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 Funny Man in an Unfunny WorldPosted on Jun 25, 2008By Amy Goodman The world lost one of its great comedians this week with the death at age 71 of George Carlin. Carlin had a career as a stand-up comic that spanned a half-century, in which he continually broke new ground, targeting those in power with his wit and genius. He impacted our culture, our media and our nation with a stream of material that skewered institutions of the left and right, from government to business and the church. He released 22 comedy albums, earning him five Emmy nominations and winning four Grammys. He was the first guest host of “Saturday Night Live,” in 1975, and appeared on “The Tonight Show” 130 times. He starred in 14 HBO specials and authored three best-selling books. He also left an indelible mark on the radio station where I got my start in broadcast journalism, Pacifica station WBAI 99.5 FM in New York City. On Oct. 30, 1973, WBAI broadcast Carlin’s “Filthy Words” routine. Carlin wrote on his Web site, georgecarlin.com: “Lone professional moralist complains to FCC which issues a Declaratory Order against station. Station goes to court.” That court battle would last five years, end at the U.S. Supreme Court and set the standard for broadcast indecency laws that are hotly debated to this day. It was neither accident nor coincidence that this iconoclastic comic would have some of his most controversial material broadcast over Pacifica Radio’s WBAI. The Pacifica Network was founded in Berkeley, Calif., in 1949, with KPFA as the first truly listener-sponsored radio station. Back then, radio was so overwhelmingly commercial that Pacifica founder Lew Hill and others found it worthless. As Hill wrote in his “Theory of Listener Sponsored Radio,” “If we want an improvement in radio, the basic situation of broadcasting must be such that artists and thinkers have a place to work—with freedom.” On July 3, 1978, the Supreme Court ruled that the Federal Communications Commission could punish WBAI for its broadcast of Carlin’s routine, arguing that words relating to sex or excretion (i.e., piss) when children might be listening were prohibited. Supreme Court Justices William Brennan and Thurgood Marshall dissented, noting the court’s “depressing inability to appreciate that in our land of cultural pluralism, there are many who think, act, and talk differently from the Members of this Court, and who do not share their fragile sensibilities.” Remarkably, 30 years later, the same issues are before a decidedly more conservative Supreme Court. Recent episodes of “fleeting expletives” from the mouths of celebrities like Bono, Cher and Nicole Richie have prompted the FCC to seek enhanced power to punish broadcasters. George Carlin pointed out what in our society was truly indecent: the behavior of the powerful. Yes, he spiced his delivery with expletives. He was angry. He, like Pacifica, gave voice to essential, dissident perspectives that have been almost entirely blocked from mainstream media. He said: “We were founded on a very basic double standard. This country was founded by slave owners who wanted to be free. Am I right? A group of slave owners who wanted to be free, so they killed a lot of white English people in order to continue owning their black African people, so they could wipe out the rest of the red Indian people and move west and steal the rest of the land from the brown Mexican people, giving them a place to take off and drop their nuclear weapons on the yellow Japanese people. You know what the motto of this country ought to be? You give us a color, we’ll wipe it out.” His prolific output will continue to inspire for generations to come. Distributed by King Features Syndicate TAGS:
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The Age of Paine
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Jump to Comments
By Jody, July 2, 2008 at 9:56 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
LOL, You didn’t tick me off, I don’t know why you would think that. I don’t have fragile sensibilities and don’t mind the slightest to read someone’s opinions that I may disagree with.
Report thisBy Jeremy Bell, July 1, 2008 at 11:20 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
Ok Jody, sorry if I ticked you off… just having a little fun internet discussion here.
Report thisBy Jody, July 1, 2008 at 10:40 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
I don’t see this as a tough topic at all. The concept of freedom of speech is a simple one: if you believe in freedom of speech, then you believe that someone has the right to say things that you absolutely despise; otherwise you do not believe in freedom of speech. Everyone is in favor of freedom of speech for things that we don’t find offensive.
The limits on protections for freedom of speech in this country have come along way, and we should be proud of those achievements. (There’s still a little ways to go, but it can’t change overnight.) We have freedom of speech unless our speech puts someone or some group of people in imminent danger.
Nobody is under any obligation to respect anyone else’s beliefs. I don’t have to respect anyone’s belief about 2,000 year old fairy tales about how the world was created and how it’s going to end. I find such things asinine. Likewise, nobody has to respect my atheist beliefs, and should be able to freely express their opinion about it, without regard to how it might make me feel, or my “fragile sensibilities” (quoting Justice Marshall) if I indeed have such sensibilities (I don’t).
