As September comes to a close, Bill Cosby’s trial will have also finally reached its verdict. The 81-year old former star’s sexual and aggravated assault charges first loomed almost three years ago in 2015.
Although, when we look back at his history more brutally, we see this is actually only when the public acknowledged these accusations that date back as early as 1965. Cosby’s first trial in 2017 ended in a mistrial, but in April 26th, 2018, he was found guilty for three counts of aggravated assault. September 24th, 2018 will mark the true end of his saga as he will finally face his sentencing.
Before looking into his sentencing, perhaps it is worth some time to observe how and why Cosby got away with his crimes for so long.
After all, Cosby was one of the first prominent people to face the justice of the now explosive “Me Too” movement. The scariest part about Cosby’s accusations are that they were revealed to be one of Hollywood’s “well known secrets” in later years. Looking back in 2009, an episode of 30 Rock had a joke in which Tracy Morgan thought he was receiving a call from Bill Cosby. Alec Baldwin’s character expects Tracy to listen to his assumed idol, but he instead berates Cosby for what he did to his aunt in 1971 in Cincinnati. Although Tracy never says what it is that he did, it is easily understood.
So, perhaps Tina Fey and the 30 Rock writing team had heard stories of Cosby’s behavior. They even explicitly knew specific incidents involving him. So, were they morally obligated to report it to media feverishly until something was done?
After all, one of the key crimes that the “Me Too” movement exposed was not only the massive behavioral problems, but also the problem of silence revolving around this behavior. However, at the same time, the cast and crew of 30 Rock were probably not any of those personally affected by Cosby’s behavior. In a way, the knowledge of the crimes alone is enough to justify bringing massive public knowledge to them. Without any of those hurt though, what would their words really mean?
The point trying to be reached here is that perhaps this joke was actually a form of rebellion against Cosby. He was an incredibly powerful Hollywood icon at some point, and to overtly call him a sexual predator on an NBC sitcom is certainly a statement. Jokes like this may seem to have been dismissing the problem, but at a time when even acknowledging the problem was taboo, they can be interpreted as an attempt to kick start a more powerful stance.
One of the oddest bits about Bill Cosby is the strange moral stances he took prior to his predatory behavior coming out. Cosby was, after all, the man who birthed a lot of modern sitcom and comedy tropes. While it is hard to praise him today, it is also an objective fact that Bill Cosby played a big part in helping black comedians gain prominence in mainstream media.
With that said, late in his life, long past the end of his show and stand-ups, Cosby frequently criticized other black comedians in interviews for their crass language and attitudes. It seems so strange that a man who literally committed violent sexual crimes thought it was bad for black comedians to swear on their stand up. This attitude shows how disconnected his stage persona was from his horrid offstage self.
One black comedian that famously criticized Cosby for his moral positions was Hannibal Buress. The joke was basically about how Cosby was living in the past, citing “ I was on TV in the ’80s” as Hannibal put it, and because of that he somehow has some moral ground over all other black comedians. Escalating the joke, Hannibal then would retort to Cosby’s position saying “Yeah, but you rape women” which caused the audience to erupt in a series of semi-surprised “ooooh”s, massive applause, and wild laughter.
Hannibal ends the joke inviting his 2015 audience to google “Bill Cosby Rape” once they exit the show, and promises they will find a plethora of results.
Hannibal Buress’s joke is genius in that it’s not actually a joke.
He is not speaking in a humorous tone the entire time, but rather simply with a “matter-of-fact” tone. The only reason this could even be classified as a joke is because the audience laughs. Watching the clip in 2015, one probably would have laughed, too, assuming Buress was utilizing hyperbole in order to respond to Cosby’s criticism. Watching it in 2018 however, it is almost eerie how totally lacking in exaggeration the joke was.
Hannibal Buress’s incident seems slightly different from the 30 Rock bit, in that he did not simply use a one-time joke. Rather, Buress directly called for his audience to take action and find information about the issue. When asked in detail about his joke, he responded that he certainly doesn’t think of himself as a “feminist icon” or a hero.
Rather, he thinks of himself as a “decent” person who just called something bad out mainly for his own self-interests. Nonetheless, it shows the power and potential rebellion hidden within a joke.
Bill Cosby is 81 years old. He is going to die soon. He is basically blind in both eyes.
His lawyers are trying to argue that it feels wrong to name an 81 year old as violent and place him in a prison cell. They argue for house arrest as punishment. However, it feels wrong towards so many if his crimes never truly bring punishment. It is difficult to battle the idea that somebody who once brought us joy and laughter is actually so awful.
