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Accolades for Vulgarity?
By John W. Kennedy | July 2, 2008
Many in Hollywood and the media spent last week eulogizing George Carlin as a great national figure. They attached such phrases as “counterculture icon” and “First Amendment trailblazer” to Carlin, who died of a heart attack at 71. But many others will remember him merely as a foul-mouthed comedian who accelerated the path of vulgarity in late 20th century America.
Carlin could be witty and funny when commenting on everyday life. For example, his early stand-up routine included the joke, “Why do they lock gas station bathrooms? Are they afraid someone will clean them?” Or his “The weather forecast for tonight: dark. Continued dark overnight, with widely scattered light by morning.”
Yet with a younger generation Carlin became a hero because of his crass rebelliousness. That included a lot of nightclub and HBO satire laced with obscenity and profanity.
Saturday Night Live rebroadcast its premiere episode from 1975 on Saturday as a tribute to Carlin, who served as the host. He offered mostly tame humor, including his well-known analogy of baseball versus football and the since-oft-repeated observation: “Jumbo shrimp is like military intelligence; the words don’t go together.” Yet his final monologue served as an irreverent rant against God, who “is batting .000” because “everything He makes dies.”
Of course Carlin is most famous for uttering “the seven words you can never say on television.” Such behavior, which would have been roundly condemned by society half a century ago, now is seen somehow as liberating. I’m sure that when pornographers Hugh Hefner and Larry Flynt die they will receive similar accolades as “free speech advocates” for peddling their wares.
Topics: vulgarity |
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:21 am
I don’t think vulgarity is any more an exercise of First Amendment rights than murder is an endorsement of the Second Amendment. Too bad we don’t have a greater national appreciation (at least in the popular media) for the greatest gift of true freedom — an unhindered environment in which to pursue the highest levels of positive creativity. Excellent thoughts on Carlin and others.
July 5th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
well, they say nobody ever went broke under-estimating the taste of the American public…when you pander to the lowest element you’ll find that it’s a lucrative business.