’s like a joke watching you squirm when pressed. Nothing wrong with trans people, but the woke left is bonkers. Get out of your pitying echo chamber.
cs1900
You’re boring.
inbama
@cs1900
Say that again, but look in a mirror this time.
Eternal.Cowboy
I’m guessing you don’t see the irony of whining about people tearing down others and immediately going into an insult ladened temper tantrum because someone famous you like was criticized. Someone in this situation is thinned skinned for sure. Maybe you should not tie your identity to famous people, this level of fanboy isn’t healthy. It’s okay to be your own person.
Polaro
Ah, not one good thought or statement between you. Can’t handle the truth?
Funny, cow, I never mentioned Ricky in my comment once, so how does that jive with you your attack that I’m a fan boy? Misfire? I’m not defending Ricky, I’m attacking your creation of sacred cows and reactionary affront to free thought. But thinking isn’t any of your strengths, virtue signaling is. Sad really.
Eternal.Cowboy
Still can’t address what was said.
monty clift
Get out of your terf snowflake chamber, Polaro.
LumpyPillows
Ted Cruz. Greg Abbott. Focus, grasshoppers. You want to argue that trans women with penises are women…while they steal elections and destroy the planet. There’s a reason why we lose.
Eternal.Cowboy
“while they steal elections”
They tried to steal an election. It wasn’t successful
“There’s a reason why we lose.”
Wait, you just said elections were being stolen now you are saying they are being lost due to policy. Pick a lane.
What’s weird is you are making the same argument people made for not support civil rights in the 60s and the argument people made for why gay rights shouldn’t have been supported. I’m both cases people claimed including them would loose elections. But what is the point of winning elections if your policy is crap?
Further, the American electorate supports trans rights. Support is at 60%+ and growing. At least have the decency to be honest. You don’t want people to support trans rights because your bigoted opinion is becoming less and less popular and the prospect of a more inclusive world frightens you. Don’t worry, you will always have Cruz and Abbott on your side.
Polaro
Cow, you missed his entire point, but that was purposeful. Complex idea, only two points: your toxicity gives cover for people voting for republicans, Cruz and Abbott should be your focus as they attempt to disenfranchise voters and steal elections. Two ideas, you can think about both. Tub Gervais is any easier target for you to try and cancel. Seriously, you and your ilk of thought police are dangerous. You don’t even see why your dangerous, very much like the right wing. Scary for the rest of us.
LumpyPillows
E.C. I appreciate that you wrote some actual ideas and just didn’t flame away with a three word insult, like so many of the cattle here. I have no idea how you jumped from my comment to an affront to the civil rights movement. I’m certainly saying we have huge problems and you want to focus on a comedian poking fun at an obvious problem with the left’s messaging. One of the key successes of people like Martin Luther King was his keen study of the issues and managing a message that focused on real change, not enflaming his most ardent supporters. Malcom X was the flame thrower and he set the movement back totally. Really, if you want to win the war and win elections to do so, you should think about the messages and not just knee jerk react.
I support trans rights, as do many. I have no problem with jokes about them or anyone else for that matter. If you understand progress, this is part of how we get from point A to B…wasn’t long ago when no one spoke about trans people, same back in the day with gay people. Oddly, a lot of people like you have no problem making transphobic jokes about Kaitlyn Jenner and that Marjorie Green person because you do not like them. If you weren’t one of the people doing it, you were silent about it when it happened – guilty either way. (I do not like either lady, by the way.)
I think you mean well, but you really haven’t much of a clue about reality outside the far left bubble. Ricky Gervais is doing us a favor by showing us the error in our rote, repeated catechism on trans women being women. Might be good to listen. Besides, some of it is funny if you can pull the stick out of your derriere.
Eternal.Cowboy
@Polaro
Yet again you can’t address what I said and opted for insults.
Eternal.Cowboy
Wow, you have a widely antiquated view of Malcom X that is perpetuation of myths created by white racists. There is a reason his legacy has endured in the black community and the recognition of his contributions to the civil rights movement are started to become recognized by some white folks and it is because collectively we have pushed back on the racist myths people like perpetuate. Given that you still cling to that view I can see how you don’t connect your comments to civil rights.
