A few months ago, on a Saturday evening, my partner and I were at home thumbing through the DVDs and I threw on a disc of The Cosby Show. That evening, we laughed and smiled nostalgically at the many memories the show has given us. I had forgotten how funny it was! The amazing 80's fashion was a hoot, the writing was as fresh as the first time I saw it, and Lisa Bonet was as gorgeous as ever. More importantly though, as a person who has always been a huge fan of The Cosby Show, I was glad that I was finally able to revisit it without hesitation once we got into the first episode of the disc. The world did not end, I didn't feel ashamed for enjoying myself, and I didn't feel as though I was betraying the plantiffs of the several cases that were attempted or are now ongoing against Mr. Cosby.
I am not writing this article to troll the internet. In no way do I want to minimize what happened to the victims. When the first allegations appeared in 2007 I did not want to believe them. I would find it very difficult to believe anyone who asserts that Mr. Cosby is innocent after the many, many stories of abuse and rape that have appeared in the last few years. The reason I write this is because I refuse to let my memories of my favorite sitcom, one that I believe is still a great piece of television, to be destroyed by the selfish reprehensible actions of an individual. My relationship with The Cosby Show, as a classic piece of pop art, is too intertwined with my individuality for me to allow that to happen.
Growing up, I was of that age where I missed the window of time in which The Cosby Show had in syndication on network affiliates. We didn't have cable growing up at my parents' place because my parents were afraid that it would rot my brain and turn me into a couch potato. I faintly remember the show running in the 3pm-5pm hour when I was 6, but after that, I didn't see the show for almost a decade. When we moved to the other side of town, and the only way we could get television was if we subscribed to cable, the show popped up on WGN and TBS. I immediately fell in love, catching every episode I could. I loved all of the special guest stars that appeared on the show. I loved that I was exposed to a culture of music and art that one can't get in the very Euro-centric education system we have in the United States. I loved how much in love the main characters, Cliff and Clair, were. Looking now at when that show came out and comparing it to other popular shows that were on the air at the time, such as Diff'rent Strokes or Gimme a Break!, The Cosby Show had an edge to it that many sitcoms at the time lacked. This is the reason that up until recently, it still was regularly being shown in syndication, whereas the others were long forgotten.
In college, I finally went all out and rented the entire series on DVD. During the period of time when the entire series was uploaded to Youtube, I used to play Spider Solitaire and half watch the shows to wind down before bedtime. The show became a favorite of mine and I wore it out, to a point where I knew every episode by heart and I eventually became sick of it from watching it so much, as does happen with favorite films and shows.
Time passed. Then the allegations came. Then more. Then evidence. Then debates about the allegations. Then came the documentary about the allegations. As people tried defending the show without defending the man, it seemed that they were being criticized, and I still am not certain as to why. I was really sad to see my TV dad take the heat for the actions of the actor who created and played him. The show, as a piece of art, does focus on a fictional character that Cosby based on himself, off as it may have been from the truth if the allegations are true (which I believe they are), but the show is still a work of fiction.
I was timid for a long time to revisit the show. But, as does happen when one has a favorite show or film, moments would pass in and out of my head that would make me think about how much I had missed watching it. I was getting an itch to watch it again, but didn't know if acting on my itch would make me a bad person. Then it dawned on me: I'm not a bad person-- that man is, and why should I let that ass-hat ruin my experience of enjoying a show I really wanted to see again?
In addition, let's take a quick peak at the amount of people who have created warm fuzzy media memories and are still cultural icons when remembered for their art but in person had some troublesome controversies: Frank Capra was a known racist who hated Black people. No one has ever boycotted his films from the widespread re-releasing they have gotten over the last 80 years. Woody Allen's new film was well received and his films are still being run and taught in film classes as classic cinema DESPITE the fact that his stepdaughter Dylan Farrow made very bold statements against him as of recent, alleging that he molested her when she was 13. Roman Polanski, whose alleged assault on a 13 year old child kept him from returning to the United States for 30 years, is still considered a great filmmaker, with Chinatown and Rosemary's Baby constantly being shared with new generations.
I don't say the heinous actions of these individuals gives us the right to glance over what Mr. Cosby has been accused of, but the question must be asked: Why are we holding him to a different standard than these other artists when it comes to separating the art from the artist? Is it possible that the show will one day come back into circulation? Mr. Cosby has an alleged fortune of $350 million. It is doubtful cutting him off from syndication residuals would break him. Or is this the time society will finally hold true to a punishment against a celebrity who has misbehaved and not let the show back into the world of reruns?
