The Cos

 

A friend who counsels individuals and couples told me he'd just finished watching Kamau Bell's 2022 documentary We Need to Talk About Cosby. He highly recommended it, knowing my interest in popular culture, human relations and social dynamics.

Bell's film, streaming on Hulu, slipped by me when it was released last year but I double-backed to it because I'll be showing two episodes from Cosby's '69 TV sitcom, The Bill Cosby Show, in my class on sports in entertainment narratives. In the series, Cosby played an L.A. high school teacher and coach who has quiet, relatable adventures in his school and neighborhood. The show ran for two seasons on NBC, despite Cosby's winning demeanor and enormous on-camera charm.

I was conflicted at one point about including the episodes because of accusations by about 60 women of being sexually assaulted by Cosby. Would showing the material be a tacit endorsement of Cosby's behavior off-screen? Did I want to send a message to the students that I winked at criminality and sexual assault? 

Of course not. I see this as an opportunity to engage in a valuable exchange with students who are studying how sports have been incorporated into television and film to explore other aspects of the human condition. We'll discuss some of the matters that lie at the heart of Bell's film, namely, how does one who has harbored a positive view of the entertainment respond to reports of Cosby's assaults? 

Must we set aside his large body of life-affirming work on television and in film and on recordings because beneath the surface they reek of hypocrisy? 

Is the storied "cancel culture" warranted in this case?

I look forward to hearing from the young minds in the class.