Ellen DeGeneres: For Your Approval review: Ellen’s final stand-up special is the candid confession of a confident comedian

Ellen DeGeneres: For Your Approval would be the renowned comedian’s final stand-up special, as officially announced by Tudum on September 19, 2024. Shot in The Orpheum Theatre, Los Angeles, the special was released on Netflix on September 24, 2024.

The special starts with a montage that captures the star’s illustrious showbiz career and does not gloss over the unflattering bits. Ellen’s career has been a cycle of being put in a tough spot, and then staging a comeback by winning people’s approval.

Coming out as a lesbian on national TV in the 90s, Ellen displayed commendable courage but potentially put her promising career at risk. Yet, the comedian went on to become a household name in America, thanks to the superhit The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

From hosting the Oscars to visiting the White House and getting laurels from the President, Ellen has done it all. However, her career is hardly spotless. The Ellen DeGeneres Show came to an end in 2022 when its host was accused by her employees of running a ‘toxic workplace.’

Ellen DeGeneres: For Your Approval is the intimate project of a former American sweetheart, who, despite it all, yearns to be loved, and with the Netflix special, Ellen might just have won back people’s approval, once again.

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Ellen DeGeneres: For Your Approval addresses Ellen's big controversy

The synopsis of Ellen’s special reads:

“In the final comedy special of her historic career, Ellen gets candid about fame, parallel parking and life since getting ‘kicked out of show business.’”

Of course, Ellen had to broach the controversial matter regarding her showbiz exit, which she does in the special, with enough charm and wit. To many, her stance, as expressed in Ellen DeGeneres: For Your Approval, could come across as too defensive and dismissive of the accusations made against her.

However, when observed carefully, it can be seen that Ellen also subverts her own defensiveness through subtle self-mockery.

For instance, she enacts certain ‘fun games’ she used to play with her employees behind the scenes of The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Her own enactments of the pranks suggest that even though she might consider them mere ‘fun games,’ things could have gotten a tad bit too much for the employees.

Thus, even though Ellen vehemently defends herself against charges of toxicity, she graciously acknowledges that there genuinely may have been misunderstandings.

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The special is funny, thanks to Ellen the comedian

Ellen DeGeneres: For Your Approval effectively showcases Ellen’s comic acumen. She is able to extract chuckles, giggles, and uproarious laughter by merely playing with pauses and positions of words. Consider the following bit from the special:

“Apparently, it’s for lumbar support. Got to support your lumbar. It’s all any of us knows about the lumbar. It’s got to be supported.”

This seemingly unfunny rant about a certain lumbar-supporting mechanism installed in cars is rendered funny by Elllen’s effective use of pauses. She merely rolls the words in her mouth, draws the audience in on the joke, and delivers one statement after the other. Timing is the comedian’s greatest support, and Ellen seems a well-supported comedian.

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Ellen would like to be loved by the people

Towards the end of Ellen DeGeneres: For Your Approval, Ellen turns pensive, remarking how even though she might pretend not to care about others’ opinions of her, they can make or break the career of a showbiz person.

At the same time, she has come to realize with age that one should not take heed of others’ evaluation of oneself at the cost of one’s mental health. Ellen says:

“So after a lifetime of caring, I just can’t [care] anymore. So I don’t.”

However, every artist wants to be loved, and Ellen continues to say that if she has a choice of people remembering her as “someone who is mean or someone who is beloved,” she would like to be beloved.

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Ellen DeGeneres: For Your Approval is full of self-mockery, observational humor, dramatic pauses, and hilarious anecdotes. It is now available to stream on Netflix.