I watched two episodes of the rebooted Roseanne show online this morning, then came over here and read a popular diary about how no one should watch this show because it normalizes Trump and Roseanne’s awful, ill-informed political views. I responded to that diary, but feel so strongly about this topic I’m writing a separate post.
Parker Palmer in The Courage to Teach writes about the power of “third things” — writing and art outside the immediate experience of people in conflict that can help them talk through the areas of disagreement. The new Roseanne show is the best “third thing” I’ve seen yet in pop culture for opening up discussions with Trump voters. It got very high ratings last night, no doubt supported by many Trump voters who want to see people with their point of view depicted positively on television.
Progressives can use this opportunity to open up conversations with Trump voters in so many ways. The show actually does depict economic anxiety as the key reason Roseanne and Dan voted for Trump, rather than inherent bigotry. And if our side is going to insist there is absolutely no validity to economic angst as a driver for some Trump voters, reaching them is going to be hopeless.
SPOILERS AHEAD. Here are some of the topics from the first two shows, and how they can lead to healthy conversations with Trump voters and progressives alike:
Gender Fluidity— Probably my favorite aspect of the show. Roseanne and Dan’s young grandson loves wearing pink, sparkly, girly clothes. His mom and grandparents love him unconditionally, and he is a wonderful kid who knows exactly who he is and what he wants. The adults’ struggles to help him navigate a bigoted world full of bullies are heartrending.
Prescription Drug Costs— Roseanne and Dan have to share their prescriptions and go without because their drug insurance coverage has been halved while their drug costs have doubled. And yes, Republicans and Democrats have sold out to Big Pharma, and it might be one area where we can find common ground pretty quickly because the middle class and elderly have been totally hosed on this.
Guns— Dan is shocked to realize he’s forgotten where he’s hidden his gun, and now that he has kids again in the house, he’s gotta figure that out quick. If that isn’t an in-your-face argument for some common-sense regulation of guns, I don’t know what is.
Women’s Health/Income — Becky (eldest daughter) is signing up to be a surrogate mother solely because she is dead broke. Roseanne and Dan are beside themselves, because their future grandkid isn’t a commodity to them. But when you’re poor in America, you don’t have a lot of damn choice, even when it comes to selling your body.
Third Party Voting — Jackie (Roseanne’s sister) kicks herself for not trusting her gut to vote for Hillary, and instead throwing her vote away on Jill Stein and helping Trump get elected. I don’t think we can have too many reminders of the sometimes dire consequences of voting for third-party candidates.
Roseanne’s acting as always is terrible in this — she stomps on most of her lines. But Laurie Metcalf, John Goodman and Sara Gilbert are sublime, and the writing of progressives like Wanda Sykes and Whitney Cummings is good and funny enough to carry the whole crew.
I immediately wrote to my sister (a Trump voter) this morning and encouraged her to watch the show. I can’t wait till she visits in a week and we have a new third thing to talk about together.
It’s your right not to watch the show, and condemn anyone who does. But I think you’re missing out, and you quite literally will not know what you are talking about. Watching the show didn’t in any way “normalize” Trump for me, or make Roseanne’s personal political views seem any less ill-informed and idiotic. I just appreciate seeing families on television who are truly struggling to make ends meet.
Most of the political art progressives love just turns Trump voters off. And the conservative creative bench is pretty damn weak, so there’s not a lot of art from them to look at anyway. A show Trump voters like that might actually open them up to the complexities of issues like guns, gender, and medical costs is a gift to us. I’m just not sure they are going to be watching it for long, because it’s definitely going to provoke some cognitive dissonance.
And if this diary gets even one more progressive to open their mind to watching the show and talking about the issues in it to a Trump voter, then it has been worth my time to write it.