Couldn’t have said it better myself, Bill. Image via Washington Times

So here we are again: it turns out that another much loved celebrity is actually a huge jerk.

This time, it’s America’s sweetheart Bill Cosby. The case against Cosby is equal parts strange and sickening. Once the most beloved sitcom dad on television, Cosby’s reputation has recently taken a hit as several rape allegations have been fired against him. The strange part is that these allegations have been public for almost thirty years, yet I didn’t find out about it until recently. Somehow, he found a really good publicist who managed to sweep all this dirt under the rug. Apparently, they didn’t do a thorough enough job cleaning.

Thanks to the power of the internet, no crime can ever be forgotten. Recently, Bill Cosby’s Twitter page asked fans to “meme” him. I am assuming that whoever runs Cosby’s social media is a 90-year-old man who lives in Palm Beach with a very loose grasp of how the internet works. Anyway, that person is probably fired now, given that people shot back with a series of memes that all referenced Cosby’s rape allegations. It was a darkly funny way to bring an important issue to light. It also reminded that despite all the anti-Semites, racists, and misogynists, internet democracy is an amazing thing and worth fighting for.

Since the memes surfaced, the Washington Post published a must-read account from a victim. A few days later, Cosby went on NPR and was given the chance to defend himself. Instead, he refused, and the reporter had to keep explaining that Cosby was shaking his head no. As you can imagine, this is not the best way to try and gain public sympathy.

First off, let’s drop the word “alleged” from now on. While Cosby has never been found guilty, there is enough evidence against him in the court of Twitter to find him guilty. That’s right: grab your torch and pitchforks! It’s time for a good old fashioned celebrity witch hunt! But actually, to discount the case against him at this point is to bring in the nasty game of victim shaming.

Now, this is especially difficult because of Cosby’s reputation. This is Cliff Huxtable we’re talking about. Thinking of him as America’s most beloved TV dad now feels downright gross. It is always difficult to separate actors from their public personas. Here, it is even tougher. This can relate to many similar dilemmas. And no, I will talk about the recent Lena Dunham controversy. I have read the passage in question, and using it to link her to child molestation is downright insane. The conservative blog that accused her of this should be ashamed. And so should I. I will now give myself 50 lashes for voting for a Republican this past election day.

It might seem a bit more fitting to compare Cosby to Woody Allen. Woody Allen was accused of molesting his stepdaughter in 1993. The case resurfaced earlier this year. Many people said they would never watch one of his movies again. It is an understandable reaction, and I thought about doing the same. Yet, I watched Stardust Memories a few weeks ago, and still enjoyed it. I just have this feeling that watching a Cosby Show rerun is going to feel weird now. This is not to say that one person committed a worse crime than the other (both are heinous), but instead to say that this shows the difference between artist and human says a lot.

Both Allen and Cosby are loosely autobiographical comedians. What we see of them onscreen is therefore very close to how they could be in real life. Yet, in reality, we know nothing, Jon Snow. Cosby, both on and off screen, has tried to be a role model. He has spoken about how important education is, and how evil swearing is. Because Cosby has painted himself to be such a saint, his past crimes seem all the worse. While Woody Allen might use his art to make fun of himself, Cosby uses his art to deify himself. It is as if his comedic integrity is now being called into question. There are a lot of artists who have done terrible things, but it is very possible that you can be forgiven if you don’t go around lecturing people all the time.

The camcorder is mightier than the pen which is mightier than the sword. Image via Deadline

WARNING: This review contains spoilers for real life. Do not read this review if you are an idiot.

Hold the phone, are you telling me that they let a comedian direct a serious movie? What’s next? Dogs wearing suits to work? Civil debate between Democrats and Republicans? We can only hope.

