“It’s all about money and sex,” some of my colleagues quickly remind me whenever there’s another sex-oriented story in the news.
That has become a tacit truism.
There was another example (in fact more than one) in the news throughout 2015. But the truism invariably came to a head (no pun intended) when one of North America’s most popular and famous (some are now saying infamous) celebrity icons, Bill Cosby, was arraigned on a felony charge of aggravated indecent assault on Wednesday, December 30. The charge? Drugging and sexually assaulting a woman at his home 12 years ago.
So when a “breaking news” story interrupted the usual program on local talk radio that Wednesday, I greeted the news that charges will be laid against Bill Cosby in the so-called “sex scandal” with a great big yawn… Actually, I didn’t even do that; I just waited to “get back to regular programming.” I was indifferent, unmoved by the news that, much to the delight of many, Cosby would be standing trial for his alleged sexual proclivities going back decades. [Gloria Allred, the lawyer who has represented 29 women in civil lawsuits against Cosby, called the arraignment “the best Christmas present” her clients have ever received.]
Me? I didn’t feel a thing. For me it was, is and always will be just another high-profile case of “sex” soon to be played out like another television mini-series. Do I hear Emmy nomination?
I’ll be honest, as Mr. Cosby was being led into court by his attorneys I couldn’t help conjuring that image back in December 2003 when American military forces who had invaded, occupied and consolidated their control of Baghdad, Iraq, were hunting down Saddam Hussein. Then victory: “We got him!” A reverberating media sound bite across the world, along with footage of a disheveled and disoriented Saddam being pulled out of his hiding place like a crab.
Having being inoculated with that anti-celebrity serum, when Bill Cosby, accompanied by his legal duo, arrived at the courthouse for his arraignment, I was oblivious. Only because sex stories in the news have become as mundane as the ‘inhumaneness’ we’re seeing and reading about in the news everyday.
Let’s be honest here, it’s not so much that Bill Cosby is alleged to have had (consensual… illicit… extramarital?) sex with a bunch of women; it’s his M.O!
As usual, the self-righteous, virtuous media hypocrites with their access to mikes and cameras always seize the opportunity to spew their moral, virtuous diatribe. A local one during a radio panel discussion used the opportunity to refer to Cosby as “a scumbag.”
How goes the old aphorism? “Let he… she who is without sin…”
My elders did a pretty good job of laying down ‘the foundation’ with me as well as my siblings. I, we, didn’t need celebrity/television personalities to emulate.
Meanwhile, Bill Cosby’s lawyer, Monique Pressley (no relation to Elvis, at least I don’t think so, her name has two ‘ss’ but one never knows; America’s history is rife with black and white unwritten stories of inter-racial… inter-cultural sex) is foaming at the mouth, ready to go to work… She looks like a legal tigress and says she’ll be going all out for her client’s exoneration.
And as the story comes together, a subtext has emerged, politics…. Apparently, a certain DA who refused to investigate the accusations against Bill Cosby was eventually pushed aside during ‘a judicial campaign’ which, let’s say, allowed, a pro-trial one to assume the DA position. The rest of the sex case will begin to emerge on January 14.
“Celebrity culture.” Although, like most people, there are entertaining television shows that I have enjoyed over the years, and a few here and there that, given the interest and enjoyment quotient I would sit down and watch, I for one have never become caught up in (enslaved by) all that escapism. I eventually got wind of what Edward R. Murrow is quoted as saying: “Television is the opiate of the masses.”
Some contend he actually said, “Television is the opiate of the people.”
Look at it any way you like they both mean the same thing.
I for one have never become caught up in (others’) celebrity status, showering them with adulation, veneration and whatnot, like religious figures. Which is why there has never been any of them that I would (want to) emulate. Especially since I came to the understanding that watching all that television is akin to watching people make money.
But here’s the truth, guilty or not, whenever available I will watch Cosby’s I Spy, any Cosby Show rerun, Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids… his movies… Uptown Saturday Night, Let’s Do It Again, A Piece of the Action, etc. I love funny; sex ain’t bad either.
And each time it raises its head, I will again be reminded: “It’s all about money and sex.” I’ve been convinced log ago. Anyone who doesn’t believe it need only do a retrospective of the “sex stories” that have been in the news—last year, the year before… ten years ago… Every year.
Meanwhile, just enjoy the new Bill Cosby Show; it’s coming soon.
