The highly-renowned sitcom show Roseanne, initially released in 1988 on ABC, saw apparent success with its revival on March 27th of this year. Throughout the years, the show has been praised for its representation of the working class American family (albeit the white working class American family), and for giving them a place in media during a time when blue-collar families were not well-represented. When people watched Roseanne, they felt an easy connection to the obstacles the family encountered. One particular episode, which is often referenced, hit home with a lot of viewers; the power shuts off when the Connors aren’t financially capable of paying their bill. However, since the reboot’s launch earlier this week it has received tons of backlash--primarily because Roseanne Barr, an avid Trump supporter outside of television, has instilled her political views within the Connor family, too. It’s not the fact that a far-right conservative family is being represented in today’s media that bothers me, it’s the values that the sheer presence of it will inevitably promote.
The idea behind this “creative” decision was to put forth the notion that a working class family like the Connors might support Trump due to their demographics. However, when Roseanne Barr was asked about this choice in an interview by NY Times writer Patrick Healy, she said, “I just wanted to have that dialogue about families torn apart by the election and their political differences of opinion and how we handle it. I thought that this was an important thing to say at this time.” Many fans of the Roseanne of the nineties would highly disagree. One of them, Dan Fisher, writes, “Roseanne never identified with her oppressors the way working class white Trump voters identify with Donald Trump and his cabinet of billionaires. Whether it was her abusive father, her exploitative foreman...or any of the wealthy people she encountered, Roseanne Conner neither trusted them, nor did she make excuses for them.” On top of that, what was once a charming and relatable sitcom, now feels forced and unfamilar. Rob Sheffield, a writer for Rolling Stone, argues that “It's the ultimate Trumpian fantasy: an obedient America where everybody shuts up, falls in line and surrenders peacefully to our new lords and masters. Yet the new show tries so hard to be heart-warming, it never finds any heart.” Though the premiere accumulated about 18 million viewers, I don’t believe that everyone who tuned in that day really expected to see the kind of episode that was aired--and I don’t think those people wanted a show they once held in high regard to display support for someone as openly bigoted as Trump.
Unsurprisingly, Trump jumped at the chance to boast about Roseanne ratings at the end of his speech in Ohio on the 28th. In a video clip found on CNN, Trump shouts to the audience, “Look at Roseanne...look at her ratings! I got a call from my friend...he said, ‘Donald I called just to say hello, and to tell you, did you see Roseanne’s ratings?...they were unbelievable...and it was about us.’” He even briefly mentioned a phone call with Roseanne Barr herself, though didn’t elaborate further. However, Trump's acknowledgement of the show only brings further discomfort. For one thing, it’s no secret that Trump breeds fear and hate mongering within his supporters. He continuously fuels racism and discrimination by putting forth a “them” versus “us” mentality--remember when he tried to ban travelers from predominantly Muslim countries? He strives to separate the word “American” away from the word “Immigrant." He perpetuates stereotypes against Mexican immigrants, referring to many of them as drug-smugglers and rapists, and just earlier this year he referred to Haiti and African countries as “shitholes;” inevitably insinuating that the people who come from these countries are bad. It's Trump's rhetoric that gives those with hateful intent a way to feel validated. Giving Trump and his supporters a place on a well-known TV show will only allow this kind of rhetoric to thrive.
The open support for Trump isn’t the only thing that makes the Roseanne revival concerning, it’s also Roseanne’s own political activity. She has been known to be vocal about, as well as spread, far-right conspiracy theories, and recently came under-fire for tweeting in favor of a conspiracy theory against Parkland School shooting survivor, David Hogg. The tweet has since been deleted, but was shown to have said the words “Nazi Salute” in reference to a photo of Hogg with his fist in the air at a March For Our Lives rally--though the raised fist gesture universally signifies solidarity and perseverance.
Considering her extreme political stance, and blatant moral corruption, supporting Roseanne is not something I will be doing. It’s okay to represent people with different perspectives, political included, but when those views are promoted by, not only a person, but a president who consistently excludes and alienates people of all kinds, that does not enforce a message of tolerance and acceptance to the nation. It's simply unproductive. Unfortunately, a show that was once considered a pioneer of its time has regressed even further, and is just another huge disappointment in Trump's America.