Rosewater, the directorial debut of Daily Show host Jon Stewart, is less of a passion project and more of an obligation. If you don’t know the story behind the making of Rosewater, I will try to sum it up as briefly as possible: during the lead up to the controversial 2009 Iranian Presidential Election, The Daily Show‘s Jason Jones traveled to Tehran to shoot a few pieces for the show. During that time, he interviewed journalist Maziar Bahari. The Iranian government found this footage and used it as evidence against Bahari, accusing him of being a spy. For this, Bahari was held captive in an Iranian prison. This prison has everything: solitary confinement, maggots, an interrogator who’s just trying to keep his marriage together. Bahari is tortured and accused of colluding with everybody from the CIA to Mossad.

Everybody is talking about how it is such a big deal that Stewart is taking on such heavy subject matter. But think about it this way: Stewart deals with this level of drama four nights a week. If not the Middle East, he is talking about climate change or how our government is completely dysfunctional. Comedians thrive on tragedy. Comedians make us feel like we can confront the worst of the world by laughing at it. It is the gift that keeps on giving.

Rosewater marks Stewart’s first time in the director’s chair. It is an impressive, if sometimes flawed, directorial debut. Its ambition and sincerity make it worth watching. Sure, you can call it a drama all you want, but that completely overlooks the film’s humor, which ends up being remarkably helpful during the interrogation scenes. Rosewater is different from most other films of this kind in that the interrogation purposefully feels staged. It keeps tugging at the very loose strings holding this whole case together and finds that there really isn’t much logic holding it all together. As Bahari’s interrogator, whom he nicknames Rosewater (Kim Bodina), questions him about everything from his love of Leonard Cohen to his time spent in New Jersey (come on, it’s Jon Stewart, of course he’s going to bring up Jersey), it is clear that this whole situation is absurd. The way to survive such terrible circumstances is to view it as farce. Even though Rosewater is about misery, its sense of humor in the face of adversity keeps it from being miserable to watch.

Gael Garcia Bernal portrays Bahari with a level of warmth. Sure, they share some physical resemblance, but Bernal also seems to capture Bahari’s ability to be the most interesting man in the room, even when he is simply acting as observer. In another life, Bahari would have made a great Daily Show correspondent.

Rosewater suffers from many of the problems that might come about in a feature film directorial debut. It suffers from some pacing problems. Early on, it feels remarkably slow for a film that is fairly short. Stewart does a solid job capturing a side of Iran that is normally unseen, a side that is teaming with life and ultimately beautiful. Unfortunately, a lot of that is lost in the film’s heavy dependance on archival footage. Showing the original footage from the protests is important. But like Munich and Frost/Nixon show, it looks better if you blend it in. At certain points, Rosewater depends on cable news reports to tell the story. Yet, The Daily Show has spent the past decade teaching us that cable news should not necessarily be trusted. Therefore, it seems like an odd crutch to lean on.

Rosewater works best when it focuses on the absurdity of life and the game between Bahari and Rosewater. The best parts are the ones that feel like a unique spin on recent history, rather than a slideshow of it.

Brain Farts From The Edge

• Stewart’s Daily Show contract is up soon. I don’t know what his next step will be, but I have a feeling that he won’t be renewing it.
• Bahari’s driver looked like Iranian Adam Driver.
• Isn’t it kind of odd that solitary confinement had a window?
• The screening I went to was followed by a Q&A with Stewart and Bahari that was hosted by Stephen Colbert. Colbert asked genuine questions, which is very out of character for him. He was great; quick on his feet and curious. So to answer your question that you never asked me: he is going to make a great Late Show host.
• Does Jon Stewart love Israel? Does Jon Stewart hate Israel? Why are we having this debate? What’s going on? Where am I?
• Along with Chef, Rosewater is the second film of 2014 to make a bold attempt at portraying social media in film. Given how important social media was to these events, it is crucial to have it be a factor here. However, I don’t know if having hashtags flying out of cars was the right answer.
• I remember the presidential election very well. I was one of those people dumb enough to believe real change was coming. I also remember that it was the first time people realized that Twitter could have an amazing impact on the world. Everybody made their profile pictures green as a sign of solidarity with protesters. I did the same, and I felt like one of those awesome kids involved in the Tinker case. See? I can be journalistic sometimes.