00:00This is Chief, the one-and-half of Chief and Sterile of the Let's Talk podcast.
00:06Today, I'd just like to just reflect on Malcolm Jamal Warner,
00:12a.k.a. Theo Huxtable from The Cosby Show of the 1980s and early 1990s.
00:20It's so sad what had happened to him on July 25th,
00:27in which he and his family was in Costa Rica vacationing,
00:33and he and his daughter got caught up in a riptide,
00:38which was pulling them out to sea,
00:40and fortunately, they were rescued by lifeguards and surfers,
00:46but fortunately, he passed away.
00:49He was pronounced dead of accidental drowning,
00:52but his daughter was saved, his eight-year-old daughter.
00:55Now, in terms of his death, it was a shock to everyone
01:04because a lot of people grew up watching The Cosby Show
01:07and watching Theo go through struggles of becoming a teenager,
01:15from adolescent to teenager, and becoming a man.
01:19And he struggled living with four other sisters
01:24and him being the only boy in the house,
01:27struggling for attention and what have you.
01:31And, you know, the sisters,
01:35how I would say, they were always bickering
01:39and battling each other for attention with their parents
01:45or whatever it is, and Theo, you know,
01:47he struggled with dyslexia,
01:51in which he also had a lot of issues in school
01:55in terms of learning disability
01:58until he was finally diagnosed with dyslexia.
02:01In any case, he eventually got the help he needed,
02:06in which he was able to progress in school
02:12and eventually becoming a teacher at a center and so forth
02:17and also going on to college.
02:19Now, mind you, The Cosby Show was, like, monumental.
02:25When I say monumental, it was like, you know,
02:28before prior, there wasn't any show on TV
02:33that reflected any positiveness
02:37when it comes to the black family.
02:39You know, we had also, we had, like,
02:42shows that reflected struggling black family
02:48on welfare and racism, you know.
02:53Say, for instance, the George Jeffersons,
02:58you know, they always had issues
03:00with racism on the show,
03:02even when he was also the neighbor of Archie Bunker
03:07and all in the family, you know.
03:10It was a struggle with racism.
03:13Good times, for instance,
03:16had a struggle with, like,
03:19not having any money in the family,
03:21living in the projects,
03:23and food stamps and welfare and so forth.
03:27So, but The Cosby Show broke the mold
03:32in terms of showing the positiveness
03:36and professionalism of upper-middle-class
03:41or middle-class black family
03:43in which the Huxables,
03:47you know, Bill Cosby was a gynecologist,
03:50OB-GYN, and his wife, you know,
03:54she was a lawyer.
03:57So it showed that black family can be successful
04:01and raise successful kids.
04:03Now, mind you, in terms of what,
04:07how I used to perceive black Americans
04:11or African Americans,
04:13prior to coming to the United States,
04:16prior to migrating, you know,
04:18all I saw on T-television in Jamaica
04:20was, you know, African Americans
04:24being pimps and pulling out switchblades
04:28and cutting people across the face
04:30and, well, basically the blacksploitation era.
04:36That's all I knew of about African American
04:39or black folks in America.
04:41I never used to see anything positive, per se,
04:44while watching TV in Jamaica
04:46and American movies and even on the news.
04:50So, with me coming to the United States
04:54and I've seen, like, a program like that,
04:57it really put me in a different perspective
05:01and realized, hey, you know,
05:03of course there's a lot of black professional families
05:06out there, you know?
05:09And they're able to achieve a lot
05:11and also teach your kids well
05:13and hand down a lot of what they know
05:17as professional and as parents
05:20and as family to their kids, you know,
05:25and in terms of that, you know,
05:32type of environment, nurturing, you know,
05:36that I was able to use that type of rearing,
05:43you know, to my own family, you know,
05:50I was able to use that
05:51and utilize that with my own family, per se.
05:54So, it was just a sad situation
05:59to hear about this
06:00and, you know,
06:03I just can't imagine what his daughter
06:05was going through
06:06when they were rescuing him
06:08and giving him CPR
06:12and it must have been, like,
06:16traumatic to her.
