Some thoughts on George Carlin

George Carlin's death over the weekend touched a lot of people and there are more eloquent memorials across the net than I can muster. Time.Com takes a look at his life. Other blogs I regularly read offer there own memorials here:

• George Carlin (at Mom's Musings)
• George Carlin (at Not in My Book)
• NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO (at Spasms Project)
• George Carlin Has Died (at Drucker Brothers)

What I like most about Carlin was that despite not finishing high school, he was brilliant. His humor could be outrageous but it wasn't outrageous for just the sake of getting attention. He didn't attack power just to get a cheap laugh. He did it to make a point.

His jokes and routines had an edge to them sharpened just to slice through hypocrisy. He chose his words carefully and deliberately to express his outrage at the absurdity of modern society and the values it embraced.

But beyond his the sheer force of his biting satire, Carlin loved language. His rants, whether they were out of anger or bemusement displayed a keen grasp of power of words and how words chosen can alter perception. Contrary to his claim at they end of his seven words you can't say on TV bit, words do matter. Words have an impact. And Carlin chose his words brilliantly.

I've seen memorials cite his seven word bit, maniac vs. idiot drivers, and baseball versus football bits. And there is poetry in the way he expresses those thoughts.

To really see Carlin's poetry on display, though, watch the Modern Man:




You'll be missed, George.