Do you remember those old high school exams where they would give you quotations from somebody or other in reference to something you had been studying? You'd get this quote and then underneath it would be one word: Discuss.
Well I'm going to play that little game on myself today. There was a great quote in the Globe and Mail today about the state of pop culture from one of the stars of the past. Roseanne.
…It's boring and dull and so prescribed and handpicked. Everybody looks exactly alike. And acts exactly alike. There's no colour, no anything. Look in the magazines. Every girl looks like every other girl, they bore me to death. I'm barely interested in my own life, let alone other peoples'. Especially the young, they have nothing to say whatsoever. They're distractions. They do the job they're supposed to do: Keep everybody from noticing what's going on. It's the whole dumbing-down thing. Roseanne Barr Globe and MailSat. Jan. 28, 06
Before I get started on this process I should admit that I've always had a great deal of respect for Roseanne. True, near the end of her career in the spotlight she started to become almost a parody of herself, and I don't think I could ever quite forgive her for foisting Tom Arnold on the world. But I prefer to remember the early years of her T.V. show before either she or John Goodman became famous.
I don't think there has ever been a show quite like "Roseanne" for its willingness to fly in the face of pretty and generic. Long before Drew Carey and Cleveland, there was Roseanne and Milwaukee. Carey's show was much more conventional than Roseanne in its style of humour and the way it mocked people of that lifestyle. There was always the feeling that we were supposed to laugh at these working stiffs instead of empathise with them.
"Roseanne" was different in that you laughed at things that happened on the show, but hardly ever were the characters held up for ridicule. Their problems were the problems faced by so many people in North America; unemployment, teenage marriages, the struggle to make ends meet, and all the other facets of life that had never shown up on television before.
Roseanne herself was like a breath of fresh air (okay more like a typhoon) just by being who she was and not making fun of it. She had to be the first woman of size on television that was shown to be sexually active and the object of physical attraction for a partner. The best thing about that is that it was never made into a big deal. It was just the attraction between a husband and wife like on any other sit-com.
Long before it became fashionable "Roseanne" opened the closet door on her show and had a Lesbian as a main character. The show dealt with issues that were hardly ever seen on television, and not just controversial ones, but real ones.
Article comments
1 - Geek's Girl
This was a very well written and thought out piece gypsyman - thank you.
2 - Bliffle
Any of the famous celebrities I've seen at the grocery checkout counter seem to lead really boring lives. I think they're pallid imitations of the celebrities of years past. Yes, boys and girls, we have a celebrity gap.
What happened? Why are todays celebs such bores? Is it the water? Did fluoridation ruin American gossip? It's gotten so bad that I find that even MY life is more interesting than Brad Pitts! When I reflect on my own misspent history, usually only involuntarily in the dark of sleepless night when the devils of conscience appear to torment me, while I'm properly shamed at my transgressions and misdemeanors, I also have to smile at the great fun I had and the rewards of life experience and exploration.
Even celebrity miscreants seem to be one-note sinners. Maybe they spent 10 years strung out on heroin. Duh. So, they were blotto for 10 years.
Maybe I should write an autobiography. Nah, nobody would believe it.
3 - Don Baiocchi
"Roseanne and Milwaukee"? Any "Roseanne" fan knows the show was set in Lanford, Illinois, which was outside Chicago. Tsk tsk.
Otherwise, great post.
4 - Pat Fish
I love pop culture.
But I don't love pop culture because I really care.
No I don't care who Brad Pitt is having a baby with. But I'll forever be fascinated by how the celebrated arrange their lives so that they can grab the headlines. The whole process fascinates me.
Jennifer Aniston has had her tits shown in every major publication yet she continues to assert photographers are catching her unawares.
Captain Kirk sells his kidney stone on E-Bay and I scratch my head in amazement. Anything, absolutely anything, to keep the name out there, to hang onto a fading career, to be considered for the next role.
Hey, it's how they make a living. I smirk at all the silliness and wonder how low they will go.
It's fun to watch people make fools of themselves. Especially when they are making fools of themselves on purpose.
5 - A.L. Harper
Excellent piece! I'm impressed with your depth and sensitivity. One might think this subject had touched you in a personal way.
I think the reason that “celebrity culture” has gotten so out of hand is that it isn’t as ugly as what has been going on in the real world for that last 5 years. It’s easier to look at than what is really out there. We have created it so that we have something to distract us but I don’t think that it is, in itself, a distraction unless we want it to be. It’s just too boring and pointless to be.
6 - Scott Butki
Wonderful piece. It's not every day you get something this weighty and thoughtful about a woman known for grabbing her crotch during a baseball game.