06:18And also, you know,
06:20he was also a part of a band
06:22which was very popular
06:23in Atlanta, Georgia.
06:26You know, he won a Grammy
06:29for his spoken poetry
06:31and his music.
06:34He was part of the band
06:35and he played the bass
06:37and a couple instruments.
06:40So, you know,
06:41he was a consummate artist
06:43whether it's acting, right,
06:46in the Cosby show,
06:47he also played a doctor on television,
06:50Malcolm and Eddie sitcom,
06:53you know,
06:54him being on stage
06:56with his band,
06:58entertaining,
06:59and, you know,
07:00he was always active.
07:02He's always active.
07:03And he also stated that
07:05if he go out
07:07and he dies,
07:09if he dies,
07:12he want to know that
07:13he did good on Earth,
07:15in other words.
07:17You know,
07:17there was no one
07:18that could point their finger
07:19that this guy
07:20has done bad
07:21in this world.
07:23So,
07:24I know that
07:26it's possibly
07:28he will have
07:29like a big turnout
07:30if they decide
07:32to keep a public funeral
07:33for him.
07:35You know,
07:35it's up to his family
07:37if they want to keep
07:39a small,
07:40intimate
07:40funeral for him
07:42or setting.
07:43But,
07:43I think that a lot of people
07:45that was influenced
07:47by the Cosby show
07:48will show up
07:52and give their support
07:53and what have you.
07:57I definitely,
07:59every time I think about it,
08:01it's just so sad
08:01because
08:02I grew up
08:03watching them.
08:05They made me laugh.
08:08You know,
08:08every time I watch that show
08:10to present day,
08:12I'm constantly laughing
08:13because
08:13it was good
08:15family humor,
08:18good family fun.
08:20there's a lot
08:22of learning
08:23and teaching,
08:24a lot of learning
08:25lesson,
08:26a lot of teaching.
08:29They were both
08:30compassionate
08:31when it comes
08:32to their kids.
08:34You know,
08:34they didn't coddle them.
08:36They also let them know
08:37that
08:37what you're doing
08:40is wrong.
08:41This is the best way
08:42to go about
08:42doing it.
08:44They also let them,
08:45you know,
08:48they get into trouble.
08:50They steer them right.
08:52Right?
08:53They let them know
08:54what is out there
08:55in the world
08:56and what to expect.
08:58Right?
08:59And how to navigate
09:00your way
09:00out of,
09:02you know,
09:02certain circumstances,
09:04certain issues.
09:05Right?
09:06And they let them
09:06go out there
09:07and they mess up
09:09and then let them know,
09:10hey,
09:10this is what happened
09:10when you mess up
09:11and this is how
09:12you go about
09:13in a correcting
09:15what you have done
09:17to remedy the situation.
09:20So,
09:20and in perspective,
09:23I believe that
09:26it not only influenced
09:28me,
09:28the Cosby show
09:29and Theo
09:30and so forth,
09:31with also me being
09:33the only boy
09:35living in a household
09:36of four girls.
09:39You know,
09:40that was crazy
09:41on my part
09:42as well
09:43because I felt
09:45for him
09:45because he was
09:46always like,
09:47you know,
09:47the sisters,
09:48you know,
09:49with each other
09:50and back and forth
09:51or whatever it is
09:52and I used to get
09:54special attention
09:54because I'm the only boy
09:55from my,
09:56you know,
09:57I used to get attention
09:58from my mother,
09:59right,
09:59because I'm the only boy,
10:00mama's boy.
10:02So,
10:02it was a little bit more,
10:04I wouldn't say
10:05animosity,
10:07a little jealousness
10:09on the part
10:10of my sisters,
10:11per se.
10:12All right,
10:12so,
10:13Stary and I
10:14will discuss this
10:17at a further date
10:18if and when
10:20they announce
10:20his funeral
10:22and update you guys.
10:24I also want to thank you
10:25for liking and subscribing
10:26and sharing
10:26our content
10:28and we will appreciate you.
Comments