Why Cosby spells the end of the pop culture role model

Stars are not role models.

If you didn’t know that before this week, the news that Bill Cosby is an alleged serial rapist should finally put to rest the notion that we can expect celebrities to be good influences on our children. If you can’t even depend on “America’s dad,” then there’s no public figure you can trust.

That doesn’t mean you and your kids can’t watch “The Cosby Show” in reruns. TV Land may have cancelled them, but don’t feel guilty about ordering them on Amazon. With all of the bad reality TV and unfunny, inappropriate comedies on primetime television these days, “Cosby” stands out as one of the best, most wholesome bits of pop culture left. I, for one, will be happy to let my kids watch the Huxtables till they are ready for college.

It’s not because I don’t believe Bill Cosby is guilty of multiple felonies. The evidence on that front looks pretty damning. It’s just that Hollywood and professional sports are filled with jerks, narcissists and criminals. Maybe among celebrities the proportion of rapists and child abusers is the same as in the rest of the population. But it certainly seems a lot higher. We must separate what happens on the field or in fiction from real life, otherwise we’d need to boycott popular entertainment all together.

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