Matt Rife’s comedy special “Natural Selection” was released on Netflix on Nov 23. Fans watched in shock and absolute horror when one of his first “jokes” was about domestic abuse.
In response to the backlash he received, rather than apologizing like a normal, civilized human being, Rife took a vastly different approach. He posted a link to a special needs helmet, and the caption implied that he thinks his critics should purchase one.
“If you’ve ever been offended by a joke I’ve told- here’s the link to my official apology,” Rife said on his Instagram story.
Of course, alpha male archetypes applauded his ableist response, praising him for standing up against woke snowflakes, but many people did not feel as if that was a sufficient apology.
On Nov. 30, Rife was a guest on a podcast hosted by Dr. Jordan Peterson, a controversal, extremely right-wing psychology professor turned internet personality. His willingness to go on Peterson’s show, regardless of the fact that Peterson is a conspiracy theorist that spreads dangerous false information and has made homophobic, transphobic and racist remarks, is extremely telling of Rife’s ethics.
Anyways, in the interview, Peterson asked Rife why he decided to “apologize” in the manner that he did.
“Because it’s just comedy,” Rife said. “I’m just doing what’s funny to me.”
Using this same logic, it could also be argued that his critics are just defending what is offensive to them. Rife wants people to humanize him, but he cannot give audiences and their reactions the same grace.
His hypocracies and deflection are astonishing, as he is choosing to align himself with bigotry and abandon the backbone of his fan base instead of just admitting that he could be in the wrong. It appears to me that Rife is scared that taking responsibility for his actions would appear weak, and his egotism and obsession with male validation is preventing him from doing that.
“Up until April this year, it was such a strongly prominent, like 80% women at these shows, fanbase,” Rife said on the KFCR Gang Podcast on Nov. 9. “But now, I’m starting, probably around the time of my special, when we filmed that in September, shows like 50/50 now, dude. Fantastic.”
During the press tour for “Natural Selection,” Rife has made statements about how this special would not appeal to his primarily female audience and how he wants to increase his male viewership.
Men in the spotlight do not understand the power that fangirls posess within them. Teenage girls revert to an almost anamalistic, demonic state when it comes to their favorite celebrities, and it is an absolute marketing travesty to dismiss that demographic.
Rife has repeatedly spoken about how he feels as if people do not take his “comedy” seriously due to the fact that he is theoretically attractive. Although I empathize with the anger that comes when you feel objectification, this complaint is almost more funny than his comedy.
“A lot of my fans are young women who, you know, they’re not fans of stand-up,” Rife said in an interview with etalk. “They like the way my face looks. So, it’s a lot like training them to be like, okay, you’re here for one reason, but let me show you what comedy is and how to, like, be at a comedy show.”
His assumption that his looks are the sole purpose that his audience likes him is extremely self-absorbed. Also, if this is truly something that he is upset about, then he should be able to possess even a little bit of empathy for the historically most objectified group of all time: women.
In the past few years, many comedians and internet personalities have been complaining about feeling censored by culture destroying, and how it is destroying, their craft. However, I would argue that it is not comedy that is dying; it is bigotry.
Rife’s domestic abuse comment was not even innovative enough to argue that it was worth making. I am almost 100% sure I heard one of my classmates in middle school make that exact joke.
There are a million things in the world that a person can joke about without insulting a group of people and their traumatic experiences. If a person is not creative enough to do that, then maybe a career in comedy is not meant for them.
“The subject matter all just comes down to intention,” Rife said in an interview with Variety Magazine. “Like, what is your intention? Are you trying to upset somebody? Or are you trying to make light of a certain subject?”
Intention does not change the impact the words hold. If he truly did not have harmful intentions, then he would have not responded to the backlash with a post that was clearly posted with the goal of angering people.
Personally, I believe jokes about certain topics, such as domestic abuse, should be reserved for the people who have experienced that trauma.
According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Abuse, one in four women in the United States experience some form of violence from their partner. Although men can also be victims of domestic abuse, the rate of women who are victimized is exponentially higher.
Rife is ignorant and jaded from his perspective as a straight white male in a patriarchial society, so it is impossible for him to fully comprehend the experience and the fear that women face on a daily basis.
Obviously, he cannot control his personal identity and the way that it has given him the upper hand in life, but he can control his sensitivity towards others by educating himself. Even if he does not agree that he did anything wrong, he can still acknowledge that his words hurt others.
