Chris Rock: Selective Outrage is the latest Netflix stand-up special that was streamed live globally. Comedy icon Chris Rock takes the stage in Baltimore, Maryland which has a runtime of about 1 hour and 6 minutes. The show is produced & directed by Joel Gallen and before the live stream, there was a The Show Before the Show pre-show, hosted by Ronny Chieng with Arsenio Hall, Leslie Jones, Deon Cole and more.
This is Rock’s second Netflix stand-up special and what makes it different is that it was available live globally without any edits. His first, Chris Rock: Tamborine debuted in February 2018 and covered the gamut of contemporary issues, with incisive and insightful commentary on life. Something along the same lines can be seen in the latest one as well.
Netflix’s description of the stand-up reads:
Chris Rock delivers an electric stand-up set on non-racist yoga pants, spoiling his kids, the Kardashians and his thoughts on the Will Smith fiasco.
-Chris Rock: Selective Outrage Review Contains Some Spoilers-
The comedian starts off his show which can be presumed to be a disclaimer that nobody should take offence to his words as he doesn’t know who might get triggered – referencing the Oscars moment that will be engraved in its history. It’s been a year since whatever happened & for some reason the issue remains as hot, becoming the content for all the click baits.
He adds to it by saying that the people who say words hurt, haven’t been smacked across the face & we feel ‘Ouch!’, once again. Moving on, as the title suggests, he talks about selective outrage and how people would find one thing controversial or outrageous but if someone else whom they might like does the same – they become the advocates & even slide it under the rug.
Well if that ain’t true then I don’t know what is. The times we are in are quite contradictory and you will always find a million opposite opinions on everything, like any harmless Tik Tok comment section. It can be about two people living the most ordinary life & a hundred will find all kinds of flags and conclude with an eventual breakup.
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Talking more about social media, Chris Rock also shares how he thinks that America has attention addiction, stating examples of videos where people would be doing the most basic thing & wanting you to like, share, comment, subscribe, Patreon and whatnot. Even Rock has made a list of points that will get you the most attention. It also makes the song Attention by NewJeans starts playing in my head, every time Rock almost sings the word ‘attention’.
There are some of the basic points that everyone already knows, like showing your ass as much as you can or doing ridiculous stuff that will tag you as infamous or actually being good at something. But the last point can be taken as ‘facts’ or controversial depending on what you believe. He asks us to be a victim & emphasises not the actual victims who have been through a lot but the ones that cry about getting a paper cut as if someone did it on purpose.
Here the topic of Prince Harry & Meghan Markle comes up which I am sure will divide the people on the internet. But in my opinion, there were some truths & some jokes that are to be laughed at and move on. From then onwards he further delved into more contemporary issues like pro-life/pro-choice and his own personal anecdotes about his daughter, as well as being single.
Well, I might not really agree with some of his viewpoints but to each their own. I tuned into it looking for some laughs & I can’t deny that even if I don’t agree with him, there are times which will definitely make you chuckle. And you can feel some hesitation in the audience as well when the room goes completely silent at times but Rock is quick enough to turn it around into a lively one again.
Final Thoughts on Chris Rock: Selective Outrage
I am sure many would be tuning in to watch the standup as Chris Rock finally acknowledged all the jazz that happened at the Oscars & even gave back in his own style – through comedy. Overall, I felt the first half was truly hilarious but it went down a bit in the second half. His personal anecdotes were a bit dragging. However, he definitely raised some good points about our society which we might see unfolding after this show, as people pick apart things for selective outrage.
Chris Rock: Selective Outrage is currently streaming on Netflix.
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