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George Carlin.
“Seven Dirty Words”.
You’ll be hearing that name/phrase juxtaposition quite a bit in the days ahead — it’s how the media is going to be most comfortable summing up his life and his legacy. It’s much easier to say that “George Carlin was a champion of free speech” than to tell you what he used that freedom to talk about.
After all, the “seven dirty words” routine has proven to be one of the least controversial aspects of his public life; people used those words before the Supreme Court decision and continued to do so after it. Profanity has always been as American as Apple Pie — George was just nudging America into being more honest about it. His ideas about society were far more dangerous and unpalatable.
The bulk of his work challenged almost every platitude that we Americans accept about ourselves. George Carlin thought religion was a sham and that “politics” was theater designed to give people the illusion of control without any real effect.
Yes, and the guy from “Thomas the Tank Engine” thought your children were stupid as well.
So, chances are, you won’t hear his actual views on the news tonight and the bland hagiography would have pissed him off. I’m going to post some clips and thoughts about his work in the days ahead to embrace what I think his most powerful legacy was — these tough observations about America and Americans.
Here’s one you won’t see on the news:
