make that mistake. I think that one of the things about this whole situation that troubles me most is that he also holds advanced degrees in Psychology and Child Development, if memory serves, only enhancing his public "persona." If these accusations are true, and it's becoming very difficult to believe otherwise, he could certainly have used all of that knowledge to manipulate and intimidate women. I can hear it: "Who's gonna believe you? I've got an Ed D. and fifty years of acclaim under my belt."

Who and what he was, is a very disturbing if the allegations are true.

to others who have replied in this thread.

People really seem to be confused by this.
Just because someone plays a lovable character, doesn't meant that someone is a lovable person.

By Wednesday, with so many women coming forward, I had felt like I was kicked in the gut. I'm over it now.

The characters that Bill Cosby played, were wonderful. Bill Cosby himself though, is a very sick person.

Hopefully most will wake up and realize what you have said.

I watch characters, not actors. I often confuse different actors for each other, since I really pay no attention to who is playing a role. Good actors portray characters well enough that I can identify with the character, rather than pay any attention to who is playing the role. It drives my wife nuts, since she is always interested in the actor more than the character and knows the names of every actor who has played a character well.

There are exceptions. There are some actors whose work I follow, because it is always excellent, but they're the exception.

I saw a news report that said TV Land pulling the Cosby Show reruns.

I don't know what to think of that myself. I've been going back and forth about it. There must be other people who would negatively be affected by pulling the show. People who have nothing to do with his actions. And it's not like he's even been convicted of anything. But I can see reasons why, including sponsors not wanting to pay for a show with his name on it.

I very much appreciate the point of your OP.

I don't watch old television shows. I saw them when they ran for the first time, and don't have time to waste watching them again. So, I guess I don't really care if they run or not.

At the same time, it would be difficult for me to watch them now, anyhow, knowing what I've learned. That would color my viewing very markedly, I'm afraid.

Jimmy Savile, the British comedian, was a horrific predator but because of his fictional character and 'charity' work, the public refused to believe that he was anything other than what he wanted people to believe.

"Sure, there were rumors. Whispers that he wasn’t everything he seemed. Murmurs he was really a sexual predator and had abused dozens of children. But they never stuck. Not Jimmy Savile, people told themselves — not “fix-it Jim.”"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/06/27/how-bbc-star-jimmy-savile-got-away-with-allegedely-abusing-500-children-and-sex-with-dead-bodies/

I hadn't really thought of that, but I suppose it's playing a role in how people view the recent news about this actor. Too bad.

Beloved fictional characters ,! Actually Mark Twain saw his characters as his children more so real than not,or real as real can be ! I think the point being is the character can and sometimes does take on a life of it's own ! Pardon me but beloved characters caught my eye ! And as you know Mark Twain was also known in his day in a beloved sense as a humorist/lecturer.Somewhat of a stand up comedian by todays standards .

The thing about the truth is, it is not all about entertainment. All the actors in hollywood land are like a bunch of spoiled brats and thats da truth.

To this day I wonder how it would be doing 90 miles per hour down hill and getting a blow out in one tennis shoe . Crosby also came into the home by way his albums -he was a phonograph hit too,even before I spy .

The actor becomes the character and the character takes on some of the actors personality.Therefore some of the character is the actor in the parson of. Actors slip in and out of character. Sometimes it goes on for years.

Life in L.A.

I can speak standard English fairly well, I don't care to speak it like a middle class white lady, but I can if I chose I rarely do so though. I prefer to speak in a more organic way for lack of a better term ie I speak like the people who are around me. Sometimes it takes a minute to pick up their accent, sometimes I accidentally offend them if they think I am mocking their accent, but since it's automatic at this point offence is never intended.

I get funny looks sometimes though when I talk about "cultured" things.

Notice that the most morally sanctimonious people tend to be the worst offenders (in more than one sense of that word?) when it comes to immoral, evil behavior?

Many a televangelist or priest or right-wing politician has utilized their privileged position in society to lecture others about morality while living completely immoral and unethical (and in many cases, criminal and predatory) lives. Not a coincidence.

I was at a business conference where he was the paid featured speaker at a banquet that wrapped up the conference. He rambled on and on, and I finally simply grew tired of him. So, I stood up and left the banquet room. I don't remember what it was that he said that finally wore out my patience, but I found him boring and trite and far too long-winded to suit my mood that evening.

Too often people get Reality and facts Twisted. Media has made that possible. Look at Faux News viewers they are a prime example of distorted reality.

I tend to ignore their real personas. I don't really care about their opinions, mostly. I may enjoy their performances, but leave it at that. Separating fiction from reality seems to me to be an important thing to do.

You mention Fox News. That's seldom close to representing reality, so I simply never see it. I can't imagine that there's anything to learn there, and it's too much work to pick the information from the opinions. I don't consider Fox News to be anything even close to resembling news at all.

I'm old-fashioned. I want my news presented as just what happened. I can form my own opinions about it without the assistance of people about whom I know little. Pundits are not my favorite people, to put it mildly. That's why my television viewing rarely includes any news commentary programming.

we have seen of people just being here as long as I have I really don't see how anyone could see hardly anything in this life as a coincidence. But I found that there are quite a few individuals who just aren't reality based. Even as a child I knew when things didn't add up. But to see adults good and grown in fantasy America, is still astounding to me.

Or, that John Wayne wasn't really a cowboy?

Or, that Edward G. Robinson wasn't really a gangster?

It's ridiculous to conflate actors and their roles.

distinction. I find that sad.

is their every day persona.

There are those out there that confuse their soap opera and sitcom characters with the actors who play them, but I doubt if that many of them post at DU.

Frankly, he always gave me a creepy vibe. If I had been a kid and a creepy character like him had offered me a pudding pop I would have run screaming in the opposite direction.

I think deep inside I want to believe that a person who is creative has a good soul, but this is not always true.
And, as a person at the bottom of the economic scale, it is hard to imagine having the power of money and not having to worry anymore about bills and being able to do whatever you want financially, but then using that power for bad things. But, people do it all the time, it's just hard for me to understand. If you had all that, why would you abuse that power, or have the desire for more.
Listening to Cosby talk on his albums about being a kid, that always hit so close to home. He thought just like I did about being a kid! So it is difficult to accept he did not grow up into a person like me!
I enjoy your posts Mineral Man because you help see things simply, and that's good because I tend to over analyze things!
I have learned to accept worst things! And always learned from it!

do with the integrity or goodness of a person, generally. I've always been saddened to learn that someone with great talents is actually an asshole in real life. I've learned that so many times, though, that I now separate the person from their work and treat them as though the two things are only very tenuously connect.

I'm sorry for all of us who loved the persona that turned out to be just an endearing disguise. I don't know how else to say it.

I hope the Huxtables can somehow live on, though. That show was and is brilliant, even though it is just ... a show. It had positive impact.

Thanks for your OP. I have rigorously avoided all the others, muted the tv during those portions of the newscasts. It's too sad for words.

Dr. Huxtable, given the circumstances. That's unfortunate, but it seems likely.

Truly.

some of us he NEVER fooled

Cosby falls very far from grace and that hurts us all for many reasons .