Ellen’s comedy special is filled with vague relatability and just enough laughter to make you forget about the scandals… or does it?
Supposedly, this is the last we’ll ever see of Ellen DeGeneres—her final comedy special. Ending her long career with a goodbye on her terms.
In some sense, it feels valid, having watched the special and understanding more about her character and where she’s coming from. However, on the flip side, not every complaint against Ellen can be solved by suggesting that she’s not mean; she’s a boss, and would you say that to a man?
In July 2020, Buzzfeed News published a report referencing ten anonymous employees, current and former, who claimed The Ellen DeGeneres Show had a toxic workplace environment. In the report, these employees claimed to be wrongfully terminated after taking medical leave or bereavement days; one Black employee expressed they experienced racial micro-aggressions and outright racist comments. Where most of these complaints were actually posed against the executive and senior producers who created the daily toxicity, the overall vibe of the workplace is in the hands of Ellen considering her name is on the show. A second report from Buzzfeed News alleged sexual misconduct and harassment against lead producers, which further led to an internal investigation by WB and the parting of ways with certain producers such as Ed Glavin and Kevin Leman.
Unfortunately for those affected by this toxic workplace, wrongful termination, and sexual misconduct report, the specificity of these issues are not addressed by Ellen in her stand-up special Ellen DeGeneres: Relatable. About halfway through the special, Ellen discusses the idea of how female bosses have to be different than male bosses. She expresses how she was raised to be a people-pleaser but has morphed into something else, due to her time in the entertainment industry. This can be true; women have different standards set upon them in the role of leader. However, the specificities from people in her workplace argue that Ellen went beyond just being a confident boss but a tyrant in some regard.
Is Ellen weaponizing her gender and queerness to protect herself from critique?
Some of Ellen’s joke structure and justification do hang on her marginalized identity. She identifies herself as a woman in leadership. She does identify herself as a lesbian in a highly divisive industry when it comes to queer people. Both of which are true. However, throughout Ellen’s career, her style of comedy has come back to the concept of relatability: middle-of-the-road circumstances with little to no political stance or societal critique. We can identify this as her rationalization to middle-American, conservative audiences and neo-liberal viewers. Ellen Degeneres is the palatable lesbian. At points, I felt there may have been an applause sign because the audience applauded the most mundane concepts. Ellen’s comedy is mild. She lives in the middle of vague universal relatability.
Yet, this is part of the issue with her branding and image. Through relatability to heterosexual, norm-core values, she has thus isolated herself from queerness and aligned herself with upper-class whiteness beyond marginalized identity; she is a rich white American above all else. This Netflix special is not brave nor daring; Ellen Degeneres: Relatable is complacent. In her attempt to reclaim her ‘be kind’ brand, her acceptable gayness, she has realigned herself with the middle. Which may plead her case to mass audiences but does nothing to correct her position with the marginalized identity she also attempts to hide behind.
Admittedly, her special has funny moments. I did laugh. However, this was possible within the confines of her invisible boundaries. The most surprising elements in her set were her confessions of seeing a therapist and being diagnosed with OCD and ADD and the authentic dialogue about aging and dealing with a parent who has dementia.
Ellen’s OCD bit almost acted like a passive admission of guilt. She states her regular obsessions are with time and animals, which we may infer as genuine unintentional motives for tyrannical and odd behaviour behind the scenes. Her ADD bit had a small focus on attention, turning obsessively to one thought, making it nearly impossible to finish a task; this may have also contributed to what came out about her show’s toxic workplace environment.
Yet, this is complete speculation as Ellen does not address any specificities. Ellen does clarify as an epilogue to her set that this is her last hurrah and her chance to say goodbye on her terms. As much as we may joke, “This is the comedy special no one asked for,” that may not be entirely true. There were enough fans of hers to fill theatres and cheer her on. What’s unfortunate is that this may be creating an echo chamber for her ego; if she were to walk into an LGBTQIA+ book club in San Fransico, she would most likely receive a rude awakening and face the consequences of her actions.
If there were anywhere to start getting back those queer alliances, bring the mullet back, Ellen. The Lesbians might start to forgive you. Then, clarify your stance on sexual harassment in the workplace. Then, clarify your stance on trans rights. Then, clarify your stance on DEI. Then, perhaps consider endorsing a presidential candidate… You know, the basics.
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