Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
I have a creeping suspicion that there was one specific motive behind Netflix’s fun new doc, “Kevin Hart & Chris Rock: Headliners Only.” It’s about more than making money for Netflix. It’s about more than taking a look behind the scenes as two of the world’s greatest comedians work their way through a historic run of shows in New York. It’s about establishing Kevin Hart as being on the level of Chris Rock, which is, uh, problematic.
The doc takes us into the comedic roots of both men. It points out that Chris Rock was discovered by Eddie Murphy. When Murphy was the biggest comic in the world, he saw a young Rock and instantly believed in him and gave him a helping hand. That led, in time, to Rock becoming the successor to Murphy as America’s Biggest Black Comedian. (Yes, that’s a thing.) In turn, when Rock was ABBC, he saw a young Hart and helped him out, leading, eventually, to him becoming one of America’s Biggest Black Comedians. Was he ever the sole ABBC? No, Dave Chappelle took that mantle from Rock.
The doc even gives us Tony Rock, Chris’s brother, saying Hart never missed a chance to talk to Rock about the intricacies of comedy, much like a young Kobe asking Michael Jordan questions about the intricacies of basketball. That suggests Hart is the Kobe to Rock’s Jordan.
Chris Rock made a slightly different comparison that may be a bit more accurate. Early in the doc, Rock likens himself to Jay-Z and Hart to Drake. That’s a more accurate analogy. Rock, like Hov, is one of the all-time greats, and Hart, like Drake, is huge. Being huge is not the same as being great. Y’all know how I feel about Drake.
I see Rock as a comedian who’s also a philosopher and a political thinker. Many of his jokes are interesting ideas. When he said the way to achieve gun control was to make…
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