# How should Bill Cosby be remembered?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-bill-cosby-be-remembered/847050
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [January 27, 2020, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-bill-cosby-be-remembered/847050 "2020-01-27T15:49:24Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2020, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-bill-cosby-be-remembered/847050/41 "2020-01-27T20:27:37Z")
> [@MrDibble](#):
>
> Well, the serial rape and one good comedy skit (Eddie Murphy in _Raw_, not Bill Cosby himself)
Eddie’s [recent reprise](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2019/12/bill-cosby-eddie-murphy-hollywood-slave-comments) is pretty good, and also appropriate to this thread:
> [@](#):
>
> “If you would have told me 30 years ago that I would be this boring, stay-at-home house dad and Bill Cosby would be in jail, even I would have took that bet,” Murphy joked
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### Author:  [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2020, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-bill-cosby-be-remembered/847050/42 "2020-01-27T20:29:31Z")
I will remember him in the same way as a bad piece of pork that caused me to get sick from food poisoning. I will remember him as someone who acted with malice aforethought.
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### Author:  [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2020, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-bill-cosby-be-remembered/847050/43 "2020-01-27T20:39:25Z")
When I talking with my mom the other day I mentioned the recent Isaac Asimov serial groping kerfuffle, and how I now need to ditch my collection of Isaac Asimov science essays.
She then told me how when the Bill Cosby thing broke loose, she had to purge her collection of Bill Cosby standup comedy records from the 70s–she tossed right out into the dumpster.
I guess creepy sex offender trumps amazing talent, at least in my little world. And that’s a good thing.
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### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2020, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-bill-cosby-be-remembered/847050/44 "2020-01-27T20:49:05Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#):
>
> You think it was celebrity that made him a rapist?
No, but it enabled him to easily be one.
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### Author:  [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2020, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-bill-cosby-be-remembered/847050/45 "2020-01-27T20:52:03Z")
> [@BigT](#):
>
> Y
>
> We know with 100% certainty that Bill Cosby was a serial rapist. We do not for sure know Kobe Bryant was a rapist. There is no inconsistency on the other side. Only on yours.
I’m not inconsistent - I dislike them both. I also hate Roman Polanski, but two of the three have more than a few defenders on this board, and many more in real life.
I dislike how celebrity allows so many to escape any consequences of their actions. They either buy off justice or just ride their celebrity to an acquittal. They never lose their jobs, their endorsements, their fans. So to see everyone ganging up on Cosby like he’s somehow different from all the other celebrity rapists, abusers, and outright murderers that get excused here and in real life every day is galling. They’re ALL bad, equally. So let’s stop pretending Polanski was just misunderstood, and give him an Oscar, and that Ray Lewis deserved to keep his job and as long as he got his team a superbowl anything he does is A-OK.
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#):
>
> There are also a huge number of Kobe fans who were at most kids when his scandal broke. It’s essentially in the past for them. The fact of the matter is, he was able to shake it off.
Is this supposed to be a good thing? He “shook off” raping a woman, and kept his career? Whoo hoo for being famous.
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### Author:  [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2020, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-bill-cosby-be-remembered/847050/46 "2020-01-27T20:58:38Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#):
>
> Is this supposed to be a good thing? He “shook off” raping a woman, and kept his career? Whoo hoo for being famous.
Where did I say it was a good thing? Where did Annie say it was good that he only had one allegation against him?
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### Author:  [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2020, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-bill-cosby-be-remembered/847050/47 "2020-01-27T21:08:22Z")
> [@Author\_Balk](#):
>
> Could he be remembered like Fatty Arbuckle? I think he is more remembered for the bad stuff than his career.
Fatty Arbuckle was cleared of all charges (not just judged “not guilty” - the jury wrote a letter apologizing for the trial)
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### Author:  [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2020, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-bill-cosby-be-remembered/847050/48 "2020-01-27T21:10:11Z")
If my previous post seems overly harsh, I suggest you view the excellent documentary about Cosby and all the women he raped (and there were a huge number of them)
Bill Cosby: Fall of an American Hero
> **[Bill Cosby: Fall of an American Icon (TV Movie 2017) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6982858/)**
>
> Bill Cosby: Fall of an American Icon: Directed by Ricardo Pollack. With Thandiwe Newton, Gloria Allred, Lili Bernard, Vicki Carbe. The story of how one of American television's brightest and wealthiest stars finally came to face a criminal trial for...
