Bill Cosby

[flojocabron]

He knew what he was doing when he zipped down his pants.

What saddens me is that there's a widespread belief that he zipped down his pants at all...let alone the potential context in which he may have done so.

There are celebrities that can bounce back from hardships.

Mr. Cosby may be too old to do this though.

Look at paul reubens aka pee wee herman. He's had a rough and tumble few decades. His failings did ruin his career. His time in that 'certain theater' ruined his image for many people. Not to mention his hobby of collecting male 50's erotica. It didnt help out his image for a few years.

Now, most everyone doesn't care or dont remember about this. He's recovered. But I'm sure he still has some secrets he'd rather not share again.

Celebrities are people too. So it makes it much more harder to find your favorite childhood actor in some serious hot water.

Does Bill cosby have the fortitude to ride this out? Time will tell.

[dsheinem]

But again, these aren't identical cases.

Pee Wee = caught in act associated with his charges
MJ = lots of documented strangeness that was linked to his charges

Cosby = ?

What warrants support the claim?

[Ack]

Is there any/other evidence that he's kind of a "shady" or "strange" person in private?

Well, he was in Leonard Part 6.

[jp1]

In the end it really doesn't matter what debate surrounds it, the damage is already done, justly or unjustly. The same situation with Michael Jackson, until he died. Nobody will ever know the truth but the accused and the accuser(s).

But, see, with Jackson there was a lot of pretty well substantiated "strange" behavior and attitudes/relationships with children that at the very least made the accusations more believable. That's the kind of thing I feel like I am missing with Cosby. What, if anything, do we know about any of this? Do we know if Cosby was, for example, someone who was regularly sleeping around/cheating on his wife in consensual relationships? Do we know that he was in any kind of relationship at all with any of the women accusing him? I've not even heard him say stuff like "yes, we were in a relationship but it was consensual" or the like.

On the other hand Cosby does have a history of advocating for equality, fairness, and other issues that are now labeled as "Social Justice issues" all the time. So yeah - I guess there's some dissonance as regards his public character there that is a component of the reaction I have. Is there any/other evidence that he's kind of a "shady" or "strange" person in private?

We had this discussion about four years ago, remember? I understand where you are coming from, but someone being "strange" by your standards does not equate to them being guilty. The fact is we just don't know, and never will. I'm not discrediting your opinion, I would love to give Cosby the benefit of the doubt as well, just saying that the coin has two sides. Check out your posts in that MJ thread, imagine someone feels the same about Cosby. It is just impossible to make a judgment without facts.

@prfsnl_gmr, I suppose that those are truths accepted by some people. Nice citations on the topic by the way. However, I don't know that your average person feels the same, as so many are keen on vengeance rather than justice. My personal feelings on it bring religion into the equation, which I wasn't keen on doing, so thanks for covering that for me.

[prfsnl_gmr]

@prfsnl_gmr, I suppose that those are truths accepted by some people. Nice citations on the topic by the way. However, I don't know that your average person feels the same, as so many are keen on vengeance rather than justice. My personal feelings on it bring religion into the equation, which I wasn't keen on doing, so thanks for covering that for me.

Oh, they most certainly do not. The mob craves blood!!!!

[flojocabron]

http://uproxx.com/webculture/2014/11/ja ... l-assault/

Its not the most reputable news site, but the stuff quoted in it doesn't help Cosby's cause at all.

All the wild accusations out there may not all be true, but it may point to Bill cosby's sleazyness factor.

How many actors/celebrities right now have a similar bravado? In 30-40 years what popular '10s celebrity will get the rape accusations?

People in the spotlight better hide their $hit better or hire good lawyers.

Or *shudder* hide their bad habits even deeper.

[dsheinem]

The View, as is often the case, has a worthwhile set of ...views...that you should...view..on this case:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/2 ... 93834.html

I'm with Whoopi...

As for MJ, here's the thread. I did come out quite aggressively in that one, which was out of line and rightly called out as such...

http://racketboy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=22447

But here's where, in light of new evidence, I changed my mind in that thread: http://racketboy.com/forum/viewtopic.ph ... 68#p272368

And really that's all I am asking for here. What do we have that can help us make an informed decision on the Cosby situation?

[jp1]

But again, these aren't identical cases.

Pee Wee = caught in act associated with his charges
MJ = lots of documented strangeness that was linked to his charges

Cosby = ?

What warrants support the claim?

I think that's the crux of it. You will have people that take the multiple accusations as proof enough. The same as some of MJ weirdness was enough. PeeWee on the other hand...I mean that dude definitely jerked it in the porn theater, along with I'm guessing the rest of the patrons.

And really that's all I am asking for here. What do we have that can help us make an informed decision on the Cosby situation?

I agree with you on that. Without real proof or something substantial it should be a non starter. Unfortunately, it won't be.

[TSTR]

don't eat your Jello pudding, it might has roofies in it

[Erik_Twice]

I see a lot of potential harm in the public acting as prosecutor, judge and executioner. To me, this applies to Cosby, to Mickael Jackson to the Cards against Humanity guy and to every other person accussed of a crime.

It seems that, increasingly, one can't hold this position without being labeled some kind of enabler or victim-blamer...but I really don't think that my own viewpoint has anything to do with some kind of great love for Cosby, cognitive dissonance, misunderstanding of the gender/power dynamics in instances of sexual assault, celebrity culture, etc. I mean, I teach courses where people are educated about what these things are and consider myself a feminist (in that I advocate for equality across genders and am critical of hegemonies)...but I feel a bit ostracized on this topic.

Feminism has a marked illiberal strain that is specially prevalent on this topic. I think this is where your issues arise from.