Gervias hits the spotlight with her latest show on Netflix
Ricky Gervais’ new Netflix special sparked a quick reaction for his use of shocking humor about transgender people. In his latest special for the broadcast giant, Supernature, Gervais jokes: “I love new women. The new ones we’ve seen recently. Those with beards and penises. They’re as good as gold, I love them. The old-fashioned ones say, ‘Oh, they want to use our toilets.’ Why shouldn’t they use your toilets? It’s for women after all. And isn’t this person a lady? Well, he has a penis. ‘What if he rapes me?’ they say. What if he rapes you, you goddamn TERF whore!””
TERF stands for “trans-exclusionary radical feminist,” an ideology that excludes trans women as women. On Tuesday’s stand-up show Ricky Gervais: SuperNature, Gervais referred to today’s “vigilant and progressive times” while discussing other humorous narratives and what’s funny. He argued that people should not declare a joke offensive, but added that “you should say you find it offensive.”
Gervais also touched on the new phenomenon of “conditional comedy”, where jokes don’t try to offend anyone and create a “safe space” for audiences. Gervais later said, “In real life, of course, I support trans rights. I support all human rights and trans rights are human rights. You know, live your best life. Use your preferred adjectives. Be the gender you feel you are, but meet me halfway through, ladies. Destroy the penis. That’s all I said.”
Gervais’ fans and opponents reacted quickly on social media after the special episode aired on Netflix. Alejandra Caraballo, “Ricky Gervais is like a jerk, popping up on your phone unsolicitedly, talking big and harsh about trans people but much smaller in real life and can’t stand people calling him out on social media.” said. A lecturer at Harvard Law School’s Cyber Law Clinic tweeted, “Ricky Gervais and his promotional team have had their desire to be trending on Twitter. Meanwhile, real-life trans people are at the least funded end of the healthcare spectrum and are increasingly they’re facing a barrage of negativity from a somehow trans-hostile media. It’s not a joke.” he added.
Theater composer, songwriter, and LGBTQ+ activist Charlie Caine also took aim at SuperNature on Twitter: “Ricky Gervais is an incredibly lazy comedian who can’t figure out that just being offensive doesn’t mean it’s funny. His fans now seem to be right-wing idiots who think cruelty is just funny. ” said. Last week, Ricky Gervais was a guest on SiriusXM’s Jim Norton & Sam Roberts Show, where he conveyed possible negative reactions to SuperNature for being transphobic. Gervais said, “Well, I really don’t know what to say. To me, there’s nothing controversial about that because they’re just jokes. I even explain what ‘irony’ is at the beginning of the show, and everybody there gets it. They laughed at everything, right? But everybody got everything in it. “Every line, someone will complain, but they don’t understand, and someone comes after the critic. The thing is, I can count 20 taboo topics. Everyone in the world laughs at 19 of them and just hates the one that influences them.” said.
