Film Academy Expels Bill Cosby and Roman Polanski From Membership
Oscars: Bill Cosby and Roman Polanski expelled from Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Cosby makes sense, but why wait until now for Polanski? (It looks like the code of conduct was passed in January) I was going to ask about Harvey Weinstein – he was expelled earlier.
Brian
Cosby made sense after Ghost Dad…
Well it’s about time! For Polanski, anyway. And Cosby had it coming too.
I suppose once you’ve expelled Cosby and Weinstein whatever tissue-thin excuse remained for not expelling Polanski was thoroughly shredded.
Polanski should have been booted long ago.
A couple of questions.
I’m assuming that they were waiting to expel Cosby until a guilty verdict was delivered. Until that happened, he was innocent in the eyes of our system. Now, there is an appeals process yet to go. Just for the sake of argument, suppose he won his appeal and once again became “innocent”? Awkward?
Also, should an individual’s entire life be invalidated based on just a part of it? He has been a staunch supporter of education throughout his lifetime. He has promoted and financially supported institutions. I think he earned their recognition despite this loathsome chapter of his life. Should he be entirely trashed, invalidated, and thrown away?
Not at all, and I’ve made the same argument about Joe Paterno. One can praise him for the good he has done and excoriate him for the bad without requiring one to erase the other. That said, the Academy isn’t airbrushing him from history (although given his filmography it would probably not be a bad thing); they’re just cutting ties.
It wasn’t just a chapter but his entire life. All the while he was preaching family values, and receiving accolades for his views and public actions, he was also raping women. Cosby’s entire media persona as a loving father figure was based on hypocrisy and lies. I think the destruction of his legacy is entirely justified.
Cosby’s entire life is not being invalidated, instead an association expelled him from membership they’d previously granted him.
While the criminal justice system must assume innocence until guilt is proven, civil society can choose its own standard for their own associations and the honors granted.
this sounds right
Bill Cosby, the funniest rapists I ever knew.
Bill Cosby, a rapist who lent support to the education system.
Bill Cosby, a rapist who always was willing to help out someone in need.
“…but do they call me ‘Bill Cosby the educator’?”
There’s no fucking excuse. Cosby and Polanski both could have gotten with virtually any woman they wanted, consensually, but they had to resort to using knockout drugs. I am positive that they actually enjoyed the act of knocking the girls out and violating them. I am also positive that a LOT of other famous people did exactly the same thing in the drug-soaked 70s culture of Hollywood and we are about to see others get called out for it.
While I agree with the other posters about this being an ongoing thing with Cosby, my answer to that question is “Yes, if what they have done is sufficiently bad.” Contrition might mitigate that to some degree, but, without it? Fuck 'em.
Sure, history still exists. You can’t take that away. But you can stop honoring them.
With artists, if you can separate the work from the art, you can still watch it. With Cosby, I definitely can’t–though that’s also because I’ve learned how big a pompous ass he was. I always thought that was part of his comedy. Now that I know it’s real, it sours me on him.
Not entirely apt, since the punchline to that joke is “but you shag one sheep…”.
Their memberships only existed in order to make the organization look relevant and/or good. “These guys don’t make us look good anymore, let’s dump them” is all it takes.
I know it’s called an “Academy”, but in reality it’s a club.
Has the Academy defenestrated Kevin Spacey yet? Maybe if it doesn’t get to court it’s not real.
As far as I remember, Spacey hadn’t been accused of raping anyone. I could be wrong, it seemed like there were a ton of accusations of groping, flashing people, that kind of thing. But I don’t think anyone said he raped them? So definitely a creep, but I wouldn’t put him on the level of Cosby, Polanski or Weinstein.
There were definitely some accusations (and they seem credible) of Spacey attempting to force unwanted sexual acts on unwilling or drunk men, including one who I believe was underage. What there isn’t, is a criminal trial. It’s a different situation. I think Spacey possibly has a slight chance at redeeming himself with the proper amends. I don’t think this remotely applies to Cosby if he is convicted.