# Usually I can separate art from artist, but can't watch Roseanne. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 31, 2018, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usually-i-can-separate-art-from-artist-but-cant-watch-roseanne/811550 "2018-03-31T21:22:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2018, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usually-i-can-separate-art-from-artist-but-cant-watch-roseanne/811550/21 "2018-04-01T22:05:35Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > Eighteen million people didn’t tune to see the revival of a 30-year old show; it isn’t that much of a “beloved” old show. ??? - What has that to do with the topic of this thread? ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2018, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usually-i-can-separate-art-from-artist-but-cant-watch-roseanne/811550/22 "2018-04-01T22:17:21Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > I didn’t know about Gilbert being the driving force behind this. That sounds weird to me, since doing so probably took her away from her regular gig producing and hosting a popular TV show. From [Variety](http://variety.com/2018/tv/features/sara-gilbert-the-talk-roseanne-1202697194/): > [@](#): > > So when the idea of a revival of the late-’80/mid-’90s ABC sitcom “Roseanne” began to take shape, Sara Gilbert — the architect of the reboot and one of the series’ stars — insisted that the couch be the same, if a bit more weathered. And I’ve seen a few interviews where the other stars said “when Sara called me about this…” > [@Don\_Draper](#): > > ??? - What has that to do with the topic of this thread? It had a similar viewership to other big show reboots, so there is no reason to assume Trump was the reason it got good ratings except for your declaration that “it wasn’t that beloved”. I would bet that a massive majority of tv viewers had no idea about Roseanne’s nutty tweeting and Trump association. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2018, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usually-i-can-separate-art-from-artist-but-cant-watch-roseanne/811550/23 "2018-04-01T22:43:12Z")
> [@MindsEye\_Watering](#): > > She’s a fan of our weakling loser “president”? Then she’s dead to me. She’s a fan of our weakling loser “president”? Whatever. How is the show? mmm ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2018, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usually-i-can-separate-art-from-artist-but-cant-watch-roseanne/811550/24 "2018-04-01T22:48:44Z")
> [@GreysonCarlisle](#): > > ??? - What has that to do with the topic of this thread? It was in response to your post saying that I was “actung [SIC] like the show is a half hour Trump commercial every week. So far, not at all. It just, horror of horrors, includes a Trump voting character.” Which I disputed. Even if it’s not in every episode, the topic of the election is very prominently featured in the first episode, and no way did anyone involved with making this show not think that this was just some off-hand, arbitrary macguffin to get Roseanne and her sister mad at each other. It was a very calculated ploy to piggyback off a hot topic and garner as much before-hand publicity for the show as possible, and hence garner the highest first-episode ratings they could. So, yes, the fact that 18 million viewers IS on topic. Certainly, the Trump himself thought so, since he called Roseanne the next day to congratulate her. Why you think it’s a big dealt that the “Twin Peaks” revival didn’t do as well mystifies me however. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2018, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usually-i-can-separate-art-from-artist-but-cant-watch-roseanne/811550/25 "2018-04-01T22:50:25Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > From [Variety](http://variety.com/2018/tv/features/sara-gilbert-the-talk-roseanne-1202697194/): > > And I’ve seen a few interviews where the other stars said “when Sara called me about this…” OK, I stand correct. > [@](#): > > It had a similar viewership to other big show reboots, so there is no reason to assume Trump was the reason it got good ratings except for your declaration that “it wasn’t that beloved”. I would bet that a massive majority of tv viewers had no idea about Roseanne’s nutty tweeting and Trump association. No way. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2018, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usually-i-can-separate-art-from-artist-but-cant-watch-roseanne/811550/26 "2018-04-01T23:17:43Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > OK, I stand correct. > > No way. Yes way. I follow politics and this was all news to me. The last I had heard of Roseanne she was running for a Green party nomination while slowly going blind in Hawaii and that’s because I specifically looked her up for some other reason. I am sure a fair number of people knew, Trump followers and those who study Trump supporters, but it really wasn’t common knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2018, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usually-i-can-separate-art-from-artist-but-cant-watch-roseanne/811550/27 "2018-04-02T00:24:36Z")
