We Need to Talk About Cosby

“Hey, hey, hey” it’s the 1970s and Bill Cosby’s on a circuitous path to becoming an on-screen educator and moral authority – a man we thought we could trust. Whether he’s telling kids to say “no” to drugs or allegedly offering pills to young women, Cosby proves himself relentless, and his ambition propels him to new levels of acclaim with 1983’s stand-up special "Himself".

After spending the early aughts perched on the high horse of respectability politics, Cosby falls down to Earth. Hannibal Buress tells a joke in Philadelphia, a chorus of survivors speak out, and a culture is ready to listen. There are two trials, a conviction, incarceration, appeal – and in 2021 – an overturned verdict. Now, we must debate what to do with the art we loved and the larger systemic problems Cosby’s story lays bare.