© Image by Jim Cooke, photo via AP
It hurts to write that. I grew up watching The Cosby Show and A Different World (Cosby's other popular sitcom). Those shows have had a major influence on the man I've become. Cliff Huxtable, the loving father on The Cosby Show, was upstanding and open-hearted, strict, but not too strict. Cliff wasn't perfect - no father is perfect - but he was a model, like all good fathers should be. A good man.
With the Huxtables, Cosby established an "idealized version of family life." The Cosby Show quickly became the most popular sitcom on TV and, with the creation of A Different World, Cosby anchored the most successful TV programming block in history around fatherhood and family values. For five consecutive seasons, from 1985 to 1990, Cosby was the highest rated show in households on Thursday nights. Cliff was America's Dad, and Cosby's significance as a world-building TV pioneer was undeniable.
But Bill Cosby is not Cliff Huxtable. Cliff Huxtable was fiction. Hilton Als reminds us: "The power of fiction is that it includes everyone." The power of Cliff Huxtable was his ability to embody many meanings. We all saw fragments of the dad we knew or the dad we wanted in Cliff.
Bill Cosby, now, has become something other. He has become something more repulsive. We can no longer ignore the multiple allegations of rape that have been hurled at the legendary comedian. Fifteen women have accused Cosby of sexual assault. For so long, Cosby has been indestructible - beyond fame, his comedy and TV careers afforded him a cozy and safeguarded place in the public imagination. Not unlike Michael Jackson or Joe Paterno, our belief in Cosby's goodness and what he personified far outweighed the generations-old grime hidden underneath the mask. His importance became so immeasurable that, among particular circles, speaking ill of America's most beloved dad was treason - no matter how crazy he sounded from time to time.
But more victims keep coming forward and we can no longer look away.
The accounts of Cosby's terror are gruesome.
Comment: It's also worth watching this interview of Bill Cosby with the Associated Press where he asks that they "scuttle" the part of the interview where he's questioned about the rape allegations. He also clearly starts bullying the interviewer, showing off his mode of intimidation which, at least partly, is how he has gotten away with his predations for as long as he has.