Trending 22nd November 2023 by Aoife CodyKane

Matt Rife Just Alienated His Female Audience, And I Don’t Think It Was Accidental

The TikTok comedian's domestic violence joke seems to have more intended purpose than humour.

Image via Instagram, @mattrife

Matt Rife is one of few TikTok performers who have managed to propel themselves from the confines of a phone screen to a real life Netflix special. The stand up comedian probably reckoned he’d hit the jackpot when he was approached to film an hour long show, something most amateur comedians can only dream of.

However, it seems as though there was one small problem with Matt’s ascent to stardom that didn’t sit quite right with him. What, to do with his surprisingly rapid triumph, could possibly bother a man who’s sailed smoothly to commercial success? Women, of course. Matt Rife was made famous by women (who make up the majority of his TikTok following) – and it seems like that’s something that’s gotten under his skin.

At least, that’s the theory of some of those who watched even a fraction of his special, which is barely on the ground running before Matt throws out a joke about domestic violence.

The bit starts with Matt describing being served by a waitress with a black eye. His company feels sorry for the poor girl, reckoning she should have been moved into the kitchen instead of serving customers front of house.

 

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A post shared by Matt Rife (@mattrife)

However, Matt reckons the waitress couldn’t possibly be put in the kitchen; “I feel like if she could cook, she wouldn’t have that black eye.”

Hilarious, right? Because violence against women is so funny. Ha, ha, ha.

Matt is practically gleeful that he has delivered his joke to laughter (I have to wonder if the audience are filled with genuine spectators or Netflix supplied robots), and explains that he had to test “the waters” to see if his audience would be “fun or not”.

“I figure if we start the show with domestic violence, the rest of the show should be smooth sailing.”

I surmise from this admission that Matt Rife’s persona is akin to red pilled teenage boys who will declare at every opportunity that they need their future girlfriend to have a “dark sense of humour”, AKA to put up with derogatory jokes. Except that Matt isn’t a teenage boy, and he hasn’t been one for 10 years. He just has a terrible, juvenile, and offensive comedy routine.

But why would a comedian whose following is based off a majority of women choose to alienate so much of them in one fell swoop?

 

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A post shared by Women’s Aid (@womens_aid)

It may be because Matt doesn’t see women as being real people. A fanbase made up of women, to a man with deep rooted misogyny, isn’t a valuable fanbase at all; it isn’t worth anything. Without men on your side, your work is meaningless, because things enjoyed by women don’t hold quite the same calibre as things enjoyed by men, right?

I’m reminded of an expression, ‘gender flight’; a phenomenon defined by men abandoning or distancing themselves from jobs, activities, interests and products once they become associated with women. Studies show that not only have men historically flocked en masse from jobs once they’ve evolved to be more female dominated, but that the salaries attached to those fields also take a nose dive once they’ve been defined as more feminine.

Of course, we’ve seen time and time again how this also relates to passions and hobbies loved by women, especially girls; boybands, astrology (which Matt gets a dig at later in his show), makeup, nail care, fruity drinks, the list goes on.

Simply for the fact they’re enjoyed or occupied by women, these things become portrayed as facetious, childish things that lack real substance.

Is it possible that Matt Rife was afraid his ‘attachment’ to women within his career might cheapen his image going forward? Was his instant jab at women a way to quickly and effectively signal to men where he ‘stands’ – as ‘one of the guys’? Or was it simply a tactless, stupid joke made by someone who clearly doesn’t recognise what a comment like that might mean to the women who have supported his work?

You can decide for yourself. If the former was his intention, it’s undoubtedly working. Matt’s comments are now flooded with men who chastise the “snowflake” generation, encouraging Matt not to apologise, and insisting everyone “chill” with the “cancel culture”.

And, perhaps noticing this flood of support, the American comedian isn’t pedalling back. When faced with an opportunity to apologise, Matt chose to instead further embolden his ‘edgy comedian’ status.

If you were to click the link he posted on his Instagram story, which Matt said led to his ‘full apology’, you would have been forwarded to a website for ‘special needs helmets.’

Right, then. Matt Rife has told us who he is – and I think we should listen to him. Listen just now, carefully, and then not again. Matt is telling us that he doesn’t care, that women’s feelings aren’t a priority, and randomly, for no apparent reason, that he also has it out for disabled people.

We’ve got you loud and clear, Matt!

As James Acaster once eloquently opined, comedy doesn’t need to punch down in order to be funny. James’ special Cold Lasagne Hate Myself 1999 (well worth a watch, unlike the aforementioned) addresses this attitude by ‘edgy’ comedians, using jokes aimed at trans people as an example.

“The comedian’s always like, ‘Bad luck, that’s my job, I’m a stand-up comedian, I’m there to challenge people. If you don’t like being challenged, don’t watch my show. What’s the matter guys, too challenging for you?,” James says ironically.

“Yeah, cause you know who’s been long overdue a challenge? The trans community. They’ve had their guard down for too long, if you ask me. They’ll all be checking their privilege on the way home, thanks to you, you brave little cis boy.”

Now, that’s funny!

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