A Word About George Carlin

I just read that George Carlin passed away today.  I have to say, when I read the headline, it took my breath away.  I started shaking my head and a very real sadness came over me from loss of somebody I’ve never met but who has made me laugh so hard, so many times.

When I was a sophomore in college, my roommate and I slept on bunk beds in the corner of the room.  One night as I lay in bed unable to sleep, I put on some headphones and listened to Carlin’s Back In Town CD in my portable CD player (remember those?).  That’s the one that starts with the 8 ½ minute-long rant about abortion, and how the people who are against it are usually those “you wouldn’t wanna fuck anyway.”  When he got to the part about how a proper feminist protest should include castrating guys in parking lots with a Coke can, I burst out laughing so hard that I couldn’t stop till tears were streaming down my cheeks.  Naturally, my roommate woke up with a violent startle and asked me what the hell was so funny.  I told him don’t worry about, just go back to sleep, and I left the room to listen to the rest of it.  I spent that night and many more laughing my ass off while marveling at the man’s insight and ballsiness.

George Carlin was funny, to be sure, but more than that, he was somebody who was never afraid to say what was on his mind.  He wasn’t just a comedian; he was a great American anti-bullshit crusader.  Whether it was about politics, religion, or general human nature, Carlin’s jokes carried a powerful subtext that screamed, “Wake up and stop listening to the bullshit they’re feeding you!”  Even when his humor was at its basest, it was delivered in an intelligent manner with the intention to expose his audience to a deeper reality beneath the euphemisms.  To me, George Carlin was the best example of an entertainer who never apologized for being himself, and who never settled for less than unflinching honesty.

He was a true inspiration, and he will be missed.

George Carlin, R.I.P.