You can't say those words on television, and this morning at least one less person on earth is upset about it. I'm not the type to lament the loss of celebrities I don't know personally, but today is different: George Carlin died last night of heart failure at 71.
Beyond being uproariously funny, in possession of an unrivaled wit, and delectably surgical with the English language, Carlin’s most generous, long-standing contribution to our culture may well be the humor-cloaked ferocity with which he reminded generations of what I think of as the duty of free speech. I think Carlin thought of free speech as much more than a de facto human right, like food, water and shelter, things that most Americans can simply take for granted. Free speech was something different to Carlin, something that could be lost – forever. I think Carlin viewed free speech not as some kind of ambiguous ideal, but as an important muscle in the fabric of civilization that needed exercise. George Carlin was the Richard Simmons of free speech.
He wasn’t without his detractors, obviously, and I confess that at times he said things that even made me, an adoring fan, cringe. But, looking past some of his more colorful material (which I think was included just so Carlin could appeal to as wide an audience as possible) you can see that the enduring legacy of Carlin’s work is to distill intent from context – that elusive, yet critical leap every human makes to infer what was meant from what was said. Through his ruthless sarcasm, and his old-man bitterness, I always suspected Carlin truly, really cared for people - in a way that made picking up that heavy mantle his only option.
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2 comments:
Very nice.
Acridsheep.
It's nice to see a post not about fairweather fan Boston sports. You're right. Carlin was actually an important man and it's sad to see him die so suddenly. As we discussed briefly, I personally was more affected by Russert's death, but I can see how Carlin's dying was of similar substance.
Both men were models of doing the right thing. Carlin fought for 30 years for free speech and Mr. Russert was a model for what a journalist is supposed to be - someone that challenges every politican about what they say/believe.
It's good you're back Acrid. Your loyal following have missed your wonderfully written and substantive posts.
BTW - I'm sick of Crosby and the Penguins. As a person who has only basic (broadcast) cable, all I saw was the Pens during the hockey season on NBC. I was sick of them and the NBC lovefest over Crosby. Seeing a hard ass team beat the crap out of them was GREAT! I can't believe you watched one NBC game and fell for the Crosbycrap.
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