I’ve been thinking about the death of George Carlin for the past few minutes — specifically his Seven Words You Can Never Say on TV routine, which can be seen in my previous post.
In 1972, Carlin was arrested in Milwaukee for disturbing the peace after performing this act and, even though I don’t know a great deal about the man (I only recently discovered him; he wasn’t that well known in my neck of the woods), it seems obvious that even then he could very clearly see the road down which we were travelling — the road to that place where the greatest sin of all is to cause offence.
Personally, I’ve never really been someone to deliberately go out of my way to offend. Except in exceptional circumstances. But increasingly I find myself appalled by the cultural mass-mindset I see around me. Everyone is perpetually afraid, it seems, to offend. Words that were once acceptable now no longer are, everyone is a minority in need of protecting, of cosseting, of being kept happy and free from unnecessary stress. You can’t say that, but you can say this — unless such and such a person is present, then it might be construed to mean something quite different, in which case, say this instead, making sure that you smile at the same time so that it can’t be misinterpreted as unnecessarily sarcastic or ironic. Whether you’re gay, black, Asian, disabled — or just a plain old vanilla Caucasian with everything in working order — you can guarantee that at some time someone will perform a nifty little verbal Riverdance routine in order to avoid causing offence. And, without wishing to offend (!), it is a complete load of fucking bollocks.
Now I’m fairly sure there’s someone out there with an “ah, but” at the ready. And quite rightly so. There is a line that cannot be crossed — a line that isn’t about the choice of words but about intent. Offending people, I will state quite clearly, is not always a bad thing. Quite often, in fact, it’s to be applauded. But this doesn’t mean that by saying this we are sanctioning bigotry and hatred. Quite the opposite, in fact.
You see, any liberties and rights that we might have (and I’d recommend hearing what George has to say about these things!) are for me founded on one basic principle: my right to have and express an opinion. Yes, with this comes responsibility. If I say something unacceptable (for example, something intended to incite racial hatred) then I should be held accountable. But for mere offence? Should I be gagged simply because I make someone feel uncomfortable, or make them question the number of burgers they eat in an average week? I don’t think so.
You see, I can say that. People like George help us see that. I can say that and, more to the point, so can you.
And if they don’t like it… well, fuck ’em.
Excellent post, Gary! I’ve been thinking about “offensive” language quite a bit lately, and I absolutely agree with your take on it.
It’s also a wonderful tribute to George Carlin, whose death has hit me harder than I would have expected, for some reason.
Thank you for posting this.
Your recent posts are partly the reason why I’ve been thinking about offensive language etc, Lottie. Very inspiring and thought-provoking.
It was funny, but as I wrote this I found myself slipping into the odd George-like riff. I was dictating it and as I launched into the “You can’t say that, but you can say this“-bit, I swear my voice started to change! Suddenly I had this gritty, ass kicking accent that I never knew I was capable of! 🙂
Interesting and insightful posts as always Gary (just catching up with your blog).
Do you know about the twitter service? You might find that interesting.
Cheerio
Good to hear from you, again, Andrew. I haven’t seen you in my feed reader for quite a while. I hope everything is all right with you.
Yes, I’m actually on twitter — but I don’t use it. I haven’t really given it much of a looking at; I’m wary that it might end up being another distraction I don’t really need, you know?
What’s your experience of it?
Hi Gary,
Sorry about no recent updates on my blog or comments on yours. Everything is well, thanks. 🙂 Few more grey hairs perhaps. lol
twitter…
Distraction..yes, Another good way to connect with people..yes. Seeing it being used for a mixture of business and personal reasons. Very interesting to see how it is being used.
For myself I love different cultures, communicating with new people or people I already know, learning and giving feedback. Also considering using it for a community site as a medium to update members (and then place twitter updates on the site also).
Perhaps it could be a way for new readers to find out about you and your blog. E.g. update twitter every time you write a new blog entry and another way to engage with readers of your blog and vice versa….or it could just end up being a big distraction!
Best Regards
Andrew
Ah yes — I know all about grey hairs, Andrew! I find that those that don’t fall out altogether always insist on turning grey. 😉
I tend to use MySpace and Facebook for keeping certain friends and readers up-to-date with my blogging, though, on the whole, I like to think my readers will use one of the other available methods on this site for keeping up-to-date — my mailing list, feed readers etc.
Saying that, I do find it attractive… which is possibly the problem! You know what it’s like, I’m sure. My day seems to be a continual effort to avoid information overload! 🙂 I don’t mind sending information out on it, so much, it’s the stuff coming in that I worry about LOL.
I might give it a proper go, though. The new novel is almost finished so I’ll have a little free time before I start planning and researching the next one. It would be a bit silly not to look into its “marketing potential” a bit more seriously, wouldn’t it?
Hi Gary,
Excellent that you use different services to keep friends and readers up to date.
I’ve not used myspace at all for any reason. What are your thoughts on myspace?
Information overload is a huge problem these days and how to manage it. If you do use twitter sometime look me up. Also will be very interested in your feedback on twitter being used for marketing.
On another note… are you a Greg Bear fan? His new book is coming out July – August.
Also congrats on your new novel almost being finished. 🙂
Best Regards
Andrew
MySpace isn’t really my cup of tea, to be honest, Andrew — none of the social networking sites are. The main reason, with MySpace especially, that I keep up with them is that a small handful of my “friends” don’t seem inclined to use feed readers etc. I use it occasionally to send messages, but not often.
Some Greg Bear novels, I love. Darwin’s Radio was a particular favourite, though Darwin’s Children was a bit of a letdown. I didn’t know he had a new one coming out, though, so thanks! I’ll run along to Amazon right away and take a look 🙂
Talk to you later!
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