Chris Rock's Classic Routines Are More Timely Than Ever
Welcome to Chris Week! All week at ELLE.com, we'll be looking deeper into the phenomenon of Chrisness: Who are all these famous Chrises, and where did they come from? What is it really like to be a Chris? And who is the best Chris of them all? Does it even matter? Maybe not. Enjoy, and we'll see you later for all your Chris needs.
Chris Rock is undoubtedly one of the all-time greatest comedians. His razor sharp perspective and his hyper delivery have tickled and provoked for over 30 years. He's currently touring the world with new material, his first in over a decade, and prepping for two new Netflix specials. While Rock hasn't necessarily been absent-he hosted the Oscars in 2016, directed Amy Schumer's comedy special, and wrote and directed the film Top 5 in 2014-the searing perspective on culture and politics of his standup has been sorely missed. It's a testament to the strength of his body of work and the clarity of his vision that he's still regularly called upon by magazines and websites to pontificate on current events. He may not have been stalking the stage, telling the truth into a microphone, but the world still wanted to hear what he had to say.
Chris Rock's influence is so widespread, it even shows up in places he'd rather it didn't. In a Rolling Stone profile last month, he remarked that Donald Trump's controversial campaign trail criticism of John McCain's wartime capture was awkwardly cribbed from a nine-year-old joke the comedian told. While most might wish that the president had chosen any number of Rock's more woke remarks to incorporate into his stumping, it's one of many examples of the comedian's enduring impact.
Rock is sometimes so ahead of his time that years, even decades later some of his routines can still serve as brilliant observations of current events.
On "Economic Anxiety"
This cut from Rock's 1991 debut album (he sounds like a kid!) could just as easily be a quote from one of the thousands of thinkpieces on the"forgotten white lower class" whose anger some say conclusively swung the election. Rock says, "There's nothing more horrifying than poor white people. They are capable of anything in the world."
On Healthcare
Our elected officials are still hemming and hawing about whether people actually need healthcare or whether they should just subsist on thoughts and prayers. Rock, however, made it clear where he stood on the issue in Bigger and Blacker. "You better have some medical insurance or you gonna die... I mean, we all gonna die but if you got some coverage you're going to die on a mattress."
On Drug Policy
Attorney General Jeff Sessions recently rolled back Obama-era sentencing policies for drug-related offenses, essentially signaling an intention to restart the "War on Drugs." Rock's 2005 bit from Never Scared takes a dim view of our country's love-hate relationship with illegal drugs. "The reason coke and weed are illegal in America... is cuz the best coke and weed ain't made in America." he says. Twelve years ago he was talking about the correlation between capitalism and drug policy, long before states started debating marijuana legalization. Later in the bit, he ups the ante on his point, saying, "When it's time for other people to come up and acquire wealth, the rules change. One of the number one rules for acquiring wealth in America is... only the white man can profit from pain..."
On Minimum Wage
Politicians will probably debate the merits and drawbacks of a living wage until we're all old and gray, but Rock made his position clear on Born Suspect. "You know what it means when they pay you minimum wage?" he said. "It means they don't give a fuck about you, okay?"
On "Fake News"
Long before Trump went to war with the media, Rock was pointing out how easy it is to be beguiled by a news narrative. Reference some early 2000s celebrity controversies (remember Kobe Bryant's affair and Paris Hilton's tape?) he says, "Don't let all this celebrity news fool you. It's just a trick to get your mind off the war."
On Guns
Way back in 1999, Rock was wrestling with the ever-present problem of guns in America, something that continues to make headlines literally every day. In his trademark, take-no-prisoners style he pointed out that a lot of times the "bad guy with a gun" is white. He says "I am scared of young white boys. If you're white and under 21 I am running for the hills."
On the N-Word
Paging Bill Maher. Rock made a splash in 1997 with this hilarious, profane bit about the conflict within the black community. Perhaps more importantly, he provided an eloquent, 12-minute example of the kind of things that only black people can say. No matter how many black friends you have.
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