Roseanne Barr

Biography: A Working-Class “Domestic Goddess”

Roseanne Barr was born in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1952.

Comedy became significant to Roseanne at an early age. Living in a Jewish family in an area that was largely Mormon, Barr learned that comedy was a way of being a “non-threatening” Jew in the eyes of non-Jews. She was also introduced to comedy as a child by her father, who would call Roseanne and her siblings to the television any time a comedian performed. (1)

“My father wanted to be a standup comic himself. He understood comedy like almost nobody else I’ve ever met since. We’d listen to Lenny Bruce and my dad would tell me, ‘Look at him fighting! Look at this freedom fighter.'” (1)

By 1974, Roseanne was married and taking care of three children in Denver, Colorado. She and her husband lived on an unsteady income and Roseanne worked as both a mother and cocktail waitress. As a working class mother, Roseanne experienced fodder for what would later fuel the jokes of her show. (1)

Pictured: Roseanne performing a stand-up routine in her early years as a comedian

During this time, Roseanne became interested in feminism and the role that working-class mothers could play in the movement. She learned more about feminism at the Woman to Woman Bookstore, a choice that informed both her early comedy and her television show. (1)

Initially, Roseanne practiced her comedy with her witty comebacks to sexist comments made by her employer’s patrons. She soon moved on to local comedy clubs and then to the L.A. Comedy Store. By 1985, she was performing on the Tonight Show. (1)

Roseanne’s style of comedy was informed by feminism and her life in the working class. Jokes often involved subverting homemaker stereotypes, poking fun at her husband and his expectations of her as a homemaker, and discussing sexuality. This style of humor was popular with audiences and carried over to her sitcom work.

“Men read maps better than women because only men can understand the concept of an inch equaling a hundred miles.”

Roseanne’s rise to fame was noted by television executives, and by 1988, she had her own sitcom on ABC. The show, simply titled Roseanne, was an instant success. Its first episode topped the charts at over 21 million viewers, beating out even that year’s World Series of baseball, which was scheduled during the same time. (3)

Roseanne revolved around a family of five called the Connors, with Roseanne playing the titular role of the family’s mother and homemaker. Rather than depictions of middle-class family life that were occurring on other sitcoms such as The Cosby Show, Roseanne depicted a working-class family who struggled to pay the bills.

Pictured: an original promotional photo featuring the show’s cast

Roseanne was different from its contemporaries for more reasons than just its depiction of a low-income family. The show tackled sensitive topics such as substance abuse, homosexuality, teenage pregnancy, divorce, and domestic abuse, among others. (2) Additionally, Roseanne’s feminist beliefs carried over to the show, with the very first episode poking fun at notions of masculinity learned from a masculinist  economic culture.

 “A guy is a lump, like this donut. Okay. So, first, you gotta get rid of all this stuff his mom did to him, then you gotta get rid of all that macho crap that they pick up from the beer commercials. And then, there’s my personal favorite, the male ego.” –Roseanne, Episode One

Roseanne enjoyed strong success for many of its seasons, but ratings took a turn for the worse in season 9. This season featured the Conner family winning the lottery, had a daughter date a prince, and involved the family socializing with the upper-class. This marked a huge turn away from the show’s working-class roots, and critics and viewers were not happy. The series was cancelled in 1997 due to low ratings. (3)

Roseanne also appeared in several films in the 80’s and 90’s. These included She-Devil, Look Who’s Talking Too, Freddy’s Dead, Blue in the Face, and Meet Wally and Sparks. She also hosted her own talk show, The Roseanne Show, from 1998 to 2000. She continued performing stand up comedy, with a notable performance being her HBO special Roseanne Barr: Blonde and Bitchin. In the late 2000’s, she joined Nick at Nite’s The Search for the Funniest Mom in America. (4)

Throughout her career, Roseanne’s name has been associated with controversy. Some controversy came from her frequent appearances in the tabloids, but much controversy came from deliberately political acts. In 2012, Roseanne announced that she was running for President of the United States. She planned to run for the Green Party, but was beaten out by Jill Stein. (5) She then ran for president as the Peace and Freedom Party candidate. (4)

“I wanted to show how hard it is for anyone who doesn’t have $1 billion, who doesn’t have any infrastructure, to get their name on the ballot.” (4)

As time passed, Roseanne’s politics moved farther to the right. Her support of Israel has been criticized for “erring into Islamaphobia,” and her belief in conspiracy theorizes like those of Alex Jones made her political views seem less than legitimate. (6) Additionally, she abandoned the feminist standpoint that originally made her comedy so revolutionary. (7)

Does she describe herself as a feminist? “I did for a while. I’m tired of words. Now I just describe myself as a thinker. I don’t want to buy into any of their code words, so that it makes mind control. It activates mind control. If you say ‘feminist,’ it means certain things if you’re pro or con. And you know you could change your mind when the right facts are presented, if you’re not married to a certain rhetoric or dogma.” (7)

In the 2016 presidential election, Roseanne made a move that would forever separate her from the feminism she once loved- she supported Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton.

