What Joe Lycett gets wrong about Ricky Gervais's material
Joe Lycett is wrong to claim the "trans community" is being "attacked" by Ricky Gervais
I’ve just watched a clip from an interview with comedian Joe Lycett where he talks about Ricky Gervais’s stand-up material, or more importantly Lycett’s claim that Ricky is “doing material which is attacking trans people” and “minorities”. You can watch the clip below:
I don’t really know Joe Lycett’s work. I’ve seen bits here and there—but he seems like a nice bloke. He articulates himself well in the clip and is reasonable for the most part—reiterating his belief that Gervais should still have the right to say whatever he likes, regardless. I've no reason to believe Lycett isn't sincerely concerned about what he perceives to be unwarranted attacks on a minority group.
But as well articulated and well-meaning as Lycett is, he is ultimately describing comedy material that Ricky Gervais has never produced. And by distorting reality in this manner, Lycett is damaging the discourse on some very important issues.
I’ve made no secret of my fondness for Ricky’s work and I consider him a pal. However, I couldn’t care less if people think his stuff isn’t funny or whether they give him a bad review. That's not my gripe.
What bothers me about discourse on important issues, even in comedy form, is when people misrepresent or misinterpret (if we are going to be charitable), someone's words in a way that contributes to the false narrative that they are being hateful.
The material that seems central to most accusations of “attacking trans people” is this routine from Gervais’s Netflix special ‘SuperNature’:
To describe this as “attacking trans people” is to have either not listened to what is being said or to have not understood it.
Far from attacking transgender people, the joke in question takes aim at the excesses of trans activism and the utter unreason and hostility that animates many of its overzealous foot soldiers.
The target of the joke is a non-trans individual that is more concerned about someone betraying politically correct dogmas about preferred pronouns than they are about a woman’s safeguarding concerns about a fully intact male stranger having access to their single-sex spaces. In the joke, the pro-trans activist gets increasingly aggressive and abusive the more their beliefs are challenged by the concerned woman and they ultimately resort to vile misogynist abuse.
This scenario isn't just a construction of one man’s imagination however. Any woman that dares to defend their sex-based rights in the direction of trans activism will be able to tell you about the rape threats. They will be able to tell you about the loss of employment, the complete destruction of their reputation, the violent intimidation anywhere they try to gather, the doxxing, the death threats—not to mention the occasional visit from the police. Or being required by a court of law to pretend your male attacker is actually a woman. Or mainstream news outlets changing the direct quotes of rape victims to avoid ‘misgendering’ the rapist. This is also when mainstream media outlets aren’t attempting to gaslight us into accepting a murdering, male torturer of cats is actually a woman.
This is the power dynamic and climate that serves as the backdrop to Ricky Gervais’s material. And unlike the ultra-progressive echo chamber of the entertainment industry, this is the suffocating new climate most regular people find themselves having to navigate on a daily basis.
The average person is not fighting the authoritarianism of the church anymore. No, the average person is more likely to fall afoul of the blasphemy codes and dogmas invented 5 minutes ago by the new gender puritans in our midst.
It’s also rather telling that women's safety concerns have been completely ignored or dismissed in all critical responses to this joke—despite it being the central point.
Lycett goes on to claim Gervais is just being “lazy” by exemplifying a sort of boorish “just telling it like it is” attitude. However, “lazy” would be to take the safe route. “Lazy” is churning out incredibly safe material that you know will not be misconstrued, cause any controversy, or result in any pushback or upset your peers.
As virtuous and brave as it may make you feel, going for racists, homophobes and any other stripe of bigot is one of the safest (and most boring) things you can do in modern British comedy. Most of us are on the same page when it comes to these things, thankfully. And you'll never be “cancelled” for dedicating your energies in that direction.
That’s why using comedy to interrogate taboos or unalterable truths is so much more interesting, useful and ultimately, more difficult.
Lycett wants us to believe Ricky has devolved into a sort of chauvinistic, shock jock of yesteryear. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Ricky has always taken aim at quasi-religious ideologies that are hostile to our scientific understanding and the right to express ourselves freely. And the new church of gender demands that we accept women can have penises and preaches that those who disagree must be destroyed by any means necessary. These new tenets could give any conservative, anti-scientific crack-pot church a run for its money.
Taking aim at these things isn't a regression for Gervais; it's a display of consistency. The difference is that he finally got around to making noises about an ideology that too many people aren't ready to think critically about yet. I’m optimistic that everyone will catch up eventually, and will see this authoritarian movement for what it is. And when the Overton window does shift, we’ll have people like Ricky Gervais to thank for refusing to be lazy by playing it safe.
It's testimony to the hold that 'trans' rights activism has over our culture that so many comedians are silenced by it. Gervais is to be applauded for acknowledging reality, and standing up for women's rights.
Wow! Brilliant article Spephen. Thank you. Joe Lycett is funny but I'm disappointed in him for not having more sense. It's watching good people being sucked into a hole of irrational trans ideology.