George Carlin Gone, Not Soon Forgotten

George Carlin

Counter-culture icon comedian George Carlin passed away yesterday. He changed the way I thought about comedians and more importantly he made me think as I laughed. Ultimately he was not as misanthropic as he led me to believe.

In the late 1970s when I first became aware of George Carlin most of the other comedians at the time were unoffensive, like Rich Little doing impressions or Tim Conway sight gags. I think I read about Carlin before seeing him on a talk show. A comedian was the center of a court case that went to the US Supreme Court? Wow! And all that fuss over just a few words and ideas. As a young teen I probably tuned in to see if any of the seven unspeakable words slipped out but what I got was a thoughtful discussion on the First Amendment and what society values.

That was just the beginning. Over the years George Carlin would entertain and challenge me while examining a whole host of ideas and concepts both large and small. Politics, religion and business all came under his scrutiny as did people who wished him a nice day, "Everyone wants me to have a nice day" he would cynically sneer. Ah yes, he was a cynic but often the cynic sees things more clearly then the person who sees things through rose colored glasses.

George Carlin said that he did not believe in America or even the human race. Misanthropic? Not as much as it seems at first glance. If he did not care for people at all then why did he make us forget our problems for a little while with his comedy and more importantly why did he try to open our eyes to the problems in the world? He did not have a lot of answers to man's inhumanity but recognizing a problem is the first step in finding a solution. The world and mankind are better now that George Carlin spent some time with us.

Thank you George, you will not be forgotten anytime soon.

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Note: I posted a few George Carlin videos on my Tumblr micro-blog. Warning! Potentially offensive language and you may actually think about an important issue or two: Seven Words and Religion is Bullsh*t .

Cross posted to my Newsvine column.