Not With the Times, or Ever Being Worth Our Time

I really didn’t know much about Roseanne, either with the original show or the recent revival from this past year. I mean, I was curious. I had seen some episodes when I was younger, but was too confused to make much sense of it or how much time had lapsed. Nowadays, though, my eyes and ears are still wide open along with many others to everything relating to the show, what with the controversy from this past summer surrounding the titular star and co-creator’s racist tweet and the official cancellation of the revived show on ABC that the corporation made as a response.

Initially, I was pretty shocked, more so about Barr’s tweet about former White House aide to then-President Obama, Valerie Jarrett, than the cancellation of the show. ABC made the best, appropriate call in canceling the show—much to their own expense. The revival brought in millions of viewers just through its first season that was only rapidly growing. It quickly became a highlight of the network.

All the same, though, it is rather refreshing to see ABC place values and intolerance for racism and bigotry before viewership and, ultimately, money. It’s freakin’ 2018. Much in the same way that more than warranted and justified pressure is being put on the entertainment industry to be more diverse and inclusive in its material and its casting, as well as holding the overwhelming numbers of male celebrities accountable for sexual misconduct and abuse with the rise of the “Me, Too” movement, we also need to continue upholding more of a resounding disapproval for this level of racism and bigotry.

Though I’m glad ABC took responsible and appropriate action in firing Barr and canceling the show, it doesn’t—nor should it—gloss over the rather concerning impression based on reading an article from The New York Times when the issue initially happened that there were multiple previous incidents that should have been grounds for firing Barr much sooner than just this final straw breaking the camel’s back. Apparently, soon after the revival of Roseanne, Barr returned to Twitter, having had her children previously take away her access to her social media accounts. Following this return to social media, prior to her remarks about Jarrett, she unloaded some rather heavy claims and accusations that included stating that a survivor from the Parkland school shooting from this past year was giving a Nazi salute, as well as purporting a conspiracy theory that President Trump was quietly breaking up a child sex trafficking ring that implicated several prominent members of the Democratic Party.

I’d like to think of myself as being the last person to desire censorship of freedom of speech, particularly in the arts. But I also don’t dare to put the right to express oneself truthfully and freely in the same category as hate speech or expressing disrespectful and inappropriate remarks that degrades another person’s experiences, let alone their existence. And, call me crazy with a bleeding heart, but I also don't consider anyone who perpetuates that sort of behavior as being someone who should continue to be a prominent figure within the industry and have their own revived show as a caveat.

Yes, ABC did end up firing Barr and canceling this revival of Roseanne, but only seemingly because it became abundantly clear that she was going to continue to be a serious liability for the network. And in sheer honesty, it’s especially such a huge issue within the arts because, much in exactly the same vein as the other current issues mentioned previously, it directly exhibits and expresses our own values as a culture and society—not just within a single entity, or network. Unfortunately, everything relating to Barr is just a drop in the bucket by comparison with the various other issues and examples that have shown the current values of the United States, or lack thereof. Nevertheless, it certainly doesn’t help anything or anyone when we can do so much better. And we have to do better—if not in the arts, then where else can we start?

Bearing this in mind, in light of all of this recent controversy, perhaps it may serve as incentive for ABC to revamp their prerogatives and efforts to their other shows such as, Black-ish and Right Off the Boat, and maybe even develop more new, original shows that are diverse and inclusive of all audiences... I know, God forbid, right? It’s rather ironic, too, since shows such as Black-ish and Right Off the Boat were also the subject of back-handed jokes and allusions on the revival of Roseanne.

For myself, personally, I’m so terribly behind on new and recent television shows... but I definitely think I know where some seemingly good shows are worth to start, versus those that aren’t with the times, or ever being worth my own time.