Regarding Carlin on the airwaves - who cares about what you think about it. There’s a simple solution to avoid hearing things you might find offensive on the radio - turn the channel, or turn it off. Of course Amy Goodman has the right to show the horrors of war on her show - if you have a problem with it, don’t watch it. To even debate this matter is retrogressive.
Report thisBy Jeremy Bell, July 1, 2008 at 5:07 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
This is a tough topic (language and artistic freedom). I agree with a lot of what Dave Morton has to say. It pretty much comes down to “it depends”. I feel that artists should be free to express themselves as long as it respects the freedom of others. We must remember as “liberals” that being “conservative” isn’t a bad word. Their beliefs can be respected too. If you go to see Carlin’s show, then one shouldn’t have the right to control his art. Or, if one rents a movie with proper rating system, then one shouldn’t be upset if it has R-rated material in it. However, if Carlin is using a public airwave, then “I feel” he doesn’t necessarily have the right to make someone feel uncomfortable. It’s not fair to just call that person a “prude”.
There’s a twist though. I also feel that if the message is of extreme importance, then that may justify the necessity of making someone uncomfortable. For example, Amy Goodman showing the horrors of war is justifiable in my mind because 1 million of lives is more important than our comfort level and there’s no other way to educate people other than showing them the graphic pictures. I haven’t decided if Carlin meets this concept.
Report thisBy Adrian Zupp, June 29, 2008 at 3:26 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
I wish true radical rebels like Hicks were held in higher esteem by the Left. Carlin wasn’t in the same league. And that’s telling it as straight as George would want it.
Report thisBy troublesum, June 27, 2008 at 10:27 pm #
Today truth can be spoken in the mass media only by cartoonists and comedians. It has to be presented as a joke and we must laugh at it.
Report thisBy Daniel, June 27, 2008 at 4:30 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
Your article on the life of George Carlin is the best!
Report thisBy Dave Morton, June 26, 2008 at 2:38 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
Carlin was good—very good, by today’s standards. But my interpretation of his constant use of vulgarities is that he probably turned a number of folks off…I get turned off if they is used repeatedly. The points he makes are diminished if foul language is used to the extent he utilized it.
Don’t misunderstand me, I use foul language from time to time, the same language that Carlin used. And I’m no a prude. However, if one wishes to be politically effective, I suggest that it be used in moderation, if at all.
One area that Carlin reinforced: My admiration for Will Rogers and Mark Twain. Both these gentlemen made many, many profound and admirable observations about politics, religion, and socioeconomic foibles both here and abroad. And they did so without resorting to smut to enhance the points they made.
Well, Mark Twain’s “Conversation, as it Was by the Social Fireside, in the Time of the Tudors [date 1601]” might even make Carlin blush a bit.
As for Twain on journalism, read “Journalism in Tennessee,” a must for every prospective scribbler.
And his commentaries on foreign languages (particularly his hilarious send-up of the Awful German Language) are gems that Carlin could never attempt.
Twain, had a huge vocabulary—-the largest of any American writer, with the possible exception of Herman Melville. And remember, Twain was a “stand up” comic, only it was called a lecture tour in those days.
Anyway, Cheers to George Carlin——he done good.
Report thisBy mikero, June 25, 2008 at 9:52 pm #
I have spent the past days listening to all of George Carlin’s skits on YouTube. I certainly surmise that his appeal to radical thinkers has less to do with his levity concerning dirty words (ie. freedom of speech) or his biting commentaries on diverse and distracting sectarian viewpoints like feminism, etc. but rather his astute and fearsome class conscious monologues and his unrelenting attacks on ruling class values; his appreciation of the struggle necessary to overcome an oppressive and devisive economic system.
Report thisBy Johnbo, June 25, 2008 at 8:29 pm #
You were a high-wire artist in a free-fall world,
tuned in, turned on, and cable-ready.
You surfed the geek-free zone.
You cut close to the bone,
You were a high flier and a low rider,
a free-range spirit in a fenced-in world.
You had a love for the word
And an eye for the absurd.
You werent straight-laced or straight-faced.
You were drug-friendly but reality-based.
You were down with the lingo but free of the spin.
And now youre over and out
Sorry it had to come to an end.
Report thisBy ib hernandez, June 25, 2008 at 8:15 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
Thank you Amy for a true tribute to Mr. Carlin
Report thisBy Frank, June 25, 2008 at 8:09 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
He was truly brilliant and a much needed voice of the people… we could use more Carlin’s and less Bush, Cheney and Rove’s…
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