Stanley Crouch on Richard Pryor: "A combination of confusion and comic genius made Pryor a much more negative influence than a positive one"

-
Stanley Crouch writes: "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 pornographic, 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."

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mazisi Kunene's “Thoughts on June 26 (South African Liberation Day)”

-
My friend and colleague Gwen Becker pointed out to me how this brilliant poem by South African writer Mazisi Kunene could be read not only in a voice of defiance, but of profound ambivalence. "Was I wrong when I thought All shall be avenged? Was I wrong when I thought The rope of iron holding the neck of young bulls Shall be avenged? Was I wrong When I thought the orphans of sulphur Shall rise from the ocean? Was I depraved when I thought there need not be love There need not be forgiveness, there need not be progress, There need not be goodness on the earth, There need not be towns of skeletons, Sending messages of elephants to the moon? Was I wrong to laugh asphyxiated ecstasy When the sea rose like quicklime When the ashes on ashes were blown by the wind When the infant sword was left alone on the hilltop? Was I wrong to erect monuments of blood? Was I wrong to avenge the pillage of Caesar? Was I wrong? Was I wrong? Was I wr
Read more

Why Tom Zarek Was Right

-
Image
Tom Zarek: Underserved by the otherwise excellent writers. Most of the anti-Gaeta sentiment I've heard is empty chatter, calling Gaeta "a coward" or "power mad" or "a weasel." Gaeta knew less than viewers know about Cylons, and from his perspective, indeed, from any logical human perspective of a character in the story, the mutiny and coup were logical responses to: a) a tyrannical presidential-military cliqu e that based its pursuit of Earth on what was originally a flat-out lie b) the centralisation of power in an unelected president ruling by cynical religious manip ulation which drifted into self-deluded fundamentalist zealotry and a messiah-complex c) an Executive who nearly succeeded in stealing an election d) a miltary strong-man who himself overthrew civilian rule, ruled by nepotism, undermined criminal inquiries he himself launched, and made clear he would overthrow any government he opposed e) a civilian-military clique of master-race Cap
Read more

DOCTOR BRAIN BOOK LAUNCH TONIGHT! Assemble!

-
Image
After two a nd a half years, I finally have a new novel out! It's called From the Notebooks of Doctor Brain , and it’s a self-help book for superheroes. Well, okay, not really, it’s a satire a bout psychology and office politics. Well, okay, not really... it’s actually about the Bush administration. Check out below to find out what critics and writers are saying . When: Friday, Feb. 2, 7:30 pm at Audrey's Books, 10702 Jasper Avenue , Edmonton , (780) 423-3487 PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (STARRED REVIEW): “[S]harp s atire of caped crusaders hides a deeper critique of individual treatment versus social injustice.... Faust's well-aimed jabs spare no super sacred cows nor many pop idols a nd psychobabbling media stars. Underneath the humor, careful readers will find uncomfortable parallels to real-world urban tragedies in the novel's 'July 16 Attacks,' where Faust gives a double meaning to the 'Crisis of Infinite Dearths.'" BOOKLIST: ”[An] excellent superh
Read more