As for being critical of people like RG, I live in Texas (weird that you called that a far left bubble) and I actually have the capacity to push back on Cruz, Abbott, Paxton and the rest of the clown show and still call out other BS. It isn’t hard.
Kangol2
Lumpy Pillows, your mini-history of the US Civil Rights movement is a bit off, both in terms of your understanding of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s strategies, actual history in terms of protest, and the White and Black public responses to him and the movement. You also are off about Malcolm X as well. He did not “set the movement back totally,” and I’m not sure where you got that; in fact, both his rhetoric and his death were powerful catalysts for Civil Rights activists, not only the late 50s and the 60s (when he was assassinated), but all the way up through today. But hey, just make up history to suit your argument, which is faulty because, as Eternal Cowboy points out, it is possible to fight multiple battles at once, as activists of all kinds have long understood.
LumpyPillows
I’m old, I was there when MLK and Malcom X were active. Your romanticized view of Malcom X is flawed. His anger was galvanizing and undermined the need for change. MLK was brilliant and opened a lot of white eyes and minds – the majority of the electorate and the wielders of power. Black people already had their eyes wide open.
Reminds me of the reinvention of Marsha P Davis into a trans woman (he wasn’t) who started the Stonewall riots (he wasn’t there). Reinventing history for your purposes is dishonest.
And if you want us to believe your intent was to just be argumentative about the awards comment, that is deceptive as well. You seem to think this is just a debating game without ramifications. Perhaps you’re right, I’d like to think there were some honest, open minds.
Attacking comedians is a losing strategy, just like Malcom X’s approach. It galvanizes people against you, but, hey, some people just like to be provocative. I find that tedious.
Eternal.Cowboy
It’s Marsha P. Johnson. But yeah, you are totally know what you are talking about.
jackscott
If you don’t like his routine simply don’t watch! He’s a comedian… many topics/folks are the focus of jokes. People need to laugh more & get off their “woke” horse!
Creamsicle
Yeah all the energy being spent virtue signaling over comics could be better spent on actual activism.
Does anyone actually believe that making Gervais trend on Twitter will do anything besides PROMOTE the special?
Eternal.Cowboy
If you don’t like comments that are critical, don’t read them.
Kangol2
“Virtue signaling”: why is this right-wing framing term being bandied about on a LGBTQ-focused website? Criticizing Ricky Gervais is legitimate, as is defending him. But this right-wing garbage about “virtue signaling” is as empty as a drained milk carton. I mean, come on, let it rest!
monty clift
jackscott, stfu tool.
LumpyPillows
Virtue signaling is not a right wing talking point. I really wish people would take a deep breath and honestly ask themselves if their they’re missing something. I wish I was so confident I was always right.
If you can’t see how being mortally offended by jokes isn’t a grandstanding approach to project your outrage is virtue signaling, you probably can’t be reasoned with. (I like to hear myself talk.)
The real right wing, fascist issue is trying to silence speech and thoughts; which would be you. Next you’ll be burning books and the loony left will have merged with the outrageous right into social insanity. Think about it.
Good thing Joan Rivers died when she did. They’re jokes, get over it.
Jim
I’m tired of comics excusing their own bigotry and others.
Take Gervais. Please
Ronbo
Yes! When the circus came to town, baby cried all night. The clowns with their big shows were bigoting all over us people with small feet. And their bigotry with the RED hair! Belittling my sisters own RED HAIR!
Even worse, remember the terror when beloved gay icon, Bette Middler bigoted all over my handicapped friends riding that awful electeric wheelchair all over the stage?
Oh, the horrors of humor. We must stop the laughing.
Eternal.Cowboy
This is a good example of why Netflix is currently imploding. Not that they keep going down the transphobic road but they they just can’t compete with quality content. That they are starting to depend on comedy specials due to their low cost to produce doesn’t bode well for their future.
