By John Plue
A lot of celebrities have been prosecuted within the last few years. Many of them, old childhood favorites of mine. Bill Cosby and Roseanne Barr being just two of them that have gone down a road I would have never thought they would have before.
Roseanne Barr has recently tried to revamp her old show, Roseanne, and that’s why she is on my mind more than Bill Cosby. What he did was a shock to me of course. I saw him as a quirky old dad that wore funky sweaters, not as someone who attacked Women.
Roseanne had returned with new episodes and Barr, the head of the show, decided to tweet a something that would be considered racist. She tweeted, “Muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj.”
The backlash received was almost immediate. Most of the cast and crew distanced themselves quickly, stating that they didn’t share the same views. One tried to quit, but the show had already been canceled by ABC.
Instead, they created a spinoff show called The Connors. In it, they kill off Barr’s character with an opioid overdose.
The tweet and later comments by her split me in two. I grew up watching Roseanne and thinking that it was a progressive show for its time. Well, I think it was as I look back upon the show now. It also depicted a life I was familiar with, fighting siblings, struggling to make ends meet, hard-working parents, and all sorts of things. It was a ‘family’ show.
The problem I have now is, do I still praise the show despite Barr’s views? Do I give up and not give revenue to someone who tweeted something horrendous? The questions go around my head more often than I would have thought. I don’t want to condone racism, I want peace and equality for everyone which is hard to achieve.
Despite my worries, I realize that it’s good that the network took immediate action. It shows other actors, no matter your standing you can still be taken down.