Hannah Gadsby’s 2018 Netflix special “Nanette” caused a sensation with its searing, personal discussion of sexism and homophobia.
Dressed entirely in blue, essentially the only color she wears, and wearing a baseball cap adorned with an octopus that she purchased at San Francisco’s Academy of Sciences , Gadsby is, as you’d expect, a lively conversationalist, talking about her new long-form show, which she describes, with no small amount of relief, as “playful” even while noting that it functions as “stand-up catharsis.”Following that show was impossible.
I am shocked how people responded to “Nanette” in so many different ways. I thought the show would be alienating. But I think, fundamentally, everyone feels a bit different. I have been astounded by how many guys have told me “Nanette” resonated with them. That gives me confidence to explore my idiosyncrasies. It’s nice. That’s not the strongest word I’ve ever chosen. But it’s nice.
I could never advocate censorship. Censorship is useless because it leaves a gap where we learned a lesson. Let’s say Picasso. I’m not a fan. But I am a fan. I’m not a fan of the gap that was left in his story, that he was a toxic, hostile individual and that his behavior was enabled by the community around him. But if you were to wipe him from our collective memory, we not only lose what he did well, we lose what he did badly. And we can learn from both.
How would she know?