Polaro
You mean the same Netflix that has:
Grace and Frankie.
Heartstopper.
Schitt’s Creek.
Orange Is the New Black.
Elite.
Black Lightning.
Sex Education.
Queer Eye.
That Netflix? Cut your nose off to spite you face. Did IQs drop sharply?
LumpyPillows
Netflix’s drop in numbers was directly tied to pulling out of Russia and losing the 700,000 subscribers there. I’m also sure a lot of Ukrainians have also dropped all subscriptions as they flee the war. Facts are pesky; perhaps Netflix should have stayed in Russia to protect their bottom line?
I have no idea why you want to hurt Netflix when they are creating and providing so much LGBTQ content. I really do not understand cancel culture and their affinity to attacking their own allies. Makes me wonder if a right wing think tank isn’t behind all of this and the reactionary left just gobbles it up. So, are you a tool for the right based on your actions? Think about it honestly for a minute.
bachy
” I really do not understand cancel culture and their affinity to attacking their own allies. Makes me wonder if a right wing think tank isn’t behind all of this and the reactionary left just gobbles it up. So, are you a tool for the right based on your actions?”
@Lumpy Pillows: I have suspected this for a long time. It often seems like an insidious form of sabotage. Agents of Chaos.
Ronbo
Under the tutelage of editor Graham Gremore, Queerty posted multiple false anti-gay sex stories against a gay progressive Democratic candidate, Alex Morse. Morse lost to a much, Much, MUCH more conservative candidate and Graham has not changed his anti-gay ways. Journalism for political profit?
We have a self-hating gay who seems much like a fox in a chicken coup. Gender expressions can be expressed by both males and females. We just have to accept the existense of male bodies and female bodies. Anything less is inhumane.
Eternal.Cowboy
@Polaro + Lumpy
No, I mean exactly what I said. In Q1 of this year Netflix has announced that it had lost 200k subscribers. I don’t know where Lumpy came up with 700k, that wasn’t reported anywhere. Anyway, yes some of that was related to Ukraine/Russia but Netflix has stated that doesn’t account for all of the losses. Further they said that in Q2 they expected to lose another 2 million. Further they have had to start laying off staff and their stock is down a whopping 70% this year. These are not the indicators of a healthy business.
The reasons for Netflix is struggling is pretty easy to suss out. The streaming market is saturated and becoming more competitive. The first hit was content creators pulling their content off of Netflix in favor of doing first party streaming options. Disney is an easy example, they have pulled their content form Netflix and put it on Disney+. So some really lucrative properties are no longer on Netflix (Star Wars, Marvel, Pixar). So they are loosing quality content created by others. The second challenge is when it comes to buying original content. Netflix pioneered that original streaming content was a viable business. Unfortunately others took notice and started to do the same and Netflix cannot compete with the deep pockets of Disney, Hulu (owned by Disney, Apple and so on. Netflix can certainly put some original content that works but they can’t do it at the same range and depth as their competitors.
This is basic business stuff, they are in bad shape. It does’t matter that you can name eight shows, some of which ended awhile ago. They are struggling to keep up. They are bleeding subscribers. They are laying off people to stay above water. Investors have given up on them.
“I have no idea why you want to hurt Netflix when they are creating and providing so much LGBTQ content. I really do not understand cancel culture and their affinity to attacking their own allies.”
I didn’t say anything about wanting to hurt Netflix. I pointed out the reality of the situation, their business is in bad shape. Do you normally have to make up things to argue against?
“Makes me wonder if a right wing think tank isn’t behind all of this and the reactionary left just gobbles it up. So, are you a tool for the right based on your actions? Think about it honestly for a minute.”
And a conspiracy theory! You really out dumbed yourself with that one.
LumpyPillows
Interesting comments on streaming. Streaming is clearly in flux. I hope the fall out isn’t a reduction in diverse programming. This is why I support Netflix for the good they have done. We seem to disagree.
Google Netflix and Russia. You will find the 700,000 number. Without Russian Netflix would have added 500,000 subs.