Then, I suggest you consider that when a man rapes a woman, that pretty much destroys the rest of her life. She lives every day with the anguish and terror of that event. When you consider that and then consider the huge number of women he raped, I hope my opinion will seem to make sense to you.
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### Author:  [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2020, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-bill-cosby-be-remembered/847050/49 "2020-01-27T21:28:39Z")
Even if he wasn’t a convicted rapist I don’t think appreciation of his work would have out-survived the generations that would otherwise have looked back in nostalgia. None of his material ages well. The funniest bit on his comedy albums was about child abuse and Saturday Morning TV and 80s sitcoms in general age badly.
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### Author:  [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2020, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-bill-cosby-be-remembered/847050/50 "2020-01-27T21:38:20Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#):
>
> You think it was celebrity that made him a rapist?
Without the power and hubris of celebrity would he still have raped? I wish I knew.
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### Author:  [@phreesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phreesh)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2020, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-bill-cosby-be-remembered/847050/51 "2020-01-27T22:01:01Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#):
>
> I’m not inconsistent - I dislike them both. I also hate Roman Polanski, but two of the three have more than a few defenders on this board, and many more in real life.
>
> I dislike how celebrity allows so many to escape any consequences of their actions. They either buy off justice or just ride their celebrity to an acquittal. They never lose their jobs, their endorsements, their fans. So to see everyone ganging up on Cosby like he’s somehow different from all the other celebrity rapists, abusers, and outright murderers that get excused here and in real life every day is galling. They’re ALL bad, equally. So let’s stop pretending Polanski was just misunderstood, and give him an Oscar, and that Ray Lewis deserved to keep his job and as long as he got his team a superbowl anything he does is A-OK.
Who are you arguing with here? Who (in this thread) said that Polanski is just misunderstood? Who said that Ray Lewis deserved to keep his job?
People? Sure. Some people did. Also, some people are idiots and they’re not in this thread.
I don’t see Cosby as different from any other convicted serial rapist. I’m not ‘ganging up’ on him. I am treating him like I would any other serial rapist.
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### Author:  [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2020, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-bill-cosby-be-remembered/847050/52 "2020-01-27T22:25:13Z")
> [@AK84](#):
>
> I would never have thought in the 1990’s that Mike Tyson would be rehabilitated in the public eye. A convicted rapist, wife beater, hooker thrasher and part-time cannibal and all-round nut case.
> And yet here we are.
>
> How Cosby is remembered even 20-35 years from now is basically unknowable.
Generally agreed, although, to Tyson’s “credit,” I think it’s increasingly well-understood now that he came from an extremely unhealthy background and has mental illnesses and cognitive damage / impairment. None of which excuses his behavior, but definitely makes it all a little easier to be somewhat sympathetic.
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### Author:  [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2020, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-bill-cosby-be-remembered/847050/53 "2020-01-27T22:29:21Z")
> [@outlierrn](#):
>
> Without the power and hubris of celebrity would he still have raped? I wish I knew.
The one thing that I believe is true is that without the power and hubris of celebrity, he would have had a much more difficult time escaping justice.
Why?
1. More women would have called the police and reported the rape. They would not have been afraid that his celebrity would cause them to be dismissed.
2. He would not have raped as many women as he did because so many of his victims went along with him willingly because of his celebrity.
3. The police would have pursued him far more aggressively if he didn’t have the celebrity.
Bottom Line?
You have heard that in our system the rich and powerful have a large advantage in escaping punishment. I think that must also include most celebrities. I just wish I was smart enough to suggest some way to do something about that.
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### Author:  [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2020, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-bill-cosby-be-remembered/847050/54 "2020-01-27T22:30:42Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#):
>
> Even if he wasn’t a convicted rapist I don’t think appreciation of his work would have out-survived the generations that would otherwise have looked back in nostalgia. None of his material ages well. The funniest bit on his comedy albums was about child abuse and Saturday Morning TV and 80s sitcoms in general age badly.
