The Cosby Show

Here is one of my old film papers about the Cosby Show episode, "Hillman".  


The Cosby Show

While The Cosby Show has been lauded as one of the greatest sitcoms in television history, it hasn’t been a show without controversy.  The article The Cosby Show: The View From the Black Middle Class by Leslie Inniss and Joe Feagin bring up the very mixed views that the black middle class audience had about the shows’ depiction of that particular lifestyle.  One issue it had was with the idea that the only image of blacks on television was that of a clown and that their issues were only portrayed in a humorous fashion (Inniss 707).  In short, people only care about black issues when Cosby makes with the funny.  Humor brings accessibility to the problems, but it takes away any notion of gravity by coupling it with a funny solution.  Cosby does present a serious approach to black issues like in the “Hillman” episode.   This episode dealt with the importance of historically black colleges and is presented in a sincere fashion.  There was no slapstick sitcom humor there.

That last sentence was a kind of a lie.  There were some moments of levity, but they were dealt with very quickly in the first part of the episode.  Getting the family ready to leave for Hillman and Lisa Bonet fixing up her dorm are the sole moments of levity.  The rest of the episode deals with the president of Hillman stepping down after 53 years of service.  The crux of this episode is given through two presidential speeches and a choir performance.  The speeches by the outgoing and incoming presidents speak to the importance of this college and on a more holistic level, that of historically black schools.  The incoming president discusses all the other opportunities given to her, but her only reason for brushing them aside is because “Hillman is Hillman”.  Her sense of duty and loyalty to the institution that gave her a start is what shines through in her speech.  The most important goal to her is to continually improve the institution and community that made her who she is today.  Keeping a historically black college strong is what matters to her.

The outgoing president also addresses his issues with an un-sitcom-like gravity when he discusses his sense of community.  His message of do good unto to other members of Hillman doesn’t just speak to the issue of helping out fellow alumni.  It goes back to the idea of strengthening and upholding the strong community Hillman has created.  His speech is about keeping a unity and a bond as strong as possible.  His speech is about the power people have when they keep their sense of community strong, especially one fostered at a place like Hillman.  An issue of keeping the black community strong and proud is not something taken lightly a Cosby Show episode.  There are no laugh lines during his speech and everything is played for that of a drama rather than a comedy.

The last complaint in the “Black Life Only as Comedy” section (Inniss 707) is that blacks as clowns continues to be the main image that is portrayed (Inniss 707) in television.  That may be true for early in the episode, but during the later choir scene that statement retreats to the background.  During the scene, Claire Huxtable takes center stage and leads the choir through a song.  She doesn’t mess up or do anything stupid and the show presents a sincere moment of talent and seriousness for a major character.  Claire is no longer the working mother/ long suffering wife, but a more developed character.  She has a skill and a personality outside that of a typical sitcom role.  She is given a serious and important role and the show treats her with dignity and respect.

In conclusion, while The Cosby Show is a sitcom and it does display many of the trapping of the genre, it does have genuine moments of emotion and reflection.  It is not all about pudding pops and the sweaters that are making a comeback on the hipster scene.  The show can move in and out of dramatic moments with ease and make statements of great importance.  The endorsement of historically black colleges was one done with minimal sitcom stylings which made the episode stand out.  In the words of Dr. Bill Cosby, it was a “program with the jokes and the seriousness and my wife Camille and blizzle blop and pudding pops” (he says that right?).      

Works Cited
Inniss, L. B., and J. R. Feagin. "The Cosby Show: The View From the Black Middle                                     Class." Journal of Black Studies 25.6 (1995): 692-711. Print.