Eternal.Cowboy
You sound like Netflix is the benchmark for diversity. HBO, Hulu, Disney, Paramount, Amazon, Apple and others all have diverse content and none of them are going back away because Netflix is struggling. Diverse content wins because it brings in a wider audience.
Personally I dropped Netflix because things worth watching were becoming more rare. Tiger King, Squid Game and Strangers things are the recent compelling things I can think of. I’ll re-subscribe every six months for like a month to catch up and then cancel again. It’s just not worth the monthly payment at this point. I’d imagine that I show the streaming thing will shake out. There will be top tier services like Disney+ that people stay subscribed to and then there will be second tier services like Shudder that people cycle through. I get the impression that Netflix will slip into the second tier.
Winsocki
Here is an answer: Don’t watch him. Insult comics that insult everyone then is not discriminating any group. “Kill Everyone Now” remember Babs Johnson. Those who think the jokes are fab are not going to change their attitudes by not hearing the jokes. I don’t care. I don’t listen. I do not read Q Anon. Why should I irritate myself listening to things that rile me up. I am insulted by lots of things. Thought police are everywhere now. I am over all of lamentations about watching people you do not like. Do not support, by or pay to see a show.
Ronbo
What other group has no sense of humor and attacks everyone who isn’t in lockstep? Republicans.
This says something.
Ronbo
Both groups also prefer censorship to open discussion.
Eternal.Cowboy
You throw around the word censorship a lot but not seem to actually know what it is.
Ronbo
When a young child throws a fit because there is an onion in his food – he is trying to censor what his mother puts in the food. “Prevention of disturbing or painful thoughts or feelings from reaching consciousness except in a disguised form.” You are trying to prevent Netflix from putting something you don’t like on their service = censorship.
Next up for Cow: buys automatic weapons to enforce his opinions on everyone subscribed to Netflix. It’s what the ego-centric kids like Cow do when they turn 18.
trell
It may be a misquote when Voltaire said “I may not agree with what you have to say, but I will fight to the death for your right to say it”
I don’t agree with anything that comedians such as Ricky Gervais, Frankie Boyle, Jimmy Carr and other shock-based comedians have to say. Their jokes are frequently intended to be offensive, homophobic, transphobic, racist, mysoginistic, and generally in very poor taste. I will stress that again. In any other context other than the field of comedy, if anyone were to make these comments off a stage, I would probably join the public outcry….
….but it’s one thing to say these things on stage, and another to bring them into real life.
Throughout history, whether it is the court jester being able to insult and offend a monarch to his face, or the constantly evolving ‘Aristocrats’ joke, comedy is the last bastion of how society stays grounded. Don’t believe me? Think of Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, Bill Hicks or George Carlin. All of these people were the controversial ‘shock-jocks’ of their day, railing against popular opinion and encouraging people to think for themselves.
Nowadays, whether it’s Tig Notaro doing cancer jokes, Jayne McBride doing trans jokes, Kelly Bachman doing rape jokes or anyone brave enough to tread the boards and hold a mirror up to society and say the equivalent of ‘FFS, stop taking yourselves so seriously!!’, then I will defend their right to say it…..
….and yes, I know. Ricky Gervais is a white middle aged cis male. He hasn’t had the same direct traumas that Notaro, McBride, Bachman etc. have had with their subject matter. And yet still, he is (as an onstage persona) railing against this ‘woke’ culture that we seemed to have developed, where we are selective in what we are outraged at, and what we are not outraged at. On-stage, as a comedian, he can make those comments, and people will laugh. It’s just a persona. If he was to do or say something beyond that (e.g like, I don’t know….Roseanne Barr or Bill Cosby), then by all means, send in the lynch mob.
Until then, all these articles are doing, is helping him and others like him, get media attention.
