Reading Material: Pride Grand Marshal Roseanne Barr's Essay

Comedian and Salt Lake City native Roseanne Barr is on the comeback trail these days. (Of course, as a huge fanboy, I'm convinced she never went anywhere to come back from. She's always been the Domestic Goddess extraordinaire, and always will be, dammit!)

Over the years, I've often had to defend my admiration for Barr against mean-spirited detractors. Her mordant, outspoken comic style rubs plenty of folks the wrong way. I've been shocked to hear otherwise reasonable people say the most misogynistic, bigoted things about her. Maybe that's one of the reasons I like her so much: She's just so good at pissing people off.

Barr's bitterly entertaining essay in this week's New York magazine describes her anger and frustration with the sexism and stupidity of the Hollywood machine, and the battles she fought while creating the groundbreaking ABC sitcom Roseanne during the '80s and '90s:

"Hollywood hates labor, and hates shows about labor worse than any other thing. And that’s why you won’t be seeing another Roseanne anytime soon. Instead, all over the tube, you will find enterprising, overmedicated, painted-up, capitalist whores claiming to be housewives. But I’m not bitter.

"Nothing real or truthful makes its way to TV unless you are smart and know how to sneak it in, and I would tell you how I did it, but then I would have to kill you."

Unexpectedly, she's recently been spending her time farming macadamia nuts in Hawaii. Who knew? This surprising lifestyle choice is being documented for an upcoming Lifetime reality program -- which is doubly surprising in that there may soon be a good reason to watch reality programming on Lifetime.

We locals will have the opportunity of a Barr reunion next month, when she is slated to serve as Grand Marshal of the 2011 Utah Pride Festival. And, I've got to say -- that un-retouched gray in her hair looks terrific.

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