George Carlin died yesterday. He was 71.
George was one of the first people that got me to think about things. Sure he was funny, but he also had a point in his monologues. Most of us can rip at society to get a cheap laugh. Carlin ripped at society in a way that made you laugh, and then two seconds later you'd say "Holy crap, he's got a point!"
Actually you'd say something stronger than that, but I do try to keep this blog page FuCC-clean. My radio show, of course, is a different story. And that too was directly because of George Carlin. My desire to get people to think came from Carlin's monologues, as was my decision to let loose with the words when needed.
Carlin ripped everything. Carlin ripped feminism, government, politics, parents, children, colleges, war, fear, religion... nothing was safe. And that was the point of it all... nothing was safe!
And here's the thing... even when he wasn't on stage, even when he wasn't trying to make you laugh, even when he was dead serious, he was making you laugh and making you THINK. Here's a clip from MSNBC's Countdown in 2007....
But perhaps the best was his ripping on religion. If there was anyone who could rip religion a new one and do so in a way that made perfect sense, this was it!
George Carlin made you think. And the scary part was that he made you think about what kind of hamster cage we're all in.
George Carlin's comedic clips have always been a favorite in my sound files, giving him his own special category. He will be missed.
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1 comment:
To me, George Carlin was not only one of the funniest guys I've ever seen or heard, he was arguably the GREATEST social commentator of the 20th Century.
Saw his interview rerun on Keith Olbermann's show tonight and it was still very insightful. Like you do with your stuff, he got me to think while I was laughing, and that was true even as a little kid in the 1960s and 70s growing up near St. Louis. Didn't always make me feel comfortable at times but that's OK - he made me take a look at the way I usually saw things.
He will be missed but we're glad his material will still be played for as long as we're around!! Thanks for the memories David!
Brent Feeney
PMLer in St. Louis
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