Will someone save Roseanne Barr from herself?
Roseanne’s revival season was canceled yesterday by ABC. You’ve probably heard about that. Two months after airing to a new fresh and strong ratings, the revived 10th season was a revelation for some, and 90’s nostalgic escapism for others.
The consensus about the 10th Roseanne season was that everything worked. The jokes, the chemistry and the topics. The writers even touched some hard core issues ( Islamophobia, illegal immigrant labor, Trump dividing families and even the growing opiate addiction that’s sweeping America now).
But those were timed and calculated things. Roseanne Barr’s Twitter comments were not. ABC decided to part ways with Barr and cancel Roseanne after the star issued a series of toxic tweets, including a racist slur about Valerie Jarrett, a senior aide to President Barack Obama. Yes, she was mean. Yes, she was full of hate (and Ambien apparently). Yes, she was Islamophobic and racist. Yes, she was stupid. But most of all, she was ignorant and uneducated, and i find that very unacceptable.
She’s also been a notorious right wing and Donald Trump supporter for years now, and right there you can notice striking similarities between the two even in their tweeting patterns. They both like to express hatred and disgust towards the minorities, regardless if it’s on racial, ethnic and religious base. They have little regard for the truth or if they’ll insult someone or something, by sharing their Tweets. But was it too hard for her to do a fact check before she published those hurtful things? Just a quick Wikipedia search that would have taken 2-3 minutes of her precious time? And i’m not talking about Valerie Jarrett alone. After the lava of hate on social media, she went after Chelsea Clinton, and it was painful to watch (OK read) the demise of Roseanne Barr.
Oh and speaking of the revived 10th season of Roseanne, i can only imagine how big of a bitter pill the Go Cubs episode must have been to her. She may was eager to defend Trump and his rhetoric during the previous episodes, but this episode was was tough to watch for every right wing lunatic just like Miss Barr. She had a room full of writers (left oriented in the majority i’m sure) that actually wrote that episode, and i’m fairly certain that it didn’t reflect her own thoughts and convictions. If it was left to her, the whole episode would have a different outcome and even wouldn’t been made in the first place. But hey, at least for a while there she was able to swallow her pride and bend her tail between her legs.
I have no sympathy for Roseanne, let me tell you that. I loved the show (not her particularly- just her show) but that notion of adoration is (i think) product of a group effort from some talented people. I have plenty of sympathy for the cast of Roseanne to be honest. With a couple of Tweets, Barr left hundreds of people out of a job. I feel bad for Sara Gilbert, John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf, Lecy Goranson and so many others that are now paying the price of being in the mercy of Roseanne Barr’s shit-storm.
This was not Roseanne’s first smudge in her career and form the looks of it, it won’t be her last. Not with that frame of mind anyway. But before there can be a chance for the Roseanne sitcom to be saved, will someone save Roseanne Barr form herself?
