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Pryor's flawed legacy. Comedian's vulgarity made him no role model.
New York Daily News ^
| December 12, 2005
| Stanley Crouch
Posted on 12/12/2005 8:49:58 AM PST by .cnI redruM
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To: .cnI redruM
As he revealed in his last performance films, Pryor understood the prison he had built for himself . . . This reminds of a time I saw him on the Tonight Show, or some such interview program. He had just finished working on Stir Crazy, which takes place in a prison. During the interview, he mentioned how he had gone to a real prison to get a feel for what it was really like, and after getting to meet some of the residents, he said, "Thank God, they got penitentiaries!"
I'm not so sure I'd agree with Stanley Crouch that Pryor begat so much of the vulgar culture that exists today. There has been ample opportunity for denouncements, and there are far too few. Bill Cosby is one who speaks out, and I wonder what Pryor might have done if not for his health. In Richard Pryor:Live From The Sunset Strip, he pretty much disavows much of his past language and bitterness. But that doesn't draw too many headlines.
41
posted on
12/12/2005 9:22:14 AM PST
by
TravisBickle
(The War on Terror: Win It There or Fight It Here)
To: Revolting cat!
You have your head in your litter box, as usual.
42
posted on
12/12/2005 9:22:35 AM PST
by
Mr. Mojo
To: naturalized
You and I are both WAY too smart to behave like the bozos we see on tv. I wonder how copycat killings ever take place.
43
posted on
12/12/2005 9:23:40 AM PST
by
.cnI redruM
(If you're gonna think, you might as well think big." - Donald Trump)
To: Zavien Doombringer
And a young Eddy Murphy was any better?
No, and neither are some of the other 'young' comedians following his lead. Murphy is another example of someone with a gift of comedy who just can't seem to make it work without using vulgarity.
44
posted on
12/12/2005 9:24:41 AM PST
by
reagan_fanatic
(Darwinism is a belief in the meaninglessness of existence - R. Kirk)
To: Mr. Mojo
Maybe you should educate the rest of us prudes by posting verbatim, uncensored some of this so-called comedian's routines on this forum. Crude, vulgar, mostly unfunny. Burlesque and vaudeville go mainstream. Pity.
45
posted on
12/12/2005 9:26:14 AM PST
by
Revolting cat!
("In the end, nothing explains anything.")
To: wallcrawlr
Stanley Crouch is a black man ( he describes himself as a "Negro American") and one of his distinctive themes as a columnist is that he believes that popular black culture is little better than a minstrel show from the 20s, except that today it's black men acting out the worst stereotypes about black men, rather than white men in blackface doing it.
He's a pretty controversial guy and is well-hated by the professional victim outfit. He's also the guy who writes all those crazy liner notes for Wynton Marsalis.
To: frgoff
So you're not talking about long-term behavior, just what takes place during the viewing? OK then, I didn't know that was what he meant.
47
posted on
12/12/2005 9:26:53 AM PST
by
stuartcr
(Everything happens as God wants it to.....otherwise, things would be different.)
To: reagan_fanatic
I did not hear of Bill Cosby's acts before 1980, but every single one of his performance did not contain any profanity.
He eludes to it, but doesn't say the words...
Excellent Entertainer...
48
posted on
12/12/2005 9:27:22 AM PST
by
Zavien Doombringer
(Have you gotten your Viking Kittie Patch today? http://www.visualops.com/patch.html)
To: lesser_satan
To: TravisBickle
You make an interesting point. Hollywood can influence what you see from a comedian, or anyone else. They just won't pay for what either a) doesn't sell, or b) doesn't fit their set of stereotypes.
Pryor may very well have disavowed a lot of the gross stuff he said. His disavowals just ended up not making the editor's cut.
50
posted on
12/12/2005 9:27:31 AM PST
by
.cnI redruM
(If you're gonna think, you might as well think big." - Donald Trump)
To: .cnI redruM
Some confuse novelty with talent....Pryor was one of the first of his type; vulgar, crass....Once you go there, what's the encore?
Today, ask copycat Eddie Murphy how many gigs he has lined up. Funny at first....Old at last.
If you saw a trainwreck every day on your way into work, after a while you'd wouldn't even slow down to watch.
Ask Eddie Murphy.
51
posted on
12/12/2005 9:31:16 AM PST
by
add925
(The Left = Xenophobes in Denial)
To: stuartcr
>>>>So you're not talking about long-term behavior
I think it genuinely does have some effect on longterm behavior. I doubt that the advertising industry would exist or that The Koloshov Effect would still be a film editing staple if life did not imitate art to a certain extent.
52
posted on
12/12/2005 9:31:29 AM PST
by
.cnI redruM
(If you're gonna think, you might as well think big." - Donald Trump)
To: Maceman
Pryor could be brilliant. But his autobiography was a case study in depravity without insight. His was a tragic vile life. the book provides seriously uncomfortable reading. (My wife threw it out!).
Yet there is time from the saddle to the stirrup.
53
posted on
12/12/2005 9:31:37 AM PST
by
vimto
(Life isn't a dry run)
To: Mr. Mojo
This role model BS is just more liberal racism. When a black is sucessful, and doesn't 'know his place' then they're all over him for not being a 'role model'. I've seen this far too often. Liberals have pre-conceived, stereotypical ideas about how black people should behave - when they stray from this 'plantation', the Libs subject them to a literal whipping.
54
posted on
12/12/2005 9:31:47 AM PST
by
Paisan
To: .cnI redruM
Pryor tried to make white America uncomfortable? Gosh then I guess he wasn't nearly as good as I thought, being in white America and having enjoyed Pryor for as long as I can remember and never having felt uncomfortable because of his humor if that was his goal then he was a miserable failure. I always thought that what made Pryor so great was that he managed to be so popular in white America while remaining a truly black comedian (as opposed to somebody like Cosby whose comedy is basically neutral).
55
posted on
12/12/2005 9:32:58 AM PST
by
discostu
(a time when families gather together, don't talk, and watch football... good times)
To: add925
>>>>If you saw a trainwreck every day on your way into work, after a while you'd wouldn't even slow down to watch.
No, you just accept train wrecks as a part of the scenery. Maybe you don't ride Amtrak very often. That's the problem. People just assume that's a rational and accepted behavioral standard.
Once you've laughed at two or three good porno jokes in front of your eleven year old, just try and get him to keep his mouth clean in public without a good, hard spanking.
56
posted on
12/12/2005 9:33:53 AM PST
by
.cnI redruM
(If you're gonna think, you might as well think big." - Donald Trump)
To: wideawake
Crouch was also prominently featured in the Ken Burn's Jazz program as a commentator.
57
posted on
12/12/2005 9:35:28 AM PST
by
TravisBickle
(The War on Terror: Win It There or Fight It Here)
To: Mr. Mojo
The Liberals of the day defended Lenny Bruce BECAUSE of his profanity. He was white, of course...
58
posted on
12/12/2005 9:35:51 AM PST
by
Paisan
To: .cnI redruM
I am not familiar with the Koloshov Effect.
59
posted on
12/12/2005 9:36:22 AM PST
by
stuartcr
(Everything happens as God wants it to.....otherwise, things would be different.)
To: Mr. Mojo
Part of Pryor's shtick as a comedian was that he was from the streets, that he was authentically black unlike all those other Stepinfetchits, that he was comedic voice of black America and that his vulgarity was the necessary adjunct of his reportage.
In other words, he was "keeping it real."
A role model tells people that the right way to act is the way he acts, and Pryor's message was that being "authentic" like himself trumped being good or responsible.
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