Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

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

Richard Pryor's world was filled with prostitutes, pimps, winos and those others of undesirable ilk.

This past Saturday Richard Pryor left this life and bequeathed to our culture as much darkness as he did the light his extraordinary talent made possible. When we look at the remarkable descent this culture has made into smut, contempt, vulgarity and the pornagraphic, those of us who are not willing to drink the Kool-Aid marked "all's well," will have to address the fact that it was the combination of confusion and comic genius that made Pryor a much more negative influence than a positive one.

I do not mean positive in the way Bill Cosby was when his television show redefined situation comedy by turning away from all of the stereotypes of disorder and incompetence that were then and still are the basic renditions of black American life in our mass media.

Richard Pryor was not that kind of a man. His was a different story.

Pryor was troubled and he had seen things that so haunted him that the comedian found it impossible to perform and ignore the lower-class shadow worlds he had known so well, filled with pimps, prostitutes, winos and abrasive types of one sort or another.

The vulgarity of his material, and the idea a "real" black person was a foul-mouthed type was his greatest influence. It was the result of seeing the breaking of "white" convention as a form of "authentic" definition.

Pryor reached for anything that would make white America uncomfortable and would prop up a smug belief among black Americans that they were always "more cool" and more ready to "face life" than the members of majority culture.

Along the way, Pryor made too many people feel that the N word was open currency and was more accurate than any other word used to describe or address a black person.

In the dung piles of pimp and gangster rap we hear from slime meisters like Snoop Dogg and 50 Cent, the worst of Pryor's influence has been turned into an aspect of the new minstrelsy in which millions of dollars are made by "normalizing" demeaning imagery and misogyny.

What is so unfortunate is that the heaviest of Pryor's gifts was largely ignored by so many of those who praised the man when he was alive and are now in the middle of deifying him.

The pathos and the frailty of the human soul alone in the world or insecure or looking for something of meaning in a chaotic environment was a bit too deep for all of the simpleminded clowns like Andrew Dice Clay or those who thought that mere ethnicity was enough to define one as funny, like the painfully square work of Paul Rodriguez.

Of course, Russell Simmons' Def Comedy Jam is the ultimate coon show update of human cesspools, where "cutting edge" has come to mean traveling ever more downward in the sewer.

In essence, Pryor stunned with his timing, his rhythm, his ability to stand alone and fill the stage with three-dimensional characters through his remarkably imaginative gift for an epic sweep of mimicry.

That nuanced mimicry crossed ethnic lines, stretched from young to old, and gave poignancy to the comedian's revelations about the hurts and the terrors of life.

The idea of "laughing to keep from crying" was central to his work and has been diligently avoided by those who claim to owe so much to him.

As he revealed in his last performance films, Pryor understood the prison he had built for himself and the shallow definitions that smothered his audience's understanding of the humanity behind his work.

But, as they say, once the barn door has been opened, you cannot get all of the animals to return by whistling. So we need to understand the terrible mistakes this man of comic genius made and never settle for a standard that is less than what he did at his very best, which was as good as it has ever gotten.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Extended News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: comedy; filth; profanity; richardpryor; stanleycrouch
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-94 next last
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)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

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
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]

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)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

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)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 36 | View Replies]

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.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 42 | View Replies]

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.

46 posted on 12/12/2005 9:26:40 AM PST by wideawake
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

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.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]

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)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 44 | View Replies]

To: lesser_satan

See post 46.


49 posted on 12/12/2005 9:27:31 AM PST by wideawake
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 40 | View Replies]

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)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 41 | View Replies]

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)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

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)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 47 | View Replies]

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)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

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
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

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)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

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)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 51 | View Replies]

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)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 46 | View Replies]

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
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

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.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 52 | View Replies]

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.

60 posted on 12/12/2005 9:36:27 AM PST by wideawake
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-94 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson