The news of George Carlin's death hit a lot of people very hard, and sparked an amazing spectrum of opinions about Carlin's life and legacy, ranging from "icon" and "genius" to "athiest" and "foul-mouthed."
I loved George Carlin, and he really was an inspiration to me. Of course, that was back in the 70s, when I was addicted to drugs and alcohol. Man, was he funny then! Woo hoo! However, I eventually grew up, and realized what things are really important in life. Thank the Lord, I was able to escape a life of addiction and self-absorption.
Apparently, Carlin never did grow up. He did grow very angry, though. He spent the last few years of his life putting down many of the things that I held dear. That's unfortunate, because Carlin was extremely talented.
I was thinking about what I just said as I was writing it; and wondering if I was too hard on Carlin. After all, I moved on to other interests and attitudes, but that doesn't mean Carlin or anyone else has to.
So, using YouTube and other sources, I spent much of my Monday evening watching videos of Carlin from the 60s and 70s. Guess what? That material is still funny to me. I saw the bit about football and baseball on ESPN: hilarious! I had forgotten how clever that was. I saw parts of the hippy-dippy weatherman bit on a couple different channels, and laughed out loud, even after all of these years. Even the Seven Words, which I guess will be his major legacy, was humorous to me still. I think it's because that material, although edgy, was intelligently written and delivered. That same energy and intelligence wasn't there in the later years. He was just angry, and nasty, and crabby.
It's too bad. Even until the end, I wanted so desperately to like George Carlin, just as I used to. But somewhere, we parted ways. I'm sorry he died. I hope he's in a better place right now, where he doesn't have to be so angry
No comments:
Post a Comment