“Hillary owns the press…people in this country are not allowed to say anything except for that they love Hillary, or they’ll be harassed, especially on social media, until they leave or hang their head in shame…Because if you don’t endorse Hillary, then you’re anti-American, a racist, a sexist, or whatever names her robots throw around.” (6)

In 2018, during a time when 90’s reboots were cropping up everywhere, Roseanne too got a reboot on ABC. This reboot would continue the working-class portrayal of the Conner family, but the politics of the show were unrecognizable. Rather than depicting working-class struggles through a feminist lens, the show went in the opposite direction- it became a show for supporters of Donald Trump. (6)

Allegedly, Goodman remarked to his co-star that, “I never thought in a million years we’d be back,” to which Barr replied, “I did. As soon as I saw the election results, I knew we’d be back.” (6)

Pictured: A promotional photo for the Roseanne reboot

Roseanne‘s ratings were quite high when it aired its first episode, hitting over 27 million viewers (8). Many speculated that the show’s popularity was due to its support from Donald Trump voters (8).

During it’s short-lived run, the show tackled issues like Islamaphobia, with an episode that depicts Roseanne’s suspicion of her Muslim neighbors who come from “Talibanjistan.” Though the episode ends with Roseanne coming to the defense of her neighbors, some critics found the premise of the episode to be inherently racist (9). While liberal audiences may have found the episode unsettling, there is an argument to be made that suggests Roseanne was addressing a common fear among its conservative fans and attempting to reduce that fear.

Though the Roseanne reboot was popular and making ABC plenty of money, a more serious form of controversy struck after Roseanne made what many argue is a racist tweet.

“muslim brotherhood and planet of the apes had a baby=vj” – tweet from Roseanne’s Twitter account (10)

This tweet, which was in reference to Obama Administration staff member named Valerie Jarrett, was immediately called out as racist by the online community (11). The tweet appears to compare Jarrett, a black woman born in Iran, to an ape and a member of a terrorist organization. In only a few hours after the tweet, ABC announced that it was cancelling the Roseanne reboot (11).

A spinoff of Roseanne called The Conners was soon announced by ABC and is currently on the air. The show immediately kills off Roseanne Conner’s character with an opioid overdose, leaving Roseanne Barr out of the picture.

Barr, who has openly discussed her struggles with mental health issue, claims that those issues played a part in the writing of the tweet in question. Her legacy as a working-class advocate has largely been tarnished because of her action, and she rarely receives opportunities to work these days. Though she apologized for the tweet, many have refused to forgive her. The question of whether society’s rejection of Barr is deserved is one that I will not answer here, though I do believe that many men in the entertainment world have gotten away with comparable actions.

Roseanne’s Experiences as a Woman in Comedy:

As a female celebrity, Roseanne was dogged by celebrities about topics regarding her weight and her marriage. Tabloids often documented issues with her marriage to Tom Arnold, and later, with her marriage to Ben Thomas. (12)

Roseanne also had cosmetic surgeries including a tummy-tuck, a breast reduction, and a nose job. However, this may not have been influenced by Hollywood’s pressure for women to be beautiful, as Roseanne states that she liked surgery because she “sure likes those pain pills.” (12)

Impacts and Influences:

Roseanne’s influences on female comedians was difficult to trace, as I had trouble finding comedians who directly cite her as a major influence. However, she continued the relatively new trend of women speaking out against injustice and other touchy subjects.

Roseanne was often portrayed as a humorous “bad mom” on her sitcom, which led others to create similar narrative choices. One example of this is the 2016 film Bad Moms (3).

Roseanne also influenced future sitcoms. As one of the first comedies to depict working-class families in a kind-hearted way, it set the stage for future working-class stories to be told. Creator Matt Williams argues that shows like “Mike and Molly” would never have existed without Roseanne (13). Additionally, the show’s frank discussion of money troubles, sexuality, and other “sensitive” topics carried over into animated sitcoms of the working class, such as King of the Hill. I argue that Bob’s Burgers, the feminist working-class, family-centered animated comedy which deals with similar topics, is in the same vein as Roseanne and likely takes inspiration from it.

