Comedy is our weapon against woke absurdity
Despite the predictable outrage of trans activists, Ricky Gervais’s tirade is funny because it’s true
In SuperNature, his new Netflix comedy special, Ricky Gervais pokes fun at doctors, Hitler and pets. But it’s not the cat gags that have sparked online outrage. In an opening monologue skewering the absurdities of cancel culture, Gervais jokes about women. Struggling to name women comedians, he eventually lands on Dame Edna Everage and Eddie Izzard.
“Women!” he complains. “Not all women, I mean the old-fashioned ones. The old-fashioned women, the ones with wombs. Those f***ing dinosaurs. I love the new women. They’re great, aren’t they? The new ones we’ve been seeing lately. The ones with beards and cocks. And now the old-fashioned ones say, ‘Oh, they want to use our toilets’. ‘Why shouldn’t they use your toilets?’ ‘For ladies!’ ‘They are ladies — look at their pronouns! What about this person isn’t a lady?’ ‘Well, his penis.’ ‘Her penis, you f***ing bigot!’ ‘What if he rapes me?’ ‘What if she rapes you, you f***ing Terf?’”
To the obvious delight of the audience, it takes Gervais precisely one minute to expose the lie of the woke incantation: “Trans women are women.” He gets to the heart of a debate that other people — the women whose rights are being compromised — worry about discussing out loud in case they end up on the receiving end of abuse.
A Brief History of Woke
The word ‘woke’ captures something in our political and cultural zeitgeist. It might be ubiquitous, but there’s little consensus about what woke actually means. Even those who agree with woke values in general can’t quite decide whether or not woke is a good thing to be. One day, being woke is so important that people are given instruction on ‘becoming woke in the wake of “Me Too”’ or are provided with ‘The woke black person’s guide to talking about oppression with family’. Teachers are offered advice on ‘keeping your classroom woke’ and the Guardian gives readers dating tips on how to find ‘Mr Woke’. Being woke is progressive and fun!
The Brendan O’Neill Show
Listen to Joanna discussing How Woke Won with Brendan.
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