an outrage for an outrage?
with an “eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” the torah speaks for proportionality for punishment and compensation.
should outrage be proportional?
outrage is tricky. huge outrage can be triggered minor events. fast food restaurants have been victims of epic outrage moments. a happy meal’s missing toy can trigger extreme customer rage. order delays and wrong orders have brought people to the edge…and over…. the outrage is real.
are we capable of moderating our outrage? can we take a step back and bring it down a notch?
before his #metoo allegations, bill cosby was a polarizing figure. he has been smug, opinionated, and acted in fatherly-like manner. in fact, he was referred to as “america’s dad.”
his cosby show was one of the most successful in television history. dr. huxtable and crew portrayed a wonderful and almost perfect family life. to this end, there were those who felt it was utopian and sugarcoated.
in sum, he was not everyone’s cup of jello pudding. portraying a responsible father can be tough. most teens wish to get as far away from such fatherly figures.
mr. cosby’s show success was the casting of wonderful actors. both cast members and recurrent guest actors were excellent. mr. cosby brought amazing talent into his production. mr. cosby’ s cast members, off screen, spent time and had relationships with him. in court, they would be credible character witnesses.
mr. cosby’s tv wife, met outrage when she congratulated mr. cosby on his appellate victory overturning his criminal conviction. she told that she was being insensitive to survivors.
this brings us to the other cosby.
mr. and mrs. cosby’s only son was mr. ennis william cosby. his life was short. when he was 27, mr. ennis william cosby, was murdered. he was shot in the head. his fatal mistake was that his car breaking down in a remote and relatively safe area in los angeles near the university of judaism. an 18 year old ukranian immigrant was eventually caught and convicted.
certainly, this was a moment of outrage and anger for the cosby family. the cosby family had more reasons for upset and outrage.
there was a media feeding frenzy. “journalist howard rosenberg of the los angeles times wrote, “cnn carelessly crossed a line thursday by airing a tasteless close-up of the body of bill cosby’s murdered son, ennis, lying in a pool of blood… will another line be crossed by media badgering his famous father and the rest of his grieving family for comments about his death?” wikipedia.
when it came to seeking justice, ugliness arose. to apprehend the murderer, law enforcement conducted a manhunt. “when the california state governor offered a reward for the capture of the murderer, he was met with criticism. crime victims advocacy group, the doris tate crime victims bureau, also criticized the reward. “it’s offensive,” said kelly rudiger, executive director of the group. “there are many unsolved cases that could be solved with the incentive of cash. this has generated a lot of verbal aggression against gray by our members. they’re asking, ‘why cosby and not smith and jones and brown?'” note: the cosbys may have felt offering a reward as inappropriate because it would be putting a monetary a value to their son’s priceless life.
the cosby family make the best of this tragedy. they set up a foundation dedicated to education inspired by their son. “ennis had been working toward his doctorate in special education at columbia university’s teachers college and also planned to set up a school for children with learning disabilities. he once wrote, “the happiest day of my life occurred when i found out i was dyslexic. i believe that life is finding solutions, and the worst feeling to me is confusion.” ” wikipedia.
now, we move back to the present. being outraged over a someone who has committed sexual assault is legitimate. the outrage crowd, however, is not entirely of victims. there are the survivor supporters. were individual’s right to to seek retribution from cosby’s tv wife, ms. rashad, for tweeting “FINALLY!!! a terrible wrong is being righted – a miscarriage of justice is corrected!” ? howard university, where she works, attempted to distance itself from actress phylicia rashad’s tweet praising bill cosby’s release — saying her post “lacked sensitivity” toward sexual abuse survivors.”
sensitivity? howard university’s comment bear some irony. the cosby family are survivors as well.
the #metoo movement must be aware that their outrage and pain over mr. cosby’s alleged sexual misconduct will never match the cosby family’s outrage and pain from the loss of their beloved son. one of the hardest and saddest things in life is to have to bury one’s own child. mr. cosby, irrespective of whether he is guilty of sexual misconduct, has and will suffer from his son’s loss to the very end. while this tragic loss is not justification for any of his alleged acts, it is a reminder to for those seeking to exact punishment on mr. cosby that their efforts may be futile.
be well!!
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