Ultimately, a comedian has one job to do, and that’s to make people laugh. The audience itself is not a bunch of white supremacist transphobic sheeple. They are there to weigh the joke up against one criteria only. ‘Does it make me laugh?’. The subject matter may be provocative or controversial, and attitudes will change, and even if the audience member is BME/LGBT/disabled etc., if they can see through the ‘dressing’ no matter how disturbing the ‘dressing’ is, and make a connection with the punchline, they will laugh. That’s why people like Tig Notaro can make jokes about cancer and masectomies, or Bachman can joke about her experience as a rape victim, and still make a connection with an otherwise diverse mix of white cis male and female audience members of all ethnic backgrounds, who may, or may not have ever had some experience with the subject.
As for the Ricky Gervais stand-up, ‘Supernature’, personally, i chuckled a few times, but it was a bit ‘meh’.
Eternal.Cowboy
The quote you are referencing is; “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it, was his attitude now.”
It’s by Evelyn Beatrice Hall and she was describing what Voltaire thought. Hence the odd “it was his attitude now” at the end that no one ever includes in the quote when they use it.
I totally agree with the sentiment and going along with it, I also reserve the right to be critical of whatever a person says. That’s how the whole discourse thing works.
Ronbo
But … that’s not what you are doing. You are encouraging censorship and violent opposition against people on your ever-growing “enemies list”. These are disgusting traits – typically Republican censorship.
MickeyMoose
Attempting to place the entirety of discrimination and violence against trans people on one person – Gervais – or on one class – comedians – dilutes the truth that transphobia and homophobia run dark and deep in a society where toxic masculinity not only is encouraged and celebrated, but is allowed to run wild. Blame the politicians – who hold the power – and who refuse to protect multiple vulnerable classes of people including LGBTQ. Vent your fury needlessly on Gervais if you want, but until you summon the courage to take to the streets and thus are perceived by those in power as a threat, as brave gays did in the ACT UP years, nothing will change.
marxist_homo
In a few decades, a whole bunch of people are gonna wake up and regret mutilating themselves and pumping their bodies full of hormones, and we’ll all be thinking very differently about people like Ricky Gervais and Dave Chappelle and JK Rowling, who had the courage (and could afford) to stand up against the trans mob and speak some truth.
trell
In a few decades, a whole bunch of people are gonna wake up and realise that there is help for their gender dysphoria, and that not only can they get suitable treatment for it, but that society will understand and not alienate them for their differences, but support them through what could have been a difficult time of segregation and alienation.
As for people pumping themselves with hormones and mutilating their bodies, bodybuilders have been doing that for decades, and the use of steroids seems to be universally accepted regardless of the fact that it is a ‘banned’ substance….all for the cosmetic purpose of making someone look more muscular….but a trans person using steroids to resolve an identified medical issue needs some ‘truth’ from Ricky Gervais, Dave Chapelle and JK Rowling?
Have you been sniffing the same lines as Don Jr when you made that post?
inbama
@trell
The body builder does not require that all of society view itself through the prism of his delusions and change all of its language and traditions to placate him.
Eternal.Cowboy
Redefining the word marriage and giving up traditions is literally the argument that people used to argue against same sex marriage. It was also used to argue against interracial marriage, ending segregation, allowing women to vote ….
I’m addition it is a logical fallacy known as the Appeal to Tradition Fallacy.
Congrats Inbama, you have nailed “Bad Arguments Used By Bigots 101”.
marxist_homo
That’s a stupid analogy, trell.
1.) Steroid use is hardly universally accepted, and it’s certainly not being advocated by doctors and psychologists as a cure for people who feel like they were born in the wrong body. Which is telling because there are a whole lot more people who wish their bodies were less fat or more muscular than there are whose genitals cause them distress.
2.) Even people who don’t have a problem with steroid use don’t advocate for their use in children.
3.) Transitioning (often) doesn’t just involve the use of hormones but also irreversible surgical interventions.
4.) There are no mobs of self-righteous steroid users demanding that society accommodate their drug use and subsidize it.
inbama
@Eternal.Cowboy
If you believe that extending marriage to homosexuals changes reality like “men give birth” or “a penis is a female organ if attached to a woman,” there is a straightjacket with your name on it waiting for you in a some mental institution.