Apparently there is this wingnut Grand Unified Conspiracy Theory called ‘The Storm’ - think Pizzagate, writ large, with dozens of major Democratic figures involved in child abduction and pedophilia. Per this insanity, Mueller’s investigation is a cover-up to hide what’s really going on, which is Mueller and Trump cooperating on an investigation into this massive Democratic pedophilia ring. Eventually Obama will be exposed as a ringleader, and will be shipped off to Gitmo. Total wingnut fantasy shit. And Roseanne is a believer, as evidenced by her tweets. Compared to her, Susan Sarandon looks like a logical thinker. Since I watch essentially zero TV these days, I wasn’t likely to watch the _Roseanne_ reboot anyway. But I’m even less likely to seek it out now. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2018, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usually-i-can-separate-art-from-artist-but-cant-watch-roseanne/811550/28 "2018-04-02T00:39:27Z")
Setting aside his recent artwork, Jim Carrey would have been my answer to the OP until recently. I always thought he had talent hidden away inside somewhere, though it was rarely harnessed properly. (Mask, The Truman Show, and The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind being the rare exceptions). So even though he had married the loathsome Jenny McCarthy and adopted her ridiculous views, I cut him some slack and generally at least tried to watch his performances. Now my opinion of him as both an artist and a person has gone way up. His political artwork is amazing. So I don’t have to hold my nose any more if he makes any more movies. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2018, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usually-i-can-separate-art-from-artist-but-cant-watch-roseanne/811550/29 "2018-04-02T01:14:00Z")
> [@diggerwam](#): > > Usually I can separate the art from the artist. Still love Seven, usual suspects and LA confidential. I know Kevin Spacey is awful person. > > I just can’t allow myself to watch new Roseanne. I liked old one, not for her but for Goodman and Metcalf. But my wife tried to turn it on a couple days ago and I was surprised by my instant negative reaction. > > Other examples of liking or disliking something that, in general, you should be ok with??? > > Am I being silly rejecting this show without even trying it first?? You watch movies with a known sexual predator, but don’t watch a show because the actress voted for the President? Really??? Do you still watch Roman Polanski movies? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2018, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usually-i-can-separate-art-from-artist-but-cant-watch-roseanne/811550/30 "2018-04-02T01:42:22Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > You watch movies with a known sexual predator, but don’t watch a show because the actress voted for the President? Really??? Do you still watch Roman Polanski movies? Well, it’s not like she voted for Bush or Romney. Her vote was inexcusable and disqualifying for anyone ever professing to care about this county. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2018, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usually-i-can-separate-art-from-artist-but-cant-watch-roseanne/811550/31 "2018-04-02T01:53:23Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Well, it’s not like she voted for Bush or Romney. Her vote was inexcusable and disqualifying for anyone ever professing to care about this county. And do you similarly feel that anyone that watches a Kevin Spacey movie or a Roman Polanski movie doesn’t care about victims of sexual predators? ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2018, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usually-i-can-separate-art-from-artist-but-cant-watch-roseanne/811550/32 "2018-04-02T02:45:37Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > It was in response to your post saying that I was “actung [SIC] like the show is a half hour Trump commercial every week. So far, not at all. It just, horror of horrors, includes a Trump voting character.” That’s not something I ever said. I think the droid you’re looking for is **CarnalK**. > [@](#): > > Which I disputed. Even if it’s not in every episode, the topic of the election is very prominently featured in the first episode, and no way did anyone involved with making this show not think that this was just some off-hand, arbitrary macguffin to get Roseanne and her sister mad at each other. It was a very calculated ploy to piggyback off a hot topic and garner as much before-hand publicity for the show as possible, and hence garner the highest first-episode ratings they could. See above. > [@](#): > > So, yes, the fact that 18 million viewers IS on topic. Sure, and so was my rebuttal of your claim. > [@](#): > > Why you think it’s a big dealt that the “Twin Peaks” revival didn’t do as well mystifies me however. I included it because it’s the only other show I know of that’s been revived 30 years on. Had _X-Files_ and _Fuller House_ gotten ratings similar to _Twin Peaks_, then you’d have a point. Since they didn’t, you don’t. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2018, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usually-i-can-separate-art-from-artist-but-cant-watch-roseanne/811550/33 "2018-04-02T04:49:15Z")
