The Comedian.

Thursday, June 26, 2008
Category: rants, age and memory

I’ve been resisting blogging about the death of George Carlin, because I can practically feel the Internet creaking from the weight of all the boomer bloggers’ tributes to him. What is there to say that hasn’t been said already?

But then last night Ben and I were watching HBO2, which this week is wallpapering George Carlin stand-up specials. This is a trend that always vaguely disturbs me. Remember after Heath Ledger died in January, they were showing 10 Things I Hate About You and The Patriot like every 10 minutes? Okay, it’s a tribute, but it also feels like cashing in.

Anyway. Watching Carlin’s stand-up act, I realized that I grew up equating comedian with George Carlin. The guy was — is — a fucking icon. And thus another one bites the dust. It’s a disquieting aspect of aging. Here’s a partial scorecard:

  • The President = John F. Kennedy = Dead.
  • The Novelist = Kurt Vonnegut = Dead.
  • The Humorist = Douglas Adams = Dead.
  • The Musicians = The Beatles = 50% Dead.
  • The Pope = John Paul II = Dead.
  • The Journalist = Hunter S. Thompson = Dead.
  • The Comedian = George Carlin = Now Also Dead.

And I don’t especially see any new icons taking up the vacant spots. Damn. I hate to think that the next generation is going to have lame icons.

4 comments

  1. GoingLikeSixty says:

    Did I mention that George Carlin had 1,000 times more impact on our nation than Tim Russert?

    I think there are icons for Xer’s. Ask your really old daughter.

    I’ll ask mine, she’s 38, and we’ll compare…
    Journalist might be Tom BrokenJaw
    Comedian answer will be Will Ferrell.

    Thursday, June 26, 2008 12:55 pm

  2. Paul says:

    Of course the next generation is going to have lame icons. No comedian will ever measure up to George Carlin. But the real key here is perspective - folks of our parents’ generation felt that George Carlin with his blue material was pretty lame himself - for them The Comedian was Bob Hope. Now I like Hope’s work and think he’s immensely funny, but he’s fundamentally different from Carlin. The young already have their own icons - and we think they’re pretty lame…

    Who were the other icons of our parents’ generation? The President was FDR. The Novelist was Ernest Hemmingway. The Humorist was Mark Twain. The Musicians were Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Count Basie, and the Dorsey Brothers. The Pope was Pius XII. The Journalist was Henry Luce.

    Most folks of our children’s generation wouldn’t even recognize most of those names… and so time marches on!

    Thursday, June 26, 2008 1:26 pm

  3. George Carlin. Dead. Was He An Icon To You? If Not, Who is? Is This Meme Too Revealing? | Baby Boomer Going Like Sixty in Kentucky says:

    […] Professional bloggers often advise to not jump on the “breaking news” bandwagon, but to let things develop and put a different spin on a post. Suburban Hippie did a great job of doing just that. I’ve been resisting blogging about the death of George Carlin, because I can practically feel the Internet creaking from the weight of all the boomer bloggers’ tributes to him. What is there to say that hasn’t been said already? […]

    Thursday, June 26, 2008 10:01 pm

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