'Roseanne' the Reboot

I was one of those kids who was up at three AM watching Roseanne reruns on Nick At Nite. I was 12 and staying up late was totally cool. I'm just kidding. I had woken up sick as a dog and that's what was on that late, but that is how my love for the show started.

I loved each member of the cast. I identified with Becky and Darlene's plot lines. I loved how they were a typical midwestern family just trying to get by. Their humor was much like my own and my family's as well, so it became my new favorite thing. Then it sort of became an obsession. I had to watch it at least once a day and if I did not, it threw off my whole routine.

The years went by slowly to me. Puberty sucks, but Roseanne was always there. I could always watch that episode where Becky cut the cheese and I'd laugh my ass off. My family drove down to Ocean City, Maryland one year and I watched Roseanne on the portable DVD player the whole ride down. My mom had bought me some of the seasons on DVD. A few years later I let my friend borrow them and I haven't seen them in eight years (You know who you are!). Roseanne also gave me insight on how a married couple worked. My mom was a single parent and I did have my Nana in the house as well, but I didn't have a concept of the husband/wife dynamic. So, it also taught me about relationships.

Before I knew it I was 20. My mom passed away and Roseanne was such a comfort to watch. It would make me happy, and during that time, that was a rarity! I was browsing Facebook one day and someone shared a post that Roseanne was joining the revival crowd. I was suspicious at first. A year later, it was confirmed to be true. Was I happy? Damn skippy I was! Was I scared? Hell yeah! I was scared they would ruin it.

The day came. The wait was terrible. I set an alarm on my phone just in case. I brought my fiancé in the room with me to watch. We were ready. At least, I thought I was.

I loved seeing all the characters on screen together. It made my soul happy. Then, in comes Jackie. Don't get me wrong, I love Jackie! What I didn't love was the politics. The character of Roseanne before was steadfast and determined. She didn't take shit from anyone. She did not tolerate racism, discrimination, or any form of hate. She believed in women's rights! She was a pioneer in television and we loved her for it. Now, I know Roseanne Barr is a Trump supporter. I know she has her own opinion and everyone does. That's okay. It was just frustrating to see that portrayed on her show. I feel like old Roseanne's character would have been absolutely opposed to him. I just do not understand it. Maybe I'm not supposed to.

The whole first episode surrounds around a fight between Jackie and Roseanne that has been happening since the last presidential election. Usually, their fights don't last too long, so you know it's pretty bad. As the episode goes on, little jabs are thrown around. From the Russian dressing and pussy hats to snowflakes and being too sensitive. You're led to believe that Roseanne voted for Trump and Jackie for Hillary. Turns out Jackie didn't even vote for Hillary, but for Jill Stein. The whole fight has caused all this tension in the family as the election did to families across the nation. It's something they wanted to address, but why the first episode? After we were done watching, my fiancé and I looked at each other.

"I hope this isn't what the rest of season is going to be like."

"I don't know if I can watch the next episode."

We already have so much political influence in everything we do. There's material items, political rallies, and I swear every time I go to look at the news, I see Trump's mug plastered on my screen. Yes, news outlets should have political information. It's okay to wear your opinions on your hats or shirts. It's okay to talk about it. It just seems that lately, that's everything. I thought the first episode of Roseanne would make me happy, but it just made me sad. You can't escape from reality anywhere lately.

I did watch the rest of the episodes and I was so happy to see it wasn't going to be a big plot line for the rest of the season. I respect that they involved something that is conflicting to many people in America right now. I just wish they hadn't made it the very first episode.