What's WRONG? At CLUB DEAD, The bell tolls for George Carlin, most profound when he was most outraged. He made us think. Seems so simple now. His "seven words you can't say on television" was the crown jewel, but there were so many more moments of truth to be heard.
It's the David O. Selznick curse. Do one exceptional, outstanding thing and you will wear the weight of its success for all eternity.
George Carlin should be remembered for so much more than the "seven words" bit. Yet, that's how all the obits are reading. He was a biting social commentator, and appeared to fear no authority. Lost in the furor over his language was the fact that most of his material spoke to a more universal concept, one that defined a generation: Question everything.
"A hot water heater? Why would anyone want to heat hot water? Don't we mean
a cold water heater? Maybe a hot water cooler""When two planes almost collide, they call it a near miss? It's a near hit A collision is a near miss.
As Al Sleet, the hippie dippy weatherman, Carlin might tell us it's 68 degrees at the airport, but he would also remind us that he doesn't know anyone who lives at the airport.
Trace the timeline and damned if he wasn't laying the social foundation for a higher debate, one that wouldn't even become fashionable for decades: the examined vs. unexamined life. George Carlin told America it was okay to question ourselves.
It seems so obvious now, but not then. We didn't used to question the status quo, you know, at least not openly. That mid-century America that our parents spoke of so reverently was a place for accomplishment, growth, velocity. It was not the place for standing still and soul-searching.
Then came the Sixties. Asassinations, civil rights, Vietnam, riots, and rumblings about what the hell is happening in America. We began to ask questions and we haven't stopped yet.
George Carlin may have been the voice of his generation, but I don't think he would have wanted to be though of that way. He almost became a tv icon. He hosted the first episode of Saturday Night and some of the suits wanted him as permanent host, but he said no thanks.
Everyone has a Carlin story today, so here's mine: I shall lock in on those remaining brain cells, and picture 1976 or 77, Evansville Coliseum, the man with the beard and the wooden stool holding court with a spellbound audience.
Mostly.
Despite several empty seats closer to the stage, there was a group seated high up in what passes for the nosebleed seats at the Coliseum. From those upper seats, an occasional cry of "we can't hear" would interrupt the show. Carlin was more patient than the audience, but finally acknowledged them. "We'll see what we can do" or something to that effect, he said.
As the catcalls continued, he stopped again. "Look," he said "if we had known that we were going to be here and you were going to be here, we would have stayed home."
The resulting applause and cheers served only to egg them on, and again, the calls of "we can't hear" floated across the seats.
Now the man was pissed.
"You can't hear?"
"No!" came the reply
"THEN FUCKING MOVE!"
To use a quote that would make George Carlin's blood boil, Mission Accomplished.
I wish his anger had mellowed with time. All comedy is based on someone's discomfort, and as the years went on, sometimes, especially in his atheist rants, he seemed more intent on twisting the knife than in finding the funny. Just call him an angry old man...there are a lot of worse things to be.
And balls to the wall for George Carlin for speaking out when so many were unsure, and setting the table for us all. God rest his soul. Yeah, he would have objected to invoking God's name in his memory. Well, screw him. He's dead. Let's go look for crocodiles.
StevenK
