George Carlin: Even more powerful dead than alive

            There are very few individuals who have had a career spanning more than 50 years and can display even more innovative thinking in their 50th year than they did in their first. While Mr. Carlin was not a universally liked personality, he held a certain reverence for the underdog and a large amount of people love to get behind someone who believes in the individual.

            My first exposure to George’s comedy was in the early 90’s when my dad brought home the cassette tape “Class Clown”. The first two or three times listening to the tape brought me endless laughs, but subsequent listening to the tape transformed his words into a social commentary set to a rhythmical tone that had a musical quality. Over the next two years, listening to his social commentary and linguistic musings ignited a love of language without fully realizing it.

            Over the next decade, I spent a great deal of time looking for all of George’s previous work and it seemed like I was never able to quench that thirst for more. HBO specials, best selling books, and his catalogue of comedy CD’s were the material that I studied in order to better understand what George was trying to teach the American people. In fact, much of George’s material became reference material for my undergrad in English.

            I am both happy and sad to see the amount of headlines and links to his videos on the internet since his passing (it’s funny that George would have attacked that euphemism for death as being “soft language”). Most people will look at the information and video clips at surface value and enjoy the comedic aspect, which I think is great since comedy was the forefront of his career. But what I hope is that people will listen and see enough of George’s routines and hear enough of his words that it will ignite a curiosity about the world around them and urge them to change their point of view for the purpose of self education and the hope of learning something new.

            There has never been another individual that has taught me about language, politics, and even “the left cheek sneak” in a single sitting. I feel privileged to have seen a live show and to have met him in person. I know that the world will miss him, but we still have a lot to learn from him.

Shawn Jolicoeur CEO, Film Reviewz.com