In W. Kamau Bell’s Showtime documentary series “We Need to Talk About Cosby,” as he interviews subjects about the comedian and actor accused of multiple rapes, writes James Poniewozik for The New York Times.

Bell has them watch various scenes of Cosby’s performances on a tablet in their lap.

The intimate experience makes the participants literally hold in their hand what they know about Cosby’s work. Their faces may light up at childhood memories or turn in disgust at punch lines that now hold horrific meaning.

Bell’s series considers the arc of Cosby’s career, with a particular emphasis on his importance to Black Americans and the stories of the many women who reported being drugged and sexually assaulted by Cosby.

In 2018, Cosby was convicted of sexual assault, where Bill Cosby’s case pushed Norristown into the nation’s media spotlight at the Montgomery County Courthouse for the past couple of years.

The conviction was then overturned in 2021 by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court which ruled that prosecutors had reneged on an agreement not to charge Cosby after a civil suit deposition where he admitted to giving women quaaludes in an effort to have sex with them.

The series excellently contextualizes Cosby’s legacy in entertainment, especially for Black Americans, and the charges against him, which Cosby denies.

Bell brings Cosby’s achievements and his wrongs together, showing how Cosby could be both a groundbreaking comic, TV father figure, and also use his authority to cover for his predatory acts.

Bell’s series recognizes that there may be an unresolvable dissonance between Cosby’s work and the horrible acts he committed against women for decades. Many people often wonder if they can still enjoy the work of an artist, such as Cosby, who has fallen into disgrace in some way.

“We Need to Talk About Cosby” doesn’t tell anyone what they “should” do about Cosby or discuss “The Cosby Show,” but asks viewers to accept what they once thought about the work as being real and that what we know about Cosby now it also real, and the two may be inseparable in ways that may be painful.

“There were times when I was making this show that I wanted to quit,” said Bell. “I wanted to hold on to my memories of Bill Cosby before I knew about Bill Cosby. I guess I can — as long as I admit, as long as we all admit, that there’s a Bill Cosby we didn’t know.”

Read more about Bell’s documentary, “We Need to Talk About Cosby,” in The New York Times.

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