The problem is not that Barr is a Trump supporter, but that she’s the worst kind of one. She pushes the conspiracy theories and such. And she used to be far left, which is just a disgusting turn. It does make it hard. It is indeed the fact that the staff is not pro-Trump that is leading to me giving the show a fair shake when it finally is on [ABC.com](http://ABC.com). (Oddly enough, I never found it on other channels. They all just stopped at Season 9, or were fake. I wonder if ABC got out ahead of this or something. Granted, I didn’t try too hard…) ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2018, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usually-i-can-separate-art-from-artist-but-cant-watch-roseanne/811550/34 "2018-04-02T05:35:25Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > Setting aside his recent artwork, Jim Carrey would have been my answer to the OP until recently. I always thought he had talent hidden away inside somewhere, though it was rarely harnessed properly. (Mask, The Truman Show, and The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind being the rare exceptions). So even though he had married the loathsome Jenny McCarthy and adopted her ridiculous views, I cut him some slack and generally at least tried to watch his performances. > > Now my opinion of him as both an artist and a person has gone way up. His political artwork is amazing. So I don’t have to hold my nose any more if he makes any more movies. I think Simon Birch was one of his best. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2018, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usually-i-can-separate-art-from-artist-but-cant-watch-roseanne/811550/35 "2018-04-02T07:00:24Z")
Sara Gilbert has said that they won’t be mentioning Trump going forward. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2018, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usually-i-can-separate-art-from-artist-but-cant-watch-roseanne/811550/36 "2018-04-02T15:33:52Z")
If I’m vehemently anti-Trump, and disgusted by those who can’t see how bad he is simply because he’s _not-Hillary_, and I don’t watch _Roseanne_, does that mean I’m not watching _Roseanne_ because of the titular actress? It’s not like I previously watched _Roseanne_. May have seen an episode or 3 in reruns at most, but that’s it. I was wholly unaware of Ms. Barr’s political leanings prior to the show airing, yet I still had no intentions to watch. I will say, it became more difficult for me to enjoy Adam Baldwin’s work (_Firefly_, _Chuck_, _Daybreak_, _Full Metal Jacket_, and so much more) since I found out he’s out on the loony end of the right wing. However, I don’t avoid these shows because Adam Baldwin acts in them, I avoid them because given watching something I’ve already seen and watching something new, I’ll 99% of the time choose something new. If I find Mr. Baldwin in something new I start watching, I don’t know that I’d not watch it because of him, but it would probably have to clear a higher bar than a show with actors whose grand peccadilloes I am unfamiliar. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2018, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usually-i-can-separate-art-from-artist-but-cant-watch-roseanne/811550/37 "2018-04-02T15:35:53Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > The problem is not that Barr is a Trump supporter, but that she’s the worst kind of one. She pushes the conspiracy theories and such. And she used to be far left, which is just a disgusting turn. It does make it hard. Underline added. There is no other kind. There is no valid justification for supporting Trump. _Perhaps_ you can excuse a vote in 2016 as mere ignorance and wishful thinking. Continuing to support this buffoon is madness. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2018, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usually-i-can-separate-art-from-artist-but-cant-watch-roseanne/811550/38 "2018-04-02T15:45:54Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I don’t mind her character so much, as I can view it as an Archie Bunker kind of thing. We’re supposed to hate her views, and we do. Thing is, Carroll O’Connor was a talented actor. Roseanne Barr is not. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2018, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usually-i-can-separate-art-from-artist-but-cant-watch-roseanne/811550/39 "2018-04-02T17:43:20Z")
Personally, I figure two things. 1. Repeat to yourself it’s just a show, I should really just relax. And this goes to all the fulminating “think-pieces” of the last week. 2. All these revivals can be summed up roughly as follows (example is Roseanne specific, first line is the general case): Back in the 90s I was on a very famous TV show/ I’m Roseanne the Trump fan, Roseanne the Trump fan/ Don’t act like you don’t know I won’t watch because I never really watched the original. That’s a good enough reason for me without dragging politics into it. ---
**Author:** ![Helena330](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helena330/32/531_2.png) [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2018, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usually-i-can-separate-art-from-artist-but-cant-watch-roseanne/811550/40 "2018-04-02T17:59:24Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Thing is, Carroll O’Connor was a talented actor. Roseanne Barr is not. Carroll O’Connor was also separate from Archie Bunker. Roseanne is Roseanne. The other actors must be getting questions about her craziness. It must be difficult. I like them well enough that I’ll still watch. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usually-i-can-separate-art-from-artist-but-cant-watch-roseanne/811550.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usually-i-can-separate-art-from-artist-but-cant-watch-roseanne/811550.md?page=3)