Tarnished Heroes

Sexual abuse and harassment, bullying, fraud and similar behaviors are horrible no matter who is guilty; but it seems worse on some level when the perpetrator is a celebrity.

Through the 1980s, Thursday night was "must see TV" in large part because of The Cosby Show. Bill Cosby played Cliff Huxtable, a successful doctor, faithful husband and loving father of five. His character was a role model on many levels: successful African-American doctor, a ‘family values’ parent and an honest husband. He was often called "America’s Dad".

That television character image seemed to mirror the actor who played him. Boomers will remember Cosby as a damn funny comedian from the 1960s who was also one of the first black men to share co-star billing in a tv series. "I Spy".

This week Bill Cosby was found guilty on three counts of aggravated indecent assault.

In other words, Cosby was merely ACTING as a faithful husband, loving father, positive role model for African-American men. The actor and the character were not at all parallel.

That is so frustrating. I had such high regard for him as an actor, a comedian and a man. I wanted to believe that the sixty women who have come forward in recent years to accuse him of various forms of sexual assault were all lying. Sixty! They weren’t lying!

Sentencing had not happened at the time I’m writing this and I bet there are people who think it is cruel to send an 80-year-old man with diminishing health to jail. I bet I know what most of those sixty women think about that.