Cosby: How Do You Laugh at a Rapist?

Before the year 2014, I would have put Bill Cosby's face on the Mount Rushmore of Hollywood. He has made influential contributions to the world of stand-up comedy, primetime television and family entertainment. As a person who cares about the history of the entertainment industry and as a person who believes in giving people credit for those contributions, it is now my job to figure out how to do so without being pro-Cosby.

Here are the main reasons why I liked Cosby in the first place: In a time when comedians were being freed from the restraints of censorship, his stand-up comedy stood out. It wasn't about race or filled with curse words. It was focused more on his family life and the humor came from everyday situations. He proved alongside Bob Newhart that you didn't have to act funny to be funny. The stand-up concert film Bill Cosby: Himself, which many people believe to be the best, turned out to be the skeleton of the sitcom The Cosby Show, and Jerry Seinfeld notes that Cosby was one of the first people to prove you can make a successful TV show based on your stage persona.

Cosby's first successful foray into television was I Spy, which ran on NBC from 1965 to 1968, and was notable for being the first TV show to have an African-American lead character. In the seventies he appeared on The Electric Company (1971-73) and Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids (1972-1985), which are both beloved and groundbreaking children's shows, and The Cosby Show aired on NBC from 1984 to 1992 and was one of only three shows to be number one in the ratings for five consecutive seasons (All in the Family and American Idol were the other two).

These show are among my favorites in TV history, especially The Cosby Show which I liked because none of the characters overacted or felt clichéd. The characters in that show were actually the perfect models for how families should behave. It may still be the best-written sitcom of all time.

Of course, this is all just an ironic and unfortunate lead-in to the elephant carcass in the room: Cosby's rape allegations. Since the sixties he has been called out by over 50 different women for sexual abuse with accusations ranging from underage sex to drug-related sex. Cosby has denied these claims and he has yet to go to trial, but he is widely believed to be guilty. The amount of women coming forward is too overwhelming to ignore.

The question of how to separate a man from his art is not a new one, but this is the first time I've had to ask that question about someone who was one of my personal favorite celebrities. However, like most people, I don't believe Cosby is innocent. Therefore, I do not have a choice. I have a responsibility.

In my opinion, we should never separate a man from his art. The simple reason being that we are human beings above all else, and human beings have to support each other. In this case, over 50 women who may be victims of rape. The truth is that if Bill Cosby wasn't a TV star, we would have ripped him to shreds over this much faster, which, in an eerie way, is kind of the power of television. So treat him the way you would treat anyone who did what he did, and don't be blinded by how you used to feel about him. Yes, you can look at The Cosby Show, recognize its importance, laugh at it and even call it the best show on TV, but if you don't feel bad about it, you're only giving the man behind the mask what he wants.