Dear Politics: Get Over Yourself. ‘Roseanne’ Was Never About You [OPINION]
I'm truly stumped as to how one of my all-time favorite shows became a political talking point.
This is one of our biggest problems, America, and it's nothing to be proud of - somehow, everything from TV shows being cancelled to the NFL has become about politics.
This is NOT okay, and we need to fight back.
Just because a politician has an opinion on something, doesn't mean that it's a political issue. We all have such a disdain for politicians nowadays, so WHY do we give their personal opinions so much clout?
Yes, I care what a politician thinks about healthcare. Or taxes. Or roads. Or laws.
I do NOT care what a politician thinks about a TV show. And the cancelling of Roseanne has nothing to do with politics - it has to do with common decency. Sorry, politics - this isn't about you.
Racism exists. It's sad, but it's true. And you can spin until it fits your narrative, but this is a racist tweet. That's all there is to it.
This isn't about politics; this about Roseanne Barr using her power and influence as an excuse to say whatever she wants. I have racists in my family that say awful things at the holiday dinner table - we all just roll our eyes and tell them that it's not cool. But when you've been famous for 40+ years and have 700,000 Twitter followers, you have a platform. And if you don't use it wisely, there are consequences to your actions.
ABC is owned by Disney, the most family-friendly company on the planet. It was THEIR CHOICE to cancel the show. It had nothing to do with politics. I saw people on the right saying that it was cancelled because she's a Trump supporter, and I saw people on the left gloating that "they" got the show cancelled.
Both of those are ludicrous statements.
I've seen every episode of the show multiple times. I was stoked when I found out that it was coming back. I EVEN MADE A T-SHIRT.
I don't agree with Roseanne's political views, but what the heck does that have to do with my watching her TV show? It's not MSNBC or Fox, it's a sitcom. I don't watch it for politics. I watch it because it's funny. It's relatable.
The fact that the show itself became a political pundit made me furious. THIS IS WHY WE'RE DIVIDED, MY FRIENDS. Take control of the narrative. Don't let somebody else tell you what to think.
I don't like Roseanne as a person. I loved her show. And I'm sad to see it go. I'm also sad to see so many people "normalize" the racism she exhibited in her tweet. Racism isn't a political issue, either. It's hateful, and that's it.
I hope losing her show was worth the impulsive, hateful, racist tweet that she sent out and deleted. She's not keeping any friends here - there's a lot of people out of work now who don't have a Roseanne-sized fortune to back them up.
Roseanne, the show, has always touched on hot-button issues. And that's why I loved it. It was REAL. It dealt with marital problems. Parenting problems. Drug problems. Financial problems. Family problems. Sexual problems. And they did it with a snark and smile.
I loved the reboot because the characters aged with us without talking down to us. But, like it or not (and I definitely do NOT like it), we don't pay Rosie's paycheck. And the company that employed her has every right to control the image of their network.
Yes, you can say whatever you want, whenever you want. That's part of our free country. However, words have consequences.
If you know the history of the show, she's always been a "my way or the highway" type of person. That worked the first time around, but not this time. And I can't blame ABC, or Disney, for cancelling the show.
Not everything is about politics, even if the talking heads tell us otherwise.
And may I point this out for a final thought - I take Ambien every night, and I've never fired off a racist tweet because of it. Nice try though, Rosie.