Rotten Tomatoes Critics Trash Ricky Gervais Netflix Special As Audience Rave About It
Jacob Smith
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If you need more evidence that we are in a vicious culture war, look no further than the latest Rotten Tomatoes scores for Ricky Gervais’s latest stand-up comedy special “SuperNature.”
Source: Ricky Gervais: SuperNature
Last week, the latest Netflix special from comedian Ricky Gervais was released on the platform and it was labeled as transphobic and bigoted by progressives in the media just hours after its release. The special has been on Netflix for a few days and now the Rotten Tomato scores are out. The reaction among critics and audiences are just what you think they would be.
“SuperNature” among critics holds a 14% positive score out of 7 reviews, among audiences however, the special is rated at 92% with over 250 reviews as of this writing.
What has angered progressive critics about Gervais’ comedy bit is that in the opening act, Gervais dives into material about the trans community mocking pronouns and gender identity.
“Oh, women! Not all women, I mean the old-fashioned ones. The old-fashioned women. Oh God! You know the ones with wombs,” he says to an applause break.
“Those f***ing dinosaurs,” he continues. “I love the new women. They’re great, aren’t they? The new ones we’ve been seeing lately. The ones with beards and c**ks. They’re as good as gold, I love them. 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 fucking TERF whore?’” Gervais joked.
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The 2 minute comedy routine was enough to cause critics to slam the special with negative reviews across the board. Emily Leibert of Jezebel called Gervais a “little twat” and complained that Netflix has platformed another anti-trans comedian.
Leibert writes, “Last time, it was Dave Chappelle spewing transphobia during his special The Closer, which triggered a walkout of Netflix’s LGBTQ+ staff. This time, it’s a little twat named Ricky Gervais, who suffers from the unfortunate ratio of being 100% asshole and 0% funny.”
She would later add, “If Netflix wants to be home of the historic comedy special, they’re going to have to do better than paying a cunty Bri-ish man to poke fun at minorities and trans people, which I’m sorry to say isn’t even original.”
Source: Ricky Gervais: SuperNature
Leibert was not the only critic who felt this way. Aja Romano of Vox slammed Netflix for releasing this special claiming that they are just fine inflicting bigoted hateful rhetoric on its subscribers.
“Netflix is just fine suffering transphobic fools for views. It’s just fine inflicting bigoted hateful rhetoric on its subscribers. It’s just fine with the subsequent real-world harm that comes from amplifying such views. The platform’s choice to release this special now, during a wave of unprecedented anti-trans legislation, is unconscionable,” Romano wrote.
Ian Thomas Malone said “There’s something fundamentally sad about a man with nothing to strive for beyond a cheap cash grab. Far from the first mainstream comedian to dedicate chunks of his act to defending C.K. or Hart, Gervais’ dull blade simply lacks the edge he thinks it wields as he stands up on stage laughing at his own jokes.”
Source: Ricky Gervais: SuperNature
Sean L. McCarthy of Decider says, “Gervais warned us with his introduction to the stage as ‘a man who really doesn’t need to do this.’ And he was right. He didn’t need to do this hour. And you don’t need to watch it, either.”
Nick Hilton of The Independent says that Gervais’ Netflix special “seems more comfortable with jokes that rely on a cheap shock factor rather than any emotional or creative truth and the audience hoot and holler along with all the bigotry.”
Source: Ricky Gervais: SuperNature
Needless to say, the progressive media are all furious at jokes that mock the trans community. Audiences who saw the special had a much different reaction to it.
On the audience side of the panel viewers such as Mike S praised the comedian for being timely, poignant, and well delivered.
Other audience members called the special a perfect display of unapologetic, classic satirical humor. “SuperNature” outside of progressive echo chambers is viewed as a funny, biting, incisive, and fun with Gervais giving equal treatment to all groups of people, even the ones that the “critics” believe can’t take a joke.
The split between Rotten Tomatoes critics and audiences is one many have noticed in the last few years. There is no greater way to expose a progressive agenda in the media when you see critics praising a film audiences hate or slamming a movie that audiences love.
Many first took note of this with the 2017 film “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” when critics claimed it to be one of the best films in the franchise while audiences had a far more negative reaction to the film.
This trend would be repeated again with many films and TV shows including Sausage Party, Bruce Willis’ Death Wish, Peppermint, I’m Not Ashamed, and Hannah Gadsby’s “comedy special” Nanette.
Rotten Tomatoes tried fix this problem by making mass changes to prevent audience members from posting negative reviews of 2019’s Captain Marvel but those changes cannot force a reality that doesn’t exist.
There are two different mindsets when it comes to entertainment and the difference is as clear as a hot summer Texas night when you look at how critics and audiences rate films.
NEXT: LGBTQ Activists Slam Ricky Gervais’ New Netflix Special Due To Jokes Being Made At Their Expense
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