Dave Chappelle may return to Television
Chappelle's interview with Oprah, which aired on Friday, was billed as his first television appearance since he abruptly (and mysteriously) walked away from his enormously popular comedy program, The Dave Chappelle Show, last year.
Chappelle who appeared relaxed and in good spirits spoke candidly about his shocking departure during production of his show and even more surprising decision to walk away from a 50 million dollar contract with the comedy network, explaining that he felt manipulated and conflicted at the time over those he worked with and the program itself. While Chappelle admitted to feeling extremely stressed, he vehemently denied allegations that he had been on drugs, had a nervous breakdown, and sought psychiatric help in an African hospital.
Chappelle known for his controversial skits, began to question if segments of his audience (particularly the white segments of his audience) understood his sarcasm and criticism of racial stereotypes or rather enjoyed and used his humor as a way to confirm their own racist beliefs. Citing an incident in which he noticed a white staff member laughing at one of his racially charged skits in a manner that made him uncomfortable, Chappelle began to wonder if he was inciting more damage then laughs, and worried that he was letting the black community down by showing these images. When asked by Oprah if he had let himself down, Chappelle appeared moved by the question and acknowledged that he had grown resentful and felt compromised by some of the skits. Oprah reiterated a similar experience that occurred in the early days of her program, in which she had interviewed the KKK believing that the show would ignite discussion and bring about change, during a commercial break she witnessed two KKK members displaying a fist of solidarity to one another and at that moment she realized the show was simply serving to promote their racist agenda rather then sparking change, from that day forward she changed the way she approach similar topics.
Chappelle went on to explain that people in his own camp fabricated stories to the press, such as Chappelle having writers block, pneumonia and wild parties, and asked him to collaborate them, which he refused to do.
In an exciting twist, Chappelle stated he would agree to return to his show under specific circumstances, one being a portion of DVD revenue be given to charities of his choosing. "I want to give money to someone who's not exploiting me" he said, explaining that even if he did something "socially irresponsible" in his program the money would be serving a charity that was, "socially responsible". He also stated he would only return to a fun and honest work environment (as it had been in the first season of his program).
I truly respect Chappelle's honesty and I unfortunately understood his dilemma. His experience is reminiscent of the Spike Lee film Bamboozled. Though Chappelle wrote and performed skits meant to be entertaining, he has no control over what assumptions and beliefs the various segments of his audience will bring to his show and what they will take away from it. It is a fine line to walk. Dave Chappelle's humor is very culturally specific, created by, meant for, and understood by a particular audience (in this case the black community). But his talent is undeniable and has made him a hugely successful comedian and exposed his work to some who cannot always grasp where he is coming from. Chappelle can talk about Baby mama's, pimps, and black face all he wants but the thought of white audiences using those topics to further demoralize the black community crossed his personal boundaries.
Chappelle's appearance on Oprah confirmed that he is not only one of the most talented comedians of our time but a true artist, unwilling to compromise his beliefs, his community and himself for fame and fortunate. How many people could walk away from 50 million dollars and hit television show? Not many. Is he a genius or mad? A little of both I believe, and that is what makes him the incredible comedian and artist he is.
