George Carlin , An American Radical
“I think it’s the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately.” - George Carlin
A groundbreaking observational comedian and a flat-out great storyteller, George Carlin died yesterday of heart failure at age 71. Known for his edgy, provocative material, he was shocking, irreverent and hilarious, yet somehow made you question things you thought you knew.
The last vote that George Carlin said he cast in a presidential race was for George McGovern in 1972. And when Richard Nixon, who Carlin described as a member of a sub-species of humanity, overwhelmingly defeated McGovern, the comedian gave up on the political process.
But while he may have stopped voting in 1972, America’s most consistently savage social commentator for the better part of a half century didn’t give up on politics. He read the papers, followed the news, asked questions and turned it all into a running commentary that focused not so much on politics as on the ugly intersection of power and economics. He didn’t want Americans to get involved with the system; he wanted citizens to get angry enough to remake the system.
Needless to say, he was not on message for 2008’s “change we can believe in” election season. No, his was a darker and more serious take on the crisis and the change of consciousness — sweeping in scope and revolutionary in character— that was required to address it. Like the radicals of the early years of the 20th century whose politics he knew and respected, he believed that free-speech fights had to come first. He always pushed the limit, happily choosing an offensive word when a more polite one might have sufficed.
By 1972, the year he won the first of four Grammys for best comedy album, he had developed his most famous routine: “Seven Words (You Can’t Say on Television).” That summer, at a huge outdoor show in Milwaukee, he uttered all seven of them in public — and was promptly arrested for disturbing the peace. When a version of the routine was aired in 1973 on WBAI, the Pacifica Foundation radio station in New York, Pacifica received a citation from the FCC and was ordered to pay a fine for violating federal regulations prohibiting the broadcast of “obscene” language. The ensuing free-speech fight made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court which ruled 5-4 against the First Amendment to the Constitution, Pacifica and Carlin. Amusingly, especially to Carlin, a full transcript of the routine ended up in court documents associated with the case, F.C.C. v. Pacifica Foundation, 438 U.S. 726 (1978).
There will, of course, be those who dismiss him as a remnant of the sixties who introduced obscenity to the public discourse — just as there will be those who misread his critique of the American political and economic systems as little more than verbal nihilism. In fact, George Carlin was, like the radicals of an earlier age, an idealist — and a patriot — of a deeper sort than is encountered very often these days.
Carlin explained himself best in one of his last interviews. “…I don’t consider myself a cynic. I think of myself as a skeptic and a realist. But I understand the word ‘cynic’ has more than one meaning, and I see how I could be seen as cynical. ‘George, you’re cynical.’ Well, you know, they say if you scratch a cynic you find a disappointed idealist. And perhaps the flame still flickers a little, you know?”
This is a Patriot’s Journey post. You may also enjoy visiting the other journeyers: Drumwaster, Larry at The Bastage, the folks at The Line Is Here and Shortbus from The Edge of Reason…
Doug
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Source: George Carlin: American Radical
Reader Comments (21)
RIP….he will be missed.
The airport safety lecture remains the best bit of all time. RIP, George.
the man single-handledly revolutionized stand-up comedy back in the ’70s.
thank you and goodnight, buddy.
I am really going to miss George Carlin he’s the only comedian that I’ve ever wanted to see live.
Carlin was quite influential for my generation. We learned the seven dirty words and recited the routine like a mantra. And his work never stopped, but just kept growing and evolving with the man. Not enough to say he will be missed — he was one of a kind.
What a terrible month it’s been for deaths. Sydney Pollack, Tim Russert, Stan Winston and now George Carlin. This is truly sad.
He will be greatly missed. One of the best and one of the last. One of the few out there willing to talk about issues no one else was daring to, and then through them in your face..
I didn't agree with everything he said but I was always entertained. He made me laugh and think at the same time. One of the best social commentators of all time.
RIP George.
Carlin was definitely one of the greatest comedians of our time and will be missed. My sympathies go out to his family, friends, and fans.
He was a groundbreaking comedian and satirist, and definitely one of a kind.
RIP George.
Oh beautiful, for smoggy skies, insecticided grain
For strip-mined mountain’s majesty above the asphalt plain.
America, America, man sheds his waste on thee
And hides the pines with billboard signs, from sea to oily sea!
—George Carlin
I loved him....What a loss…the nation lost its sharpest critic…and best comedian…and you know there was a sweet heart underneath all that growling.
I saw him last week in Las Vegas and he was on top of his game. He was the kind of comedian that made you think and not enough of them do that these days.
To quote his own words…He isn’t in heaven looking down smiling he is just dead…and we will miss him dearly!
George Carlin was more than a comedian. He was a genius who made you think and question everything in life. So sorry to hear of his passing.
He was THE MAN! Sorely missed already.
He was in many ways an American hero. He will be missed.
I remember being shocked when Carlin began what became his "routine". It got everyone's attention! He made us take stock in what we were afraid to confront and we are wiser because of it.
There has been much talk about his not believing in God. I personally doubt that he was an athiest, but I suspect by now he has answered the question for himself once and for all.
I remember in school a teacher that explained that our flag was not our country, that it was a "symbol" only and that we should not panic when we saw someone burning it. They were burning a sysbol, not hurting our country. That made so much sense to me at that time when so many of my froends were protesting the Vietnam war and burning our flag.
George Carlin pointed out that words are just words and that to make any of them illegal to use was overstepping the role of our judicial system. Some are impolite, some are even hurtful to some people IF they allow them to be. But if we made up a word tomorrow to replace the (choke) "F" word and it became accepted, someone would want it banned. Carlin made that simple to understand and we owe him our thanks for confronting what no one else had the nerve to confront.
I am tempted to shout the seven bad words here but I know Doug keeps a pretty clean house here so I'll just tip my hat to George and wish him God speed on his next great journey.
A very nicer commemorative.
I will miss his sarchasm and humour.
My wife and I saw him in Las Vegas several years ago and his act was so filled with profanity that we had to leave. I am sad that we accept that kind of language now from an adult calling himself a comedian when we wouldn't ( I hope) from a 6 year old or a mature adult at a neighborhood picnic. We think we are evolved but our society has abandoned common decency and is wrought with double standards.
Was getting more people to use four letter words an accomplishment? I don't think so.