By Irene F. Starkehaus -
Bill Cosby, perhaps the most iconic TV dad of the 1980s and outspoken critic of the deteriorating condition of the African American family, stands accused by multiple women of being a serial rapist. Prior to these accusations, Cosby was positioning an evolving political perspective that tended toward social conservatism. Although it is unlikely that he considers himself a Republican, he espouses an almost Tea Party-like affinity for moral clarity in our culture, and preaches steadfastly for economic self-sufficiency within the African American community.
At the time of this writing, the scandal is rolling along with the accusation and information gathering phase, and it still remains to be seen whether Cosby is guilty of rape. There's nothing to be gained in belaboring that point of innocence or guilt with gossip and conjecture. Within this space and time, Bill Cosby is a little like Schrödinger's cat. He's both guilty and innocent until the public's final judgment.
So instead of reveling in the innuendo that will likely undo Cosby's well-crafted public persona and leave him ruined – because guilty or no, he will forever be a punch line to the Left's tale of hypocrisy about social conservatism – let us consider the question, "Why now?"
Some of these accusations are more that forty years old. Supposedly, a fair number of people have known about the allegations for decades. Why are we hearing about Bill Cosby right now when the information would have reaped more germane results some twenty to thirty years ago? Does the scandal serve a bigger purpose?
Rape is a horrific act of violence. If Cosby is guilty of rape, the treachery within those acts has a multiplying and cascading effect that's difficult to calculate because it involves betrayal of the alleged victims, their families and the public trust. It would be right to condemn him if he is guilty. Many, however, will censure him regardless of the scandal's outcome. They will be quick to judge and denounce.
As a result of the disgrace, perhaps we will be treated to a timely and always invigorating rehash about the subjugation of women throughout history. Maybe we'll see a few commercials à la the NFL from the Ad Council decrying violence against women with the usual Lena Dunham types pouting their way through lectures on misogyny. What we won't see discussed by the purveyors of pop culture is the systemic corruption of said pop culture that allows serial rapists to exist in Hollywood circles for as long as they play ball with their political discourse.
This is the foundational concern that we must flesh out in order to win the culture war. Politically speaking, the Bill Cosby scandal may be more than what it seems. If he is guilty, Bill Cosby represents only what we will be permitted to see by the people who manufacture image. He will be tossed out of a circle of protection that exists in Hollywood and ultimately lends sanctuary to rapists and pedophiles and fornicators and polluters and tax evaders and drug users and pornographers and on and on and on throughout the entertainment industry. That circle of protection exists to obscure the sludge and debauchery that is the epitome of modern celebrity from the disapproving eyes of what progressives deem socially conservative hypocrites who preach morality.
Amy Berg is most famous for her Oscar winning documentary entitled Deliver Us from Evil which won rave reviews for exposing and profiling the Catholic Priest scandal back in 2004. You see why she's celebrated. Catholic Priests preach against rape and pedophilia and fornication and pollution and drug use and pornographers and abortion and contraception and on and on and on. When a Catholic Priest breaks a commandment and the law, he is a hypocrite of the highest order and that's useful. He can be made a tool for discrediting all Catholic Priests so that the priesthood becomes the punchline for every hypocrisy joke aimed at religion.
Now Berg has a new documentary about celebrity sex abuse called An Open Secret and for this, she struggled for months looking for a venue to premier it…not as much enthusiasm this time around. It's an interesting juxtaposition.
Additionally, Corey Feldman released his memoire entitle Coreyography back in 2013 detailing the sexual abuse that he and deceased friend Corey Haim endured. Quoting from a 2013 HuffPo article by Cavan Sieczkowski:
On the 1986 set of "Lucas," Haim told Feldman that "an adult male convinced him that it was perfectly normal for older men and younger boys in the business to have sexual relations, that it was what all the guys do. So they walked off to a secluded area between two trailers ... and Haim allowed himself to be sodomized," Feldman wrote.
Both Feldman and Haim turned to drugs and suffered from severe depression over what was "allegedly" done to them. Haim died in 2010. While the coroner ruled out drug overdose in his report, Haim had a history of prescription drug abuse that may have led to his pulmonary edema, which was the official COD.
Soon after Haim's death, Feldman explained to ABC's Nightline that "there's one person to blame in the death of Corey Haim, and that person happens to be a Hollywood mogul". Who? Who is this mogul? Do you know? Somebody knows. I'll bet that lots of somebodies know. Why haven't we heard more about it? Well, I'll just bet that the Hollywood mogul gives money to all the preferred charities and throws all of the preferred parties and is a member in good standing of the preferred political party.
I suspect we won't hear too much about that Hollywood mogul unless he steps out of line.
And then there's Roman Polanski. Quoting now from Wikipedia:
In March 1977, film director Roman Polanski was arrested and charged in Los Angeles with five offenses against Samantha Gailey, a 13-year-old girl– rape by use of drugs, perversion, sodomy, lewd and lascivious act upon a child under 14, and furnishing a controlled substance to a minor. At his arraignment Polanski pleaded not guilty to all charges, but later accepted a plea bargain whose terms included dismissal of the five initial charges in exchange for a guilty plea to the lesser charge of engaging in unlawful sexual intercourse.
According to Wikipedia, Polanski once offered the following quote to novelist Martin Amis in an interview:
"If I had killed somebody, it wouldn't have had so much appeal to the press, you see? But… f—ing, you see, and the young girls. Judges want to f— young girls. Juries want to f— young girls. Everyone wants to f— young girls!"
Isn't he charming? I guess he must be. Polanski continues to receive honors and awards for his work in film. He received an Academy Award in 2003 for his film, "The Pianist" and you can watch as Hollywood's elite offer him a standing ovation that exudes derision for the moral hypocrites who keep their great artist from ever stepping foot on American soil:
He was also offered but declined a prestigious award from the upcoming Locarno Film Festival. According to Variety online, not only was he to be honored, but he was to provide a “masters” class instructing film students on, among other subjects, the importance of aversion to dogmatism…Lord help us.
Right there. That’s the key to why Polanski is celebrated, and that’s why we are going to be made to care about the Cosby scandal when Hollywood, the Left, pop culture and – by extension – the country ignore the identical behaviors oozing from every orifice of the entertainment industry’s morally bankrupt paradigm routinely.
Bill Cosby was gaining momentum with African Americans and with conservative voters as he brought to light the self-destruction that broken families create within the increasingly progressive culture. True or not, the rape allegations were lying in wait. They were kept under wraps until they were needed, and they were needed so that Cosby can be made a tool for discrediting African Americans who try to escape their masters. He preached self-reliance and now becomes the punchline for every hypocrisy joke aimed at black conservatives.