The Cos of Bad Behavior
Dec. 12th, 2014 11:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
penpusherBill Cosby has been a fixture on television since the mid 1960s. A Temple University graduate. A Navy man. A stand-up comic with millions of records sold. The first African-American with top billing on a network TV drama ("I Spy"), frequent guest and then guest host on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson." There were all those commercials for those genuine American products: for Jell-O. For Kodak. For Coca-Cola. and, of course all his own shows, His first sitcom: "The Bill Cosby Show." His Saturday morning cartoon: "Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids." His Variety series: "Cos." And his later work, "The Cosby Show" and "Cosby."
Throughout his career, both on stage and off, Bill Cosby maintained a high profile and a squeaky-clean image. He was a family man. Yes, he was the long-time host of the Playboy Jazz Festival at the Hollywood Bowl, but he was there for the Jazz, not the Playboy. He dabbled in movies, though the films he made were mostly flops, like "Leonard, Part Six" and "Ghost Dad." And we all mourned the loss of his son, Ennis, who was murdered by a would-be thief, when he blew out a tire in Bel-Air and was shot in the head as he attempted to change it.
The Huxtables, the family on "The Cosby Show," had become America's Family. And, all the while, Bill Cosby was becoming something of a legend. A spinoff series from his massively successful program, "A Different World," also became a hit, and Cosby was at the pinnacle of the entertainment industry.
Off the set, Bill Cosby was critical of a lot of people. He was critical of the black community, often suggesting that they were completely responsible for the lives they led and that they needed to make changes in order to achieve success. He did speaking engagements to pontificate on these topics and became something of a politician when delivering these messages.
Also, he was critical of other comedians for their subject matter and for their style of delivery. Cosby was known for never using curse words and for telling tales that the entire family could listen to and enjoy during his routines. It seemed he had a problem with people who presented things in a style that didn't fit his method.
Now we know.
Now we know that the Bill Cosby we all thought we knew was Dr. Jeckyll and that his Mr. Hyde was a sexual predator, intent on drugging, sexual assaulting and/or raping as many women as he could. And the women who have come forward run the gamut, from staffers and day players who were hoping for a break, up to names we actually know, like Janice Dickinson (who at the time was also starting her career) and Beverly Johnson, the first African American model on the cover of Vogue. Are there more we haven't heard about? Probably.
But the question about this isn't to do with whether Bill Cosby did this or not. Obviously he did do it, he did it all, did it with the help of others, paid off at least two of the victims and callously appears to care more about his personal image than the women he has harmed to get his jollies. The question is what was this all about?
Hollywood itself is a kind of drug; the people who are successful there often have many opportunities to use other kinds of drugs because of their success, be they narcotics, alcohol or sex. If it were just an opportunity for him to have sex with a bunch of random women, Cosby was already there without the need for anything else.
But Bill Cosby's apparent need to incapacitate his victims, by making them take Rohypnol or one of its derivatives, more colloquially called "roofies," makes this into a statement about who Cosby is and what he wanted. There was no mutual consent. There was no interest in safety. There was no care for the health, well being or even the respect of these women who he drugged, used, then tossed away, like empty Coke cans.
There are so many women who were victimized, you have to wonder, was Bill Cosby a pharmacist on the side? Did he always have drugs at the ready to slip into the drinks of these trusting and unsuspecting models, actresses and staffers? How many was enough to satisfy his sexual and domineering appetite?
Now, there is the aftermath. Bill Cosby's career is over. So are the royalty checks for the episodes of "The Cosby Show" that all of the actors on that program were receiving. The disgrace and disgust he is now being viewed with is something that he has brought upon himself. And he will have to deal with the ramifications of all of this in a personal way with his family.
Even though he won't be charged with a crime, as the statute of limitations has run out on bringing him to court, what looked to be a great Hollywood story will conclude with an ugly and embarrassing ending. As Chris Rock noted in his interview with Frank Rich for New York magazine, on the topic 2014 in comedy: "We lost Robin (Williams), we lost Joan (Rivers) and we kinda lost Cosby."
