It was the moment that unlocked this piece.
It's about religion and how we (probably) need it. And what happens when a new one seems to be emerging.
Here's the sequence. This really happened, this week.
An American comedian, Dave Chappelle, offended some people with a sequence of jokes about transgender people during a Netflix special. Some people were upset and complained about the jokes. There was discussion of this in various media, resulting in some concluding that Chappelle is a 'transphobe' and that Netflix should not have streamed that segment of his show. Others concluded that Chappelle is a wildly popular mainstream comic who rips the piss out of all-comers and his transgender jokes were funny, rather than hateful or potentially dangerous to that group.
Next, a protest by Netflix employees is announced. It's trailed extensively in advance by mostly 'liberal' media. Two YouTube comedians (Vito Gesualdi & Dick Masterson) turn up at the protest, each waving a sign. One reads 'We Like Dave', the other says 'Jokes Are Funny'.
The protesters aren't happy about this two-man counter-protest. Here's what happens next.
A man wrestles Gesualdi's sign out of his hands, destroying and trampling it, amid what now looks like quite a heated melee, while Gesualdi calls out (hamming a theatrically 'hurt' voice) 'why are you breaking my sign'.
The sign-breaker now shouts loudly, over the hubbub, 'he's got a weapon!'. This is in reference to the remaining piece of wood, still in Gesualdi's hand. Others loudly repeat this warning. Including Gesualdi, who is now laughing.
Gesualdi is then approached by a woman who physically pushes him back with her chest1, arms outstretched to bar any forward movement. Someone else commands him to drop his 'weapon'. He drops the piece of wood.
And then it happens. Gesualdi and a couple of demonstrators are remonstrating. Amiably enough, under such heated circumstances. When a third person appears, shaking a tambourine in his face and shrieking.
"Repent, motherfucker" is what she yells. Again and again.
As protest scenes go, it's a mixture of funny, absurd and chilling.
Later, Gesualdi will earn thousands of additional YouTube subscribers for his stunt.
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