George Carlin, Destroyer of Euphemism

George Carlin died yesterday of a heart attack. He was 71. This isn't another boring, maudlin tribute to the greatest comic of the nation - anyone who was a fan knows he would have hated all of this carrying on. But he does deserve to be honored for what he did for the American culture: George Carlin was responsible for helping us to not lie to ourselves. "The 7 Dirty Words" material that made him famous, looking back, seems at best a little petulant. At the time, of course, it demanded we recognize that these are the words people really say. The rest of his ouvre was dedicated to the same thinking: Let's not pretend life is some way other than what it is. As a result of that movement in thinking, we don't necessarily swear every five minutes, but we are more aware of the "truthiness" of something, as well as when someone is trying to pitch us on something. He made the job of public relations and marketing more difficult, because the same old method of spinning just wouldn't' work. At the same time, though, people started to hunger for real answers, for truth from public figures and companies - and in the end, everyone just got more comfortable telling the truth. (Which ironically made our jobs in marketing and PR easier, if the people and products in question were actually admirable.) I'm not saying this was all the work of Carlin, but surely he's the greatest representative of this C-change in American culture. It is what I, as a fan of his since I was in grade school, will miss the most about not seeing a new George Carlin HBO special every two or three years: Having him point out the latest funny-yet-tragic way we have all decided to spin our reality. So as a true fan of his, I will say that I will miss his insight, but I will not say, "I'll miss you, George." Because he can't hear me - he's dead and in a box.

About the Author: Eric Reid

I am the Social Media Services Manager for Off Madison Ave. I've been with the company since 2006, when I was hired to do SEO, and link building in particular. When social networking sites started cropping up, at first I started using them to create backlinks - but they weren't the best for that, given all of the "nofollow" attributes. However, I did see the potential for all of the direct referral traffic they represent. Since then I've been actively pursuing both tactics for clients: Links that can help them for search, and social postings that get them involved in the conversation. It's about the coolest job you could ever get. ;)

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