Monday, June 23, 2008

George Carlin (May 12th, 1937-June 22nd, 2008)

GreenCine gathers obituaries. Share your thoughts in the comments section. See after the break for a few clips of Carlin in action.







Posted by Keith Uhlich at 11:59 PM
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9 comments:

Matt Zoller Seitz said...

This one really hurts. His tombstone, if he has one, should read, "Voice of reason."

More later when I can collect my thoughts.

6/23/2008 11:20 AM
Jeff said...

This one is like a punch in the gut. Carlin can't die - he's ALWAYS going to be around! I wanted to watch him with my kids, and see the looks on their faces when they laughed at the routines I laughed at 10, 20, 30, 35 years ago.

His use of language, his social commentary, his ability and courage to say the things out loud that the rest of us might have been thinking - all combined to make him something special. Plus, of course, the fact that when he was on, he was probably the funniest man on the planet.

6/23/2008 11:32 AM
Matt Zoller Seitz said...

Also: Anybody who says anything like "He's in a better place" or "He's with the angels" or "God rest his soul" never really listened to a word he said and can go fuck themselves.

6/23/2008 11:36 AM
GCCR said...

Finally hearing Carlin's "The Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television" from his Class Clown album (which I still have in all it's 33RPM glory) was a REALLY big deal during my teen years.

You know what words are don't you (then without missing a beat):

- shit
- piss
- fuck
- cunt
- cocksucker
- motherfucker and
- tits

...and "tits" shouldn't even be on the list!

Good Stuff!

6/23/2008 12:17 PM
the hanged man said...

I liked him, but more importantly, he made my dad laugh.

6/23/2008 12:23 PM
Sean said...

I'm having a very hard time accepting a world without George Carlin. He was one of the world's checks and balances.

Also, mzs's comment made me think of this:

I really want the Westboro Baptist idiots to picket George's funeral. And when they're standing there with their "God Hates Fags" and "George is Burning in Hell" signs, everybody at the funeral just turns, points at them, and starts laughing uncontrollably.

And then they walk over laughing, and tell them all how fucking hilarious George would have found that.

And then calls them idiots.

And then walks away laughing.

That would be perfect.

6/23/2008 1:19 PM
Joel said...

We listened to his cassette tapes every weekend when I was a child, on our drives from Rhode Island to New Hampshire. In retrospect, my father probably shouldn't have let very young children listen to Carlin, but we all turned out fine. To this day, I can't eat squash, guacamole, or (especially) kumquats without laughing uncontrollably.

6/23/2008 3:16 PM
TJ said...

I met my wife at college, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It was freshman year for both of us, October 1987. I was a non-religious Yankee from Illinois, she a North Carolinian, daughter of a Southern Baptist minister. She walked into a dorm room right as I was reciting the Seven Words You Can't Say on Television as fast as I could. We hit it off, dated throughout college and got married a month after we graduated.

Thanks, George.

6/23/2008 3:29 PM
Anonymous said...

They make biopics about legends like this. I wonder who they are going to hire to play Carlin. Edward Norton? Topher Grace? Quick, someone call Milos Forman!
Ken Cancelosi

6/23/2008 4:47 PM

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