Pryor's flawed legacy. Comedian's vulgarity made him no role model.

New York Daily News ^ | December 12, 2005 | Stanley Crouch

[TravisBickle]

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.

[Mr. Mojo]

You have your head in your litter box, as usual.

[.cnI redruM]

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.

[reagan_fanatic]

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.

[Revolting cat!]

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.

[wideawake]

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.

[stuartcr]

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.

[Zavien Doombringer]

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...

[wideawake]

See post 46.

[.cnI redruM]

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.

[add925]

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.

[.cnI redruM]

>>>>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.

[vimto]

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.

[Paisan]

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.

[discostu]

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).

[.cnI redruM]

>>>>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.

[TravisBickle]

Crouch was also prominently featured in the Ken Burn's Jazz program as a commentator.

[Paisan]

The Liberals of the day defended Lenny Bruce BECAUSE of his profanity. He was white, of course...

[stuartcr]

I am not familiar with the Koloshov Effect.

[wideawake]

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.