Contempt For Cosby

So this whole debacle of Bill Crosby's every melting career and reputation proceeds apace. After the revelation last week that in 2005 Bill admitted in a deposition to drugging a woman for purposes of having sex with her, any measure of support for Cosby has fallen away precipitously. A former co-star of his from The Cosby Show said, "Of course he's guilty!" President Obama was asked if Bill Cosby's Medal of Freedom could be revoked; Obama said there's no process in place for revoking the award of a Medal of Freedom but made it very clear that he considered the actions Cosby is accused of committing as rape and there is no excuse for it.

Over on The View, Whoopi Goldberg had taken an "innocent until proven guilty" stance when it came to Bill Cosby which is as close as anyone seemed to be coming to a defense of the man. But even Whoopi reversed course and joined the chorus of shame against the once beloved comedian.

Its interesting to see just how deep and intense the contempt is that people now regard Cosby. The actions he is accused of are heinous and are worthy of condemnation, regardless of who perpetrates them. But the fact that its Bill Cosby has made this matter even more bitter, even harder to take.

For many, Bill Cosby was simply a funny guy. His stand up routine recorded for Bill Cosby: Himself is among the absolutely funniest things you'll ever hear. And beyond that, Cosby had a strong family appeal. He didn't work with blue material, he never resorted to profanity or shock. he just delivered solid, funny jokes and stories.

But Cosby as a clean comic with family appeal also began his evolution to a scold of the African American community, particularly of young black men. That's not to say Cosby wasn't right. For all the very real indignities and injustices visited upon black men and women in this country, some of those indignities and injustices came from within, born from a lack for self-respect and respect for others. Cosby's view was that the African American community could do only so much about how the rest of America treated them; the real power lay within treating themselves and each other with dignity and respect. Not a bad lesson for anyone, regardless of race, creed, religion, gender or what have you.

But the targets of Cosby's scolding were having less respect for the man lecturing them on their behavior. Especially as the word went around that Cosby was less of a paragon of virtue than he would have everyone to believe. We saw cracks in that armor when it was revealed that Cosby had fathered a child with a woman who was not his wife. And then stories of women coerced and drugged, Cosby forcibly having sex with them.

Contempt for the acts themselves, of drugging and raping women, is not conditional. The content of one's character or reputation should not change the fact that rape is rape which is a crime of violence that must be answered for in a court of law. But when you hold yourself up to be a role model, a paragon of virtue, then yeah, a terrible thing becomes a bit worse. The level of our contempt, rightly or wrongly, becomes conditional based on the person who has earned that contempt. It is a betrayal of trust. We curse ourselves for ever admiring the man.

 And here's something that's really on the far end of the spectrum of bad things associated with Cosby, trivial even when compared to the lives of women he has destroyed and the trust he has broken with a world that used to love him. But Bill Cosby has betrayed the gift he possessed, to bring laughter and smiles. Because Bill Cosby: Himself is a very damn funny comedy performance. And I don't think I can ever laugh at it again.

NOTE: Click here for a link to a story in the New York Times on the Bill Cosby deposition.


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Tomorrow is this blog's Sunday Doctor Who post as I continue with 10 Years Of Doctor Who Reborn. Our journey continues to Series 7. But only for a little bit. More on that tomorrow.

Monday,I loop around to last week's ESPYs and Caitlyn Jenner.

In the meanwhile, everyone be good to one another.

Dave-El
I'm So Glad My Suffering Amuses You