Fresh off of firing a bunch of LGBTQ+ workers and despite previous warning that transphobic jokes were not a good look for the platform, Netflix has released a brand new special from British comedian Ricky Gervais that is already receiving backlash for its transphobic “humor.”
The special, SuperNature, was released on the streaming platform on Tuesday. Predictably, Gervais, who was virulently transphobic even before it was comedy’s favorite topic, has already made headlines for doing what he’s always done: making unfunny “jokes” about trans people that would have done really well on Reddit in 2010. According to Variety, Gervais delves headfirst into a transphobic tirade just four minutes into the special, starting with a remark about “old-fashioned women, the ones with wombs. Those fucking dinosaurs.”
Gervais continues on to say, “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. They’re as good as gold, I love them.” Gervais then tackles cis and trans women sharing bathrooms, a topic I’m sure everyone wants to hear Ricky Gervais’s opinion on, and says, in a pretend two-sided conversation, “What about this person isn’t a lady?’ ‘Well, his penis.’ ‘Her penis, you fucking bigot!’ ‘What if he rapes me?’ ‘What if she rapes you, you fucking TERF whore?’”
It would almost be hard to get upset about humor so juvenile if it wasn’t for the fact that Netflix reportedly pays this guy $40 million for each eye roll-inducing special. There’s also the fact that even though Netflix has been hemorrhaging subscribers, the streamer still has massive reach. Even though it is difficult to imagine anyone finding any of this funny, millions of people could potentially watch Gervais’ special, which is full of “jokes” that are ultimately TERF talking points.
The worst part is, because he’s a “comedian,” Gervais gets all the plausible deniability of pretending like what he’s saying is satire with no real world implications. “Full disclosure: In real life of course I support trans rights,” Gervais says toward the end of the special, per Variety. “I support all human rights, and trans rights are human rights. Live your best life. Use your preferred pronouns. Be the gender that you feel you are. But meet me halfway, ladies. Lose the cock. That’s all I’m saying.”
Freudian phallic fixation aside, stand-up comedy is “real life,” as much as I wish this were not the case. Gervais should maybe get at this point that his actions, as well as those of every other transphobic comedian, do actually have consequences. But considering that, once again, he gets paid $40 million for this shit, Gervais gets to shield himself from those consequences pretty cozily.
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