Why I Will Miss George Carlin
Posted: Monday, June 23, 2008
by J. Louise Larson
http://familyrootsandwings.blogspot.com/
Iconoclast comedian George Carlin died Sunday night from heart failure at 71.
That's a shock to me -- he always seemed so youthful:his razor wit, those huge eyes, his long hair, hip demeanor and black garb.
I had a few favorite Carlinisms, including this one cited on his own Web site: "Why do they lock gas station bathrooms? Are they afraid someone will clean them?"
Unfortunately, it was perhaps that push that drove him away from religion. The acerbic stand-up comedian saw only society's little -- and big -- hypocrisies, and he equated religion with them.
Despite his witty take on things and his keen observation, he is most widely remembered for "Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television," the routine that got him arrested and led to a key Supreme Court ruling on obscenity. (See Yahoo article by AP television writer Frasier Moore here) http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080623/ap_en_ce/carlin_those7_words
His deeply philosophical view of obscenity -- or his shallow justification, depending on how you look at it -- had him blaming societal taboos on superstition."The whole problem with this idea of obscenity and indecency, and all of these things - bad language and whatever - it's all caused by one basic thing, and that is: religious superstition," Carlin told the AP in a 2004 interview. "There's an idea that the human body is somehow evil and bad and there are parts of it that are especially evil and bad, and we should be ashamed. Fear, guilt and shame are built into the attitude toward sex and the body. ... It's reflected in these prohibitions and these taboos that we have."
While George and I were polar opposites on religion, I greatly admired his God-given wit (although he never acknowledged it as such) as well as his willingness to take on some of the stupid trappings that detract from life's meaningful issues.
And I do respect that for a man who, though he was raised by a single mother and never got past grade 9 and whose checkered history included military court martials no doubt caused by his perennial failure to conform, didn't underachieve.
He hosted the first "Saturday Night Live" in 1975, despite being loaded up on cocaine all that week, the AP reported. Much later, he would tell NPR's Fresh Air host Terry Gross that he regretted the effect his drug use had on his own daughter.
Over the course of his career, he made 23 comedy albums, a number of TV specials, three books. His appearances ranged from "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" to Thomas the Tank Engine.
Honors he racked up included Emmy Awards, Grammy Awards, the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, which will presumably be presented posthumously Nov. 10 in Washington and broadcast on PBS.
And if imitation is truly a sincere form of flattery, Carlin should have been bowled over. His own website tracked rounds of emails falsely attributed to him. http://www.georgecarlin.com/home/home.html It might be appropriate to offer up 10 seconds of silence in memory of his blazing talent. Of course, it might also be appropriate to fill it with bleeps, equally in his memory.
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Top-level comments on this article: (4 total)hi j, this was a well written article that surprised me, since i hadn't heard, and saddened me because i always liked george carlin. thanks for remembering him. my best regards, sue thomThanks, Sue. Appreciate your interest. George will be missed.
Good artilce. the man hit the nail on the ehad time after time with humor. Too bad much of what he said about politics was fact. He will be missed. best wishes.Thanks very much for your comment, Robert. He really had a way of "nailing" things, didn't he? Best regards, J. Louise
I'll really miss him too, he had a real way with words and was always thought provoking
I miss George so much!! He told the truth. I first discovered George on HBO in 1975 and never looked back since as he is and will always be my hero!Thank you Louise for such a wonderful homage!!Mike S
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