I went back to school in my late '30s to learn some programming, and ended up in a lot of classes filled with 18/19 year olds fresh out of high school. They loved them some Bill Cosby. They’d play his old bits on their PCs between classes. It was kind of heartwarming, at the time, that kids born decades after these bits were recorded were still so entertained by them.
Obviously, this was before the rape accusations started piling up.
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### Author:  [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2020, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-bill-cosby-be-remembered/847050/55 "2020-01-27T22:31:48Z")
I’m disappointed by him.
But I will always remember him as the guy who appeared on PBS’s _The Electric Company_, & taught kids to read.
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### Author:  [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2020, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-bill-cosby-be-remembered/847050/56 "2020-01-27T22:31:48Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#):
>
> I’m not inconsistent - I dislike them both. I also hate Roman Polanski, but two of the three have more than a few defenders on this board, and many more in real life.
>
> I dislike how celebrity allows so many to escape any consequences of their actions.
Yeah, you’re being _super_ consistent.
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#):
>
> For I Spy, being a funny guy (right!), Noah (ping!), Jello pudding, Fat Albert, the Cosby Show, The Brown Hornet, The Bill Cosby Show.
>
> You people sure are hard core judgemental.
---
### Author:  [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2020, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-bill-cosby-be-remembered/847050/57 "2020-01-27T22:55:17Z")
> [@Charlie\_Wayne](#):
>
> The one thing that I believe is true is that without the power and hubris of celebrity, he would have had a much more difficult time escaping justice.
>
> Why?
>
> 1. More women would have called the police and reported the rape. They would not have been afraid that his celebrity would cause them to be dismissed.
>
> 2. He would not have raped as many women as he did because so many of his victims went along with him willingly because of his celebrity.
>
> 3. The police would have pursued him far more aggressively if he didn’t have the celebrity.
>
> Bottom Line?
>
> You have heard that in our system the rich and powerful have a large advantage in escaping punishment. I think that must also include most celebrities. I just wish I was smart enough to suggest some way to do something about that.
Fair to say, but that’s not the question I was answering.
---
### Author:  [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2020, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-bill-cosby-be-remembered/847050/58 "2020-01-27T22:56:45Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#):
>
> The funniest bit on his comedy albums was about child abuse.
I admit I didn’t have all of his albums, so which bit was about child abuse?
FWIW, I have only a headshaking disappointment and disgust of the man now.
---
### Author:  [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2020, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-bill-cosby-be-remembered/847050/59 "2020-01-27T22:57:00Z")
> [@phreesh](#):
>
> Who are you arguing with here? Who (in this thread) said that Polanski is just misunderstood? Who said that Ray Lewis deserved to keep his job?
>
> People? Sure. Some people did. Also, some people are idiots and they’re not in this thread.
But they are on this board. I don’t isolate threads, take them in a vacuum. Some people excusing celebrities in one thread, and others (or even the same) excoriating other celebrities in other threads bothers me. A crime is a crime, a rapist is a rapist. I wish Kobe would only be remembered as a rapist, but that ain’t gonna happen.
No one said specifically “misunderstood.” But he has his fans who apparently forgive what he did, with posts like this:
“Meh, whatever he did was his business and the victim, victim’s friends, and victims family. I don’t, or at least try not to, judge people on their actions.” “It’s not so much as me being okay with it, it’s just that I accept it as something that happened and move on.”
“He’s guilty of a crime, but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy his movies.”
"I won’t stop liking his films. "
“And he is incredibly talented to boot.”
“I draw a distinction between the person and the art, and can hate the one while savoring the other.”
As for Lewis:
“…but I believe that Ray Lewis is exactly what he now seems to be, and that is a positive influence on the world, now.”
"I think Ray Lewis should eventually be in the football Hall of Fame for his football career. " “I’m fine with Ray being a leader for the Ravens, even a football legend there,”
Sure, what’s a little murder among friends? Not like he raped anyone.
---
### Author:  [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2020, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-bill-cosby-be-remembered/847050/60 "2020-01-27T23:06:51Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#):
>
> I admit I didn’t have all of his albums, so which bit was about child abuse?
>
> FWIW, I have only a headshaking disappointment and disgust of the man now.
It’s the one about his father’s belt. I think it was on “ To Russell, My Brother, Whom I Slept With”
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