What to do about the strange case of Louis C.K.? That question resides at the heart of “Sorry/Not Sorry,” a documentary that poses thorny questions about what cultural sentence the comedian should have served for his sexual misconduct, unequal power dynamics, and how stardom contributed to people ignoring an “open secret” in the comedy community.
Lest anyone have forgotten, Louis C.K. belatedly admitted to exposing himself and masturbating in front of women after a New York Times story detailed multiple allegations, initially losing deals and being shunned before returning to performing roughly nine months later.
Produced by the Times and featuring several of its reporters, the film from directors Caroline Suh and Cara Mones focuses on three women – comics Jen Kirkman, Abby Schachner, and Megan Koester – who spoke out about what the last of that trio calls “an open secret” in the comedy community. They and others address the reluctance of women to speak out in that male-dominated bastion, and the irony that the women who did come forward appeared to pay a higher price for simply telling the truth about Louis C.K.’s behavior than he did.
Having comics as the principal storytellers adds a level of humor and wit to the conversation, but there’s a pointed side to all this as well, from Louis C.K.’s self-serving characterization of events on stage to well-established performers Dave Chappelle and Bill Maher, who pride themselves on their subversive takes, and how they weighed in on the matter.
At its core, though, are issues not easily remedied, including the fact that women trying to chart careers in comedy – a field in which they are a decided minority – didn’t want to be perceived as complaining about someone with the power to influence their futures, as well as how other men in comedy processed (or more often, didn’t) questions about someone many of them liked and admired.
“When it comes to telling the truth about one of our own, suddenly we shut up,” notes comic Michael Ian Black, while TV producer Michael Schur – who worked with Louis C.K. on “Parks and Rec,” and produced shows such as “The Good Place” – says with the benefit of hindsight, “The fact that I thought it wasn’t my problem is the problem.”
At the same time, “Sorry/Not Sorry” grapples not just with the misbehavior, for lack of a better word, than the appropriate punishment, given the relatively brief period of time that Louis C.K. spent in comedy exile.
“How long should somebody go without working?” asks Noam Dworman, owner of New York City’s Comedy Cellar, where Louis C.K. began his comeback, gradually moving up to larger venues and eventually arenas like Madison Square Garden.
If there’s no easy answer to that, “Sorry/Not Sorry” takes issue with both the supposition that nobody was really victimized by Louis C.K.’s actions and the mentality of first looking the other way amid what the comic initially dismissed as “rumors,” then welcoming him back.
Although Kirkman attributes much of that to stand-up culture – “You’ve been socialized in this world where men get to treat women however they want,” she says – the issue goes beyond that to broader inequality in the workplace and the fallout, or lack thereof, from the #MeToo movement.
Louis C.K. declined to be interviewed for the film, but as clips show, he has turned the story, and the revelations about his “kink,” as he describes it, into a part of his act.
Like much of his comedy, he finds humor and a sense of embarrassment in that; still, some will surely feel queasy watching “Sorry/Not Sorry,” realizing that unlike the women featured discussing their experiences, he is, again, laughing all the way to the bank.
“Sorry/Not Sorry” premieres in select theaters and digitally on July 12.