| George Carlin is dead.
I admit I'm hit by this news, although given Carlin's health it wasn't a complete surprise. Carlin was the first standup I really liked. I remember listening to Carlin records in middle school in the basements of friends' houses, far from the prying ears of our parents.
Time's Richard Zoglin:
...by the early '70s Carlin had completed a remarkable change, opened up a new audience for stand-up comedy and helped redefine an art form. Like Lenny Bruce - whom he idolized and who helped him get his first agent - Carlin saw the stand-up comic as a social commentator, rebel and truthteller. He challenged conventional wisdom and tweaked the hypocrisies of middle-class America. He made fun of society's outrage over drugs, for example, pointing out that the "drug problem" extends to middle-class America as well, from coffee freaks at the office to housewives hooked on diet pills. He talked about the injustice of Muhammad Ali's banishment from boxing for avoiding the draft - a man whose job was beating people up losing his livelihood because he wouldn't kill people: "He said, 'No, that's where I draw the line. I'll beat 'em up, but I don't want to kill 'em.' And the government said, 'Well, if you won't kill people, we won't let you beat 'em up.'"
The thing about Carlin that I liked was that I learned something every time I heard him. He had a great way of pointing out hypocrisy and illogic in our culture -- the things hidden in plain view.
That's what I get from Shane Mason's post, too - for Shane, Carlin had a forceful message about the power of language. I know what he means: direct, irreverent, and powerful language is the staple of your average blog - it's a nice antidote to the evasive periphrasis of politics and the humorless sterility of the professional media that reports it. And Carlin was an inspiration.
Here in Montana, George Carlin was proven Montana's favorite stand-up comic when he won Craig Sites' online championship bracket.
Now, I suppose comparisons with Tim Russert are inevitable, given the two men died so near one another, and they both were commenters on politics. But I've got to think, despite all the fanfare on the major networks for Russert, it's Carlin who, in the end, was the more important critic.
I'd wish Carlin a restful peace, but I know he'd rather be raising hell wherever he is. |