Really, though, based on the behavior now coming to light, we lost Bill Cosby a long, long time ago.
//
Bonus: this sort of fits the LJ Idol topic - "The future outwits all our certitudes"
Throughout his career, both on stage and off, Bill Cosby maintained a high profile and a squeaky-clean image. He was a family man. Yes, he was the long-time host of the Playboy Jazz Festival at the Hollywood Bowl, but he was there for the Jazz, not the Playboy. He dabbled in movies, though the films he made were mostly flops, like "Leonard, Part Six" and "Ghost Dad." And we all mourned the loss of his son, Ennis, who was murdered by a would-be thief, when he blew out a tire in Bel-Air and was shot in the head as he attempted to change it.
The Huxtables, the family on "The Cosby Show," had become America's Family. And, all the while, Bill Cosby was becoming something of a legend. A spinoff series from his massively successful program, "A Different World," also became a hit, and Cosby was at the pinnacle of the entertainment industry.
Off the set, Bill Cosby was critical of a lot of people. He was critical of the black community, often suggesting that they were completely responsible for the lives they led and that they needed to make changes in order to achieve success. He did speaking engagements to pontificate on these topics and became something of a politician when delivering these messages.
Also, he was critical of other comedians for their subject matter and for their style of delivery. Cosby was known for never using curse words and for telling tales that the entire family could listen to and enjoy during his routines. It seemed he had a problem with people who presented things in a style that didn't fit his method.
Now we know.
Now we know that the Bill Cosby we all thought we knew was Dr. Jeckyll and that his Mr. Hyde was a sexual predator, intent on drugging, sexual assaulting and/or raping as many women as he could. And the women who have come forward run the gamut, from staffers and day players who were hoping for a break, up to names we actually know, like Janice Dickinson (who at the time was also starting her career) and Beverly Johnson, the first African American model on the cover of Vogue. Are there more we haven't heard about? Probably.
But the question about this isn't to do with whether Bill Cosby did this or not. Obviously he did do it, he did it all, did it with the help of others, paid off at least two of the victims and callously appears to care more about his personal image than the women he has harmed to get his jollies. The question is what was this all about?
Hollywood itself is a kind of drug; the people who are successful there often have many opportunities to use other kinds of drugs because of their success, be they narcotics, alcohol or sex. If it were just an opportunity for him to have sex with a bunch of random women, Cosby was already there without the need for anything else.
But Bill Cosby's apparent need to incapacitate his victims, by making them take Rohypnol or one of its derivatives, more colloquially called "roofies," makes this into a statement about who Cosby is and what he wanted. There was no mutual consent. There was no interest in safety. There was no care for the health, well being or even the respect of these women who he drugged, used, then tossed away, like empty Coke cans.
There are so many women who were victimized, you have to wonder, was Bill Cosby a pharmacist on the side? Did he always have drugs at the ready to slip into the drinks of these trusting and unsuspecting models, actresses and staffers? How many was enough to satisfy his sexual and domineering appetite?
Now, there is the aftermath. Bill Cosby's career is over. So are the royalty checks for the episodes of "The Cosby Show" that all of the actors on that program were receiving. The disgrace and disgust he is now being viewed with is something that he has brought upon himself. And he will have to deal with the ramifications of all of this in a personal way with his family.
Even though he won't be charged with a crime, as the statute of limitations has run out on bringing him to court, what looked to be a great Hollywood story will conclude with an ugly and embarrassing ending. As Chris Rock noted in his interview with Frank Rich for New York magazine, on the topic 2014 in comedy: "We lost Robin (Williams), we lost Joan (Rivers) and we kinda lost Cosby."
Really, though, based on the behavior now coming to light, we lost Bill Cosby a long, long time ago.
//
Bonus: this sort of fits the LJ Idol topic - "The future outwits all our certitudes"