Netflix’s Best of the Best has one joke. It’s a bad one. And now the whole film is defined by it.
The Best of the Best Kabul joke happens early. Maya, played by Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, tells a friend that guys throw themselves at her “like you’re the last plane out of Kabul.” That’s the line. It’s supposed to be a throwaway gag in a Bollywood dance comedy. Instead, it’s become the only thing anyone is talking about. The Best of the Best Kabul joke references the 2021 evacuation of Afghanistan, when thousands of people rushed the airport trying to escape the Taliban. At least two people fell from a departing C-17. One was a member of Afghanistan’s national youth football team. That’s the context. That’s the punchline.
Hasan Minhaj co-wrote the film. He’s been getting the brunt of the backlash. People are asking him to explain the joke. “Is the funny part the Afghans falling from planes?” one post asked. “Our trauma isn’t your cheap punchline.” The Best of the Best Kabul joke isn’t just tasteless. It’s specific. It’s about a real event that killed real people. And it’s in a movie that’s supposed to be light and fun.
The film itself follows childhood friends Maya and Anjali as they join UCLA’s competitive Bollywood-fusion dance team. It’s about friendship, ambition, and finding your voice. That’s the movie Best of the Best wanted to be. Now it’s the movie with the Kabul joke. Netflix hasn’t apologized. Neither has Minhaj. The silence is telling.
Here’s the thing about comedy. Nothing is off-limits in theory. But there’s a difference between punching up and using someone else’s worst day as a throwaway line. The Best of the Best Kabul joke doesn’t have a point. It’s not satirizing anything. It’s just lazy. And that’s why people are angry. It’s not that the joke is offensive. It’s that it’s not even trying to be anything else.
The Best of the Best backlash is a reminder that context matters. A joke about the Kabul evacuation hits differently for the people who lived it. For the families who lost someone. For the Afghans who are still trying to get out. Netflix released this movie globally. It’s not a niche comedy. It’s a platform with billions of subscribers. Someone should have caught this. Someone should have said something.
Will Netflix apologize? Probably not. Will Minhaj address it? Maybe. But the Best of the Best Kabul joke is out there now. It’s part of the movie’s legacy, whether the filmmakers like it or not.
The film is still streaming. People are still watching. And the conversation isn’t going away. That’s the thing about bad jokes in the streaming era. They don’t die. They just get screenshotted.
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