Being called a bigot by someone as utterly deranged as yourself can only be taken as a compliment.
trell
Great argument, there, inbama:
You start off with an incorrect statement: “If you believe marriage to homosexuals changes reality like “Men give Birth” – No-one believes that. Marriage is a societal construct that has been adapted over the centuries, from a man having a ‘link’ to a woman (or 2 or 17…..origins of marriage were pretty polyamorous way back when), through history, where people married for political reasons, land, dowries, treaties etc., to now, where we recognise that marriage is simply a commitment between 2 people, regardless of their gender.
As for the “Penis is a female organ if attached to a woman” comment, I really wonder what it is like in your mind. Are you sure you haven’t got your own straightjacket? – I am trying to work out if you are trying to argue the point that a trans FTM woman who still biologically has a penis, is a woman. If so, you are falling into the trap of combining the biological restraints of a person to their psyche. You might as well argue that someone who is paralysed but still has limbs, can actually walk because they still have their legs attached to their bodies.
I am not a trans person, Inbama, but I do understand what it is to be singled out because of an attitude that does not gel well with the rest of society. Irrespective of your opinion, you have no right to argue against what a person wants to do with their body, or about a medically and scientifically recognised ailment such as gender dysphoria. – If you are going to raise these sorts of arguments, then you might as well argue against cosmetic surgery, recreational drug use, divorce, autism or any other non-visible disability impairment.
Eternal.Cowboy
You can’t even keep your terms or argument straight. Where is Alabama in education? Ohhh right 49th….
marxist_homo
but trell, if he has “no right to argue … about a medically and scientifically recognised ailment such as gender dysphoria,” were all those people who argued about the medically and scientifically recognized ailment of homosexuality wrong? you do realize that, until recently, that was the mainstream medical and scientific position? is it totally inconceivable that doctors and scientists are just as wrong about “gender dysphoria” as they were about homosexuality?
inbama
@trell and Eternal Cowgirl
I’m sorry, I mistook you for adults.
I will not waste any more of my time..
Eternal.Cowboy
Good call, best not to keep making ass of yourself in public.
Terrycloth
Ricky Jerk face can make anything he chooses I have power over my remote I can chose NOT to watch..I left Netflix about 6 months ago because there was a better deal getting Hulu , Disney + and ESPN bundle.3 channels cheaper than Netflix alone..now I’m being bombarded with Netflix trying to win me back at a big discount.ill pass.there is Dekko, here, out and other channels for gay content or a subscription to tla streaming porn and movies..I know many people who left Netflix too..their program choices are questionable
GreekKeys
Some social media is outraged, but it’s the ones who are always outraged. About everything. Lots of supportive social media, too. So, report that. It’s called balance.
Creamsicle
I watched the special last night. Comedy-wise it was middling. He’s been funnier in other specials whole being equally mean. This was not especially vicious or randy for Gervais. It’s pretty standard Ricky Gervais comedy. Definitely not for everyone, but that’s comedy.
But I can’t really wrap my head around the alleged social media outrage because he BEGINS the special by saying that when he’s on stage, comedy is more important than airing his genuine personal beliefs. It’s like Lewis Black says, you don’t actually know a comic’s politics based on their set. It’s a performance.
It’s exactly like that ridiculous psychologist from the Depp v. Heard trial who claimed he could evaluate Depp’s mental state based on his performances as Jack Sparrow. Dude rightfully got put in his place on cross examination when Depp’s lawyer asked if his role as Willy Wonka also informed his “professional” evaluation.
If anything, I think Gervais was a little ham fisted in trying to drive that exactly point throughout the special. He kept talking about wokeness and woke comedy, when a lot of the most mass appeal comedy is based on being mean and/or inflammatory. And I get that it’s a big preoccupation for comics, but it was a bit much. Every comic ever has feared being cancelled for a bad or offensive joke. The people who try to tear down comics for doing what they find funny is a vocal minority, and often not even fans of stand-up comedy.
Havkng said that, hardcore stand-up fans may be a little bored by this special.