George Carlin, dead at 71
Today when I opened up to my home page the first thing I saw was a headline stating that George Carlin had died. Just a week ago I was having a conversation about the very man with my sister-in-law. If you check my Blockbuster on line movie queue you will also see that the next movie in line is a live Carlin show. And now he’s gone.
Carlin is an interesting person because I thought he was absolutely hilarious and at the same time totally ignorant about a great many things including his own ignorance. Not to get into detail, but the conversation I had with my sister-in-law revolved around his ignorance. Carlin was pro-choice, a stance that i disagree with but one that I have to understand is quite popular in this country. What got me is how he spoke of abortion like a cracking an egg that one is using for an omelet. Destroying a human embryo is like destroying a fowl embryo… no different. In fact he wasn’t sure why people aren’t more up in arms about eggs being taken away from their mothers! In other words he was saying that humans are no better than chickens. WOW!
Could this have been said in gest? Anyone who knew Carlin and his works knew that what he said was being said in a way that was funny, but he didn’t say anything that he didn’t feel to be true. In many cases I found myself laughing at the things he said. Other times I had to shake my head wondering if all the drugs he took had really killed that many brain cells.
Regardless of my thoughts on the man, I must say he was a comedic genius, finding humor where others would be incapable of finding any. He was one of the first to joke about 9/11, when everyone else was afraid to. And it was his history of finding humor in humorless situations that allowed him to do so with just enough sensitivity to not offend everybody (someone will ALWAYS be offended by remarks, regardless of their gravity or sense of controversy).
So with that I bid a not so fond farewell to the outspoken George Carlin. I respect him for his abilities to make people laugh and think and for speaking his mind without fearing what people would think of him. I just wish he could have been more open to the greater power he so readily rejected. I remember last week thinking whether he would ever recognize the same God he refused to acknowledge while my sister-in-law and I spoke. He may have, and I hope so, but I have trouble believing he did. May you rest in peace G.C.