UNITED STATES
Boston Glob
By Ty Burr GLOBE STAFF
APRIL 27, 2018
It isn’t he said/she said (and she said and she said) anymore. It is legal fact. A jury found Bill Cosby guilty on Thursday of three counts of aggravated indecent assault against Andrea Constand in January 2004, and his crimes against women can no longer be dismissed as “allegations.” Pending his attorneys’ stated intention to appeal, Cosby, 80, is likely going to prison. It’s very possible he’ll end his days there. His career was already over. Now it’s over and out.
So what do we do with his legacy?
Forget about watching episodes of “The Cosby Show,” or listening to the comedy albums, or watching reruns of the old “Fat Albert” cartoons as anything approaching entertainment. Even Jell-O is looking a little sketchy at the moment, and don’t think about Pudding Pops. You cannot be entertained by what has been so profoundly tainted (or if you can, many of us don’t want to know you). But there’s a resume of social and cultural accomplishment that somehow has to be squared with the most profound personal evil.
We’re a species that likes to divide people into heroes and villains and we get extremely uncomfortable when the lines are blurred. Unfortunately, that is where life often happens — somewhere in the middle.
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