Roseanne and Feminism:

Among the comedians featured on this blog, Barr has perhaps the most complicated relationship with feminism. Though she described herself as a working-class feminist during her early career, her recent support of Donald Trump, her racist remarks, and her disavowal of feminism seem to land her strongly in the “definitely not a feminist” camp.

Though she is no longer a feminist, I argue that it is important to recognize Barr’s working-class feminism in her early stand-up and on Roseanne. Though working-class women like Minnie Pearl and Carol Burnett preceded her, Barr was one of the first comedians to include strong, working-class feminist themes in her comedy. This work was highly influential on future depictions of the working class on television, making Barr’s feminist legacy an important one despite recent developments.

Works Cited:

(1) “Roseanne.” Jewish Women’s Archive, jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/roseanne

(2) “Roseanne Barr.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, http://www.pbs.org/wnet/pioneers-of-television/pioneering-people/roseanne-barr/.

(3) Press, Joy. “The Enduring Legacy of Roseanne, 30 Years Later.” Vulture, 19 Jan. 2018, http://www.vulture.com/2018/01/roseanne-legacy-30-years-later.html.

(4) “Roseanne Barr.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 15 Oct. 2018, http://www.biography.com/people/roseanne-barr-9463817#early-life-and-career.

(5) Hughes, Sarah Anne. “Roseanne Barr Is Officially Running for President.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 3 Feb. 2012, http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/celebritology/post/roseanne-barr-is-officially-running-for-president/2012/02/03/gIQAitrgmQ_blog.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.cae05247e395.

(6) Zimmerman, Amy. “How Roseanne Barr Abandoned All Reason and Embraced the Alt-Right.” The Daily Beast, The Daily Beast Company, 23 June 2017, http://www.thedailybeast.com/how-roseanne-barr-abandoned-all-reason-and-embraced-the-alt-right.

(7) Teeman, Tim. “Roseanne Barr on Losing Her Sight, Smoking Weed, Rejecting Feminism, and Not Voting For Hillary.” The Daily Beast, The Daily Beast Company, 20 Apr. 2015, http://www.thedailybeast.com/roseanne-barr-on-losing-her-sight-smoking-weed-rejecting-feminism-and-not-voting-for-hillary

(8) Chavez, Danette. “Can Roseanne Be Fixed?” TV Club, TV Club, 23 May 2018, tv.avclub.com/can-roseanne-be-fixed-1826207773.

(9) Scott, Eugene. “’Roseanne’ Acknowledges an Issue Many Trump Supporters Deny: Islamophobia.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 9 May 2018, http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2018/05/09/roseanne-acknowledges-an-issue-many-trump-supporters-deny-islamophobia/?utm_term=.82aeb66d671a.

(10) Wittmer, Carrie. “Roseanne Barr Is under Fire after a Racist Tweet about Former Obama Adviser Valerie Jarrett That Compares Her to an Ape.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 29 May 2018, http://www.businessinsider.com/roseanne-barr-tweet-racist-valerie-jarrett-clintons2018-5.

(11) Clark, Travis. “Every Controversial Step That Led toward ABC’s ‘Roseanne’ Cancellation – from Pizzagate to Parkland to the Final Racist Last Straw.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 29 May 2018, http://www.businessinsider.com/everything-that-led-to-abcs-roseanne-cancellation-2018-5#roseanne-was-a-huge-ratings-hit-with-over-18-million-viewers-during-its-two-episode-premiere-in-march-while-the-ratings-decreased-over-time-it-was-still-the-most-popular-show-of-the-year-so-far-7.

(12) Iley, Chrissy. “’People Don’t like Angry Women’ – Roseanne Barr on Rage, Cosmetic Surgery and Her Abusive Father.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 7 Oct. 2008, http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2008/oct/08/celebrity.comedy.

(13) Bennett, Tara. “25 Years Later, ‘Roseanne’ Creator Reflects on Working-Class Inspiration.” TODAY.com, 2013, http://www.today.com/popculture/25-years-later-roseanne-creator-reflects-working-class-inspiration-8C11405474.

Photo One Credit: http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2018/01/09/roseanne-barr-defends-trump-says-sitcom-will-tackle-politics.html

Photo Two Credit: https://www.throwbacks.com/10-facts-about-roseanne/

Photo Three Credit: https://www.today.com/popculture/25-years-later-roseanne-creator-reflects-working-class-inspiration-8C11405474

Photo Four Credit: https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/entertainment/a21050398/roseanne-reboot-timeline/