The Passing of Carlin
Jun. 24th, 2008 11:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
holzman_tweedGeorge Carlin has passed on.
How many comedians does it take to change a light bulb?
Six: One to change the light bulb and five to note that Carlin already did it.
But seriously, folks, I'm dissatisfied with all the "seven words" commemorations. Yes, it's what he was most famous for. Yes, his career has very largely based on the humor to be found in words, in idiom and colloquialism.
But there's also a large part of what he had to say that is erased if all we think about is the "seven words you can't say on television." Let us also remember thirty words he did say on TV:
"America, there's something wrong with us. It's like this illness we have: We can't go twenty years without dropping bombs on brown-skinned people with whom we have no quarrel."
Let's remember them because at least some of the people who are cramming the seven words down your throats right now do so hoping you won't remember the thirty words.
How many comedians does it take to change a light bulb?
Six: One to change the light bulb and five to note that Carlin already did it.
But seriously, folks, I'm dissatisfied with all the "seven words" commemorations. Yes, it's what he was most famous for. Yes, his career has very largely based on the humor to be found in words, in idiom and colloquialism.
But there's also a large part of what he had to say that is erased if all we think about is the "seven words you can't say on television." Let us also remember thirty words he did say on TV:
"America, there's something wrong with us. It's like this illness we have: We can't go twenty years without dropping bombs on brown-skinned people with whom we have no quarrel."
Let's remember them because at least some of the people who are cramming the seven words down your throats right now do so hoping you won't remember the thirty words.
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Date: 2008-06-24 07:22 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-06-24 07:45 pm (UTC)(Followed the link from
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Date: 2008-06-24 10:42 pm (UTC)