I find it pathetic when relatively obscure people say outrageous or offensive things just to generate media “buzz.” This, of course, is standard fare on Twitter.
Even more pathetic, though, is when social and mainstream media lap it up like Pavlovian dogs, causing that outrageous and offensive blather to go “viral.”
I suspect this tail-wagging-the-dog media phenomenon is what relatively unknown comic Hannibal Buress dreamed of, when he began including controversial jokes in his act about Bill Cosby publicly lecturing men about good behavior, while privately raping women.
So here’s to his dream fulfilled:
Comedian Hannibal Buress caused a stir this week when jokes he made about rape allegations against Bill Cosby…
Buress said that this is the first time in his 13-year comedy career that his material has generated major controversy.
(Huffington Post, October 21, 2014)
No Shit.
Except that, in this case, besides stirring up controversy for viral fame, Buress is speaking truth to power … even if unwittingly. Never mind that his material seems a little stale to those of us who were raising concerns about Cosby’s alleged Jeckyll and Hyde behavior almost 10 years ago.
Last February, Bill Cosby – ‘America’s favorite TV Dad’ (and faithful husband) – escaped prison when prosecutors investigating allegations of sexual assault concluded that they did not have sufficient evidence to convict him, beyond a reasonable doubt, at trial.
But no one thought that was the end of the story…
Lawyers for his accuser filed motion in court for 10 more women to give evidence of similar sexual assaults that Cosby allegedly perpetrated against them too…
This case seems likely to typecast him forever as a predatory sexual wolf despite his (trademark) sheepish grin.
(“10 More Women Accuse Bill Cosby of Sexual Assault … Rape,” The iPINIONS Journal, April 23, 2005)
But this quote below, which the Deseret News attributed to Cosby in its July 12, 2013, edition, might explain how he has coped all these years with suspicions that America’s most famous TV Dad is probably its most notorious rapist too:
If you can find humor in anything, you can survive it.
Here’s to humor then; er, and a Cosby-size bank account to pay off accusers too, I suppose….
Related commentaries:
Cosby serial rapist…
Legacy Note: With over 5,600 posts spanning 20 years, I am easily the most prolific blogger on the most eclectic array of topics on the web. That makes The iPINIONS Journal an unparalleled archive of informed political and cultural commentary. Visit the ARCHIVES section in the sidebar or search by topic. You won’t find a more consistent, independent voice on world affairs.