Is Ricky Gervais making fun of the disabled with his Derek Noakes character?

I’ve been a Ricky Gervais fan for a while, and I think to a lot of casual observers of his work and persona (his award show gigs, most days on his Twitter account, some of the relentless ragging he gives his friend Karl Pilkingont on his podcast) he seems to try especially hard to cultivate a biting humor. But there is a lot of heart to his work, which really shown through in the love story on The Office, and the last scenes of Extras, which had me balling my eyes out. I’ve watched four episodes of his new series Derek (streaming now on Netflix) and I’ve learned I have to keep extra hydrated while viewing because I’ll be in a fit of tears before each episode is even half-way over. While The Office and Extras had heart, Derek is practically all heart, and that’s a good thing. It could possibly be a bad thing if you do it wrong, but this series, which Gervais writes, directs, and stars in, hits all the notes true.

When I first heard of the series and saw photos of Gervais as Derek, I was a little worried that he would be too insensitive. That he wouldn’t be able to pull this off without a major f**k up. The fact that he cast Karl Pilkington in the show made me even more worried, but a little excited. Thankfully I was wrong to be so trepidatious. This is one of the most touching and sensitive shows I have ever seen. There was reactionary concern in the British media (the series aired there first) that Gervais was making fun of the disabled. Gervais insisted that isn’t true, and that Derek doesn’t have a diagnosable condition, but it’s hard to understand exactly what he means by that without watching the show.

Some criticism of the show has been that Derek is too good of a person. Too good to be real. I agree that even the kindest, gentlest soul has normal human problems with selfishness, jealousy, anger, revenge, etc., but this show isn’t about going extremely dark and focusing on those things. I love shows and art that do explore the dark side of human nature in depth (The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, The Larry Sanders Show) but that doesn’t mean that’s the only way to do it. From what I’ve watched so far Derek touches on callousness, awkward situations, missed communication, pettiness, lasciviousness, shame, loneliness, flared tempers, spoiled shallowness, etc. but it’s more about how we can be redeemed from our flaws, mistakes, and heartbreaks through kindness and love. That’s the simple, but powerful, message of the show. There are some funny moments, but it isn’t overly concerned with being a comedy. A quote from the first episode sums it all up:

“She said ‘Kindness is magic, Derek. It’s more important to be kind than clever or good looking.’ I’m not clever or good looking but I’m kind.”

Gervais as Derek isn’t a clown or a mockery, he’s a human being with some physical difficulties and some social difficulties, but he’s made a life for himself, he’s found a place for himself, and it’s not that he doesn’t have a “disability” it’s that it doesn’t matter what labels others on him. Like everyone he’s just trying to survive in this world given the circumstances he’s been given. He’s obviously had a hard time in life, but doesn’t dwell too much on that because he has found a place where he is loved, and where he can give love.

Kerry Godliman is masterful in her role as Hannah, the director of the nursing home. Her character is an underpaid workaholic, and while her job is hard and thankless, she has none of the toxic hopelessness and boredom that haunted some of the characters in The Office. Hannah is complex and realistic, and Godliman’s acting choices are perfect.

I read a lot of reviews before I plunged in, but most of them called Derek sappy, or overly sweet, and complained that the show wasn’t a nonstop laughfest. Maybe that’s true for some, but I personally found the sweetness profound, and I’ve never seen any sort of movie or series handle kindness, disability, aging, and dying quite the way this show does. It goes to some very sensitive places without extracting all the reality from them. Sometimes art handles these types of situations by making people into saints and ignoring ugly truths. Derek flirts with this, but keeps enough of an edge to stay realistic. It’s an incredible thing Gervais has done, and the result is that the show plunges into your heart and doesn’t let go. At least that’s what happened to me.

You can binge-watch Derek right now on Netflix.