Once over the initial shock of learning that Bill Cosby
probably raped multiple women in a particularly disgusting manner, my
analytical side took over and I began to wonder if it will ever be possible for
Bill Cosby to rehabilitate his reputation.
He and his handlers have been trying to address the mounting
negative publicity by denying the accusations and stating that Cosby dealt with
them decades ago. Cosby’s aggressive protestations aren’t washing with the
public, though, mainly because so many women are now announcing their own
horror stories—and unfortunately, it’s all the same story: Cosby gives her
something to drink and she wakes up with her clothes off or under Cosby’s mount.
At this point Cosby is hurting himself by not coming clean, admitting he had
(has) a problem, asking for everyone’s forgiveness and going into therapy. Of
course, his denials may be keeping him out of jail.
Cosby’s behavior is totally reprehensible, in the category
of a Jerry Sandusky, and for the same reason—the victims were helpless and
unable to consent. What Cosby did strikes me as extremely bizarre. You would
think that a successful comedian and television star could avail himself of any
number of willing women of any shape, size, age, education level and color his
heart desired. He must have liked having sex with the inert body of a passed
out woman, someone totally passive and unresponsive. And he must have liked the
trickery involved, the idea that he was getting something over on the woman.
Totally sick and pathological! I am
certain I’m not the only one who hopes that there is a way to prosecute Cosby
for his repeated rapes.
But I’m not writing this column about Cosby the rapist, but about
Cosby the brand.
First and foremost, he will not be able to rehabilitate
himself with the public until he does a public “mea culpa” and goes through the
motions of rehabilitating himself. In the age of social media and 24/7 news,
the story has gotten so big now, that he can’t hope that it will blow over and
that things will soon return to normal as far as his career and reputation go. To
win back his public, Cosby must take action and that action must be to come
clean.
Once “rehabilitated,” I would imagine that some network or
production company would take the chance that the public will have gotten over
their revulsion and would be willing to see Cosby in a TV special, movie or new
show, especially if some of the profit went to a nonprofit organization involved
in helping raped or abused women. Some contemporary Chuck Barris might even
want to produce a reality show that tracks Cosby as he goes into deep
psycho-therapy. It never pays to overestimate the intelligence and good taste
of the American public, but I believe that drugging and raping multiple women
over years is a particularly heinous set of acts, and I don’t imagine an
attempt for a Cosby comeback would succeed. While we have seen the public
accept Michael Vick, Bill Clinton and Mark Sanford, what Cosby did was much
worse than killing dogs or having an affair. Thus, even if he underwent a
picture perfect rehab, he would still be poison with the public for any new
work.
But the old stuff—that’s a different story. Once Cosby “rehabilitated”
himself through a public apology and therapy, I don’t think most people would
have a problem watching old episodes of “I Spy” or “The Cosby Show” or
listening to some of his best-selling records again.
If Cosby digs in and never admits his sins, he may die alone
under a thunderstorm or rebukes from an angry public, but his past performances
will still be around. The initial news of his death will likely spur TV
stations to replay the reruns from decades back. After that, I believe the
public’s perception of Cosby will soften again, just as it is starting to
soften for Joe Paterno. I don’t see rehabilitation in death for Cosby, but
rather the reconfiguration of the various parts of his story. The rapes will
become a small dark footnote, exactly in the same way as Joe Paterno’s lack of
action when he first heard about Jerry Sandusky’s perversions is becoming a
small dark footnote to his larger story of football glory.
The public tends to render the lives of past heroes and
villains into short symbolic statements, almost like branding statements. The
Einstein brand is the absent-minded physicist whose discoveries changed the
world. The Babe Ruth brand is the undisciplined but awe-inspiring slugger who loved
kids. These quick descriptions conceal a multitude of both sins and good
works—we get neither Ruth’s whoring nor his speed on the bases. We miss
Einstein’s political stands and his personal life, which was tumultuous at
times. None of this detail survives in the public eye.
The one-sentence brand biography of Cosby a decade after he
dies will likely be “one of the most popular TV actors who was a trailblazer
for Afro-American actors and produced and starred in one of the very best and
most important TV shows of the 20th century, but he also had a dark side.”
In other words, the Cosby reputation will probably weather
the storm and the owners of the Cosby reruns can rest easy that sooner or
later, they will start minting money again.
But Cosby the living man? As the saying goes,
he’ll never work in this town again. And if there’s justice in this world,
he’ll be doing his next standup routine behind bars.
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