Taking the mick on Trump has become tiresome – at least we have Roseanne to raise the Barr
IT MIGHT be something of a surprise to see that ‘Roseanne’, the 1990s US sitcom about a slacker family in the ’burbs, is back.
But what is less of a surprise is that it has been a colossal hit in Trump heartlands like Tulsa, Oklahoma, Cincinnati, Ohio and Kansas City, Missouri.
That’s because its star, Roseanne Barr, never a women to utter the obvious when there’s something more interesting to impart, is that rare thing in the right-on entertainment industry: she’s a Trumpie.
Her famously hilarious and irreverent television alter ego is, of course, a supporter of the 45th president too.
It might get under the skin of the liberal moral majority, but it could make for excellent comedy.
It might even be overdue. To me it’s long past the hour since jokes at Trump’s expense have been funny.
Not because I could ever imagine myself supporting him on anything, or fear his thick orange hide might be perforated. But it has just become tedious.
The wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling Trump paranoia that has gripped the western world has come to the point where it is distorting debate and infantilising serious issues. It’s as if a traumatised and dazed media can deal with Trump’s White House only by endlessly dissing and demonising it. That’s far easier, of course, than dealing with the reality that 63 million Americans voted for him or that he has a mandate which he’s carrying out.
A bit like Brexit. I enjoy a good laugh at the expense of Bumbling Boris as much as the next man, but 17 million Britons voted to divorce the EU.
Again, easier to snigger and sneer than ask: why?
So maybe Roseanne will, in her caustic and deadpan way, shed some oblique light on the reasons ordinary, decent Americans gave two fingers to Hillary Clinton and the DC aristos in 2016.
At the very least, we can expect some acerbic one-liners and a treasure trove of ruthless putdowns.
An amazing 18 million viewers tuned in for the first episode, so let’s hope it is picked up on this side of the pond sooner rather than later. If Trumpophobes hold their noses tight enough they might even get a laugh out of it. Better, they might even learn something.