There Is No Goo, Mr. Chappelle

Recently, I watched the 2020 documentary Belushi, about the late great comedian John Belushi. Watching it, I was shocked by just how many great edgy comedians — John Belushi, Dan Akyroyd, Harold Ramis, George Carlin, Bill Murray, Richard Pryor, and Chevy Chase among many others — were around at the same time and how no such comedians really exist like that in the mainstream anymore. Instead, it is commonly believed the edgiest comedian in the United States today is Dave Chappelle, and that should sadden us all.

And I want to be clear, by “edgy” I do not mean “left-wing.” I mean someone who is using comedy to say things people haven’t heard before that can be considered “offensive.” The recently deceased Norm MacDonald was a great example of a comedian like this, and he was a conservative and a Christian. Sometimes he would say things just to offend, other times he would say things to shine a light on a wider issue — but no matter what, it was always something only he would say.

The fact is, transphobia is not edgy, nor is it different. If you’re transphobic, you are not some original truth teller saying something nobody has heard before — you’re a member of the Republican Party.

In the South Park episodes “200” and “201,” Tom Cruise — along with every other celebrity that South Park has ever made fun of — sue the town of South Park in…