It’s broaching controversial topics with thought and compassion, and getting families talking.
There’s a moment in the first episode of the Roseanne reboot where Roseanne Conner and her sister Jackie agree to end their one-year feud over politics.
“I’m sorry,” Jackie says first.
“I forgive you,” Roseanne replies.
A tearful Jackie gives in, “I know how hard that was for you.”
Roseanne, like her creator Roseanne Barr, supports Donald Trump because he promised jobs and she and Dan almost lost their house. Jackie, now a life coach who wears pink hats on random weekdays, can’t wrap her mind around why her sister would vote against the things she needs — including affordable medication. (Dan and Roseanne are forced to split prescription pills because their insurance won’t cover the total cost.)
And the unprecedented 18 million people who watched the Roseanne premiere all knew one thing by the episode’s end: They were either a Roseanne or a Jackie.
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The author and her mother during happier, pre-Trump days. “I was only 21, as you can tell from my moody face!” she says.
My mom is a Roseanne. I’m a Jackie. Since the election, we’ve had our share of nasty arguments. I once told my mother she didn’t care if my small children die from guns at school (she isn’t a gun owner but doesn’t believe the government should possess weapons that citizens can’t own). She has called me an “elitist snob.” I hung up the phone on her after attempting to discuss universal healthcare, only to hear about another Canadian she knows who had to wait four years to get her tonsils removed (allegedly).
I love my mom. My mom loves me. But we currently despise each other’s beliefs.
Since the reboot aired, many have voiced thoughtful opinions on why they won’t watch Roseanne represent the political right. With my relationship to my mom in mind, my reaction is the opposite: Roseanne is exactly what we need right now.
Love him or hate him, Trump is temporary — and trying to change someone’s opinion on one man is exhausting and usually ineffective. There are more important fish to fry, and Roseanne is broaching other controversial topics with thought and compassion.
I love my mom. My mom loves me. But we currently despise each other’s beliefs.
For example, Dan and Roseanne are perplexed by Darlene’s gender non-conforming son Mark and can’t understand why he won’t fit in for his own safety. They want him to change his clothing, but they also don’t force the issue and instead vow to have his back if a fight happens at school. Roseanne’s audience even gets to hear Jackie’s history lesson on how brands have profited from gendered clothing.
Roseanne may not believe in universal healthcare, but there’s no denying she and Dan are battling huge healthcare expenses. They support Trump, but his presidency has not brought great changes that can be felt in their household.
Becky is becoming a surrogate in order to pay down her bills and buy a house. Roseanne and Dan are in a rage over it, but they’re also having crucial conversations about a woman’s right to possess her body.
There is love at the root of all their relationships, despite misunderstandings about their beliefs.
The author
I won’t pretend Roseanne isn’t also problematic. As I write this, three episodes of Roseanne have been released. DJ has a young black daughter who gets two short lines of dialogue in the first episode and we’ve yet to see her return. The focus is entirely on a white working class and it remains to be seen if and how the show will tackle black lives, gun control, immigration, and coal versus the environment (the show is set in Illinois). One of the dumber jokes was about how a bully with a peanut allergy could be attacked using trail mix. And the debate about spanking in episode three comes off as prehistoric.
But art is only truthful when artists speak their truth, whether or not that truth is reprehensible to some.
The Roseanne reboot probably won’t change my beliefs or my mother’s beliefs, but I don’t feel that’s its purpose. If the show can inspire us to keep in mind that our perspectives aren’t always king and that most people aren’t one-dimensional caricatures defined solely by politics, that’s more than enough to expect from a sitcom.
Roseanne is giving a voice to Trump supporters, which upsets a lot of people who don’t feel his rhetoric should be normalized. But if, in exchange, she provides compassionate dialogue about topics that will be around long after Trump is gone, the bigger picture is the more important one.
