Posted on 12/12/2005 8:49:58 AM PST by .cnI redruM
Yep. That really enraged a lot of jazz aficionados.
Filth and nastiness are always good for a laugh or two, right?
I think Crouch is right for this reason -- I've heard more than one black artist who uses the N-word cite Pryor as the reason why (Aaron McGruder of Boondocks is one person who has used that excuse), even though, as you allude to, Pryor later disavowed using the N-word.
The vulgarity of Pryor's material cannot be separated from its genius. It's easy to fall back on foul language as a blunt instrument of shock (see Clay, Andrew "Dice), but that was not what Pryor did. He used profanity as a stiletto, for shock value, yes, but a shock that drove the message home rather than drowning it out.
Profanity is not appropriate for all occasions, but why would someone who paints with words categorically take the most vivid, most shocking -- and, yes, ugliest -- colors from his palette?
If Pryor were beginning his career today, I doubt that he would embrace the profanity-laced gangsta thug culture; it's too easy. It substitutes the shock of the F-word for any real message behind it (though there are, of course, exceptions).
The comics who most embody his legacy today are Chris Rock and Dave Chapelle, who use profanity skillfully and sparingly. He would certainly lay off the N word, as he had begun to do -- and explained -- by the time of "Live on the Sunset Strip."
The oft-repeated mantra is that the use of profanity is an hallmark of limited wit or vocabulary. I disagree. Sure, profanity us a substitute for wit far more often than a tool in service of wit, but when you have both, it's a powerful combination. And a rare one. Pryor, Lenny Bruce, and only a handful of others have mastered it.
I have no idea what sector of white America that would be, maybe the insane and over sensitive. I never heard him say any part of America was superior to any other, better off financially maybe, but not superior.
I don't think I've ever heard a racist use Pryor as an excuse, that's simply nonsensical on it's face.
"No one ever said Pryor was a role model, nor did he claim to be.
But he sure was funny."
That is the bottom line. I liked Mr Pryor and I dont ever recall him shooting his mouth of regarding politics.
Seems I read something like this about the Roman Empire ":^{
Had me fooled all these years! (grabbed the wrong choice on spell check)
Neither. In the early days of black ragtime, entertainers would stick shouts into the middle of their songs, and the audience would often shout back. These were called "coon shouts"...a label that was invented by the blacks themselves. After a while, black musical shows started becoming known as coon shows because that kind of shouting was a mainstay. Eventually, black shows in general...whether musical or stand-up, became known as coon shows as its use spread.
It's not used much anymore, but it's not a racist term. It just means that it's a show with black entertainers, marketed to a black audience, that employes crude or basic humor to entertain. Pryor's shows certainly fit that bill.
I think it's avoided by most people nowadays because it is so close to the old racist insult of calling blacks "coons". Like the ni***r word, it's pretty much only used by blacks when referring to themselves anymore.
Sorry, but I just can't relate any of Priors movies, to something that generates a mind F...other than laughing a lot for a short period of time.
I've heard that Diceman is doing pretty well for himself in Vegas and still married to the same babe for all these years.
Mitch Hedberg died this year... his lifestyle included drug and alcohol abuse. No role model discussions there, and the talk about the "next Seinfeld" was quickly forgotten.
John Belushi too. Anyone lament the fact that he wasn't a "good role model" when he OD'd? Nope. We simply recognized him for his talent.
Lev Kuleshov Born: 1899
A distinguished Soviet director of the silent era, best known today as a theoretician. The famous "Kuleshov experiment" was central to the development of montage and led Kuleshov to the belief that inter-cutting, rather than performance, was the prime basis of filmic expression. More...
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