Overall
HBO
“American Dream” contains a lot of readily available clips from Carlin’s standup work, and those who had been following Carlin’s career for any span will likely be familiar with large portions of Carlin’s story; it will serve less as an education for many, and more of a reminder. “American Dream,” which runs nearly four hours in toto, attempts to be thorough and is careful to give each stage of Carlin’s career its due without ever falling completely into the trap of hero worship.
The title, we find from the film’s coda, is most certainly ironic. Carlin pointed out that the American Dream was so named because you had to be asleep to believe it. Rather than leaving audiences feeling sentimental about Carlin and his deep abiding love for individuals, Apatow and Bonfiglio repeatedly slam audiences in the face with how bad the world is now. A sour, angry Carlin rant from 20 years ago is just as relevant now as it was at the time, and that is incredibly sad. Many in the social media sphere’s have said — and this is discussed in “American Dream” — that Carlin’s commentary on a post-Trump world would be welcome, and his bitterness would be welcome as a salve. Given how disgusted Carlin was with the world at the end of his life, I am glad, personally, that he was spared having to witness it.
“George Carlin’s American Dream” will debut on HBO on back-to-back nights. Part 1 debuts May 20, 2022, with part 2 debuting May 21, 2022. Both episodes will be available to stream on HBO Max beginning Friday, May 20, 2022.
George Carlin’s American Dream Review: Portrait Of A Disappointed Idealist
Courtesy of George Carlin’s Estate/HBO
We may receive a commission on purchases made from links. It’s important to remember that George Carlin was not on your side. There is a tendency to mythologize Carlin — one of the best and most important figures in the history of standup comedy — as some sort of prophet for the New Age, and in 2022 it doesn’t take too much digging to find memes, quotations, and video clips of Carlin addressing any random, grievous injustice of the modern-day. Carlin, who died in 2008, frequently talked to the hypocrisy of established institutions, pointing out the ridiculousness of drug laws, the arbitrariness of censorship (of his famed 1972 “Words You Can’t Say on Television” bit, only two — fart and turd — have been allowed into a more acceptable vernacular), the horror of politics, and the bulls*** of religion. Because his observations cut so deep, they took on a universal quality, with Carlin unwittingly equipping his listeners with the verbal ammunition required to attack those in power. Carlin said in multiple interviews that he often encouraged his audiences to think as well as to laugh.
If Carlin did ally himself with a set philosophy, it was far away from anything the modern American politic had codified. Carlin was notoriously disgusted with mass thinking, saying near the end of his life that he loved individuals, but was suspicious of groups. Carlin was not some sort of American folk poet. If one wants to make a comparison, Carlin was far more akin to atheist philosophers like David Hume (who lambasted God and religion, and vaunted empiricism). Judd Apatow’s and Michael Bonfiglio’s documentary film “George Carlin’s American Dream” — airing in two parts on HBO Max starting on Mary 20, 2022 — does not compare Carlin to Hume, but it does lay out a very fair and thorough portrait of his career, his relationships, and his philosophy, capturing Carlin’s thought process without tipping (too far) into embarrassing hero worship. I think Apatow and Bonfiglio understand that Carlin likely would have been grossed out by any portraitist that tried to paint him with too clean a brush, and they clearly made a great effort to be as open and as clear about Carlin’s life as he would have been himself.
We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.
There is a tendency to mythologize Carlin — one of the best and most important figures in the history of standup comedy — as some sort of prophet for the New Age, and in 2022 it doesn’t take too much digging to find memes, quotations, and video clips of Carlin addressing any random, grievous injustice of the modern-day. Carlin, who died in 2008, frequently talked to the hypocrisy of established institutions, pointing out the ridiculousness of drug laws, the arbitrariness of censorship (of his famed 1972 “Words You Can’t Say on Television” bit, only two — fart and turd — have been allowed into a more acceptable vernacular), the horror of politics, and the bulls*** of religion. Because his observations cut so deep, they took on a universal quality, with Carlin unwittingly equipping his listeners with the verbal ammunition required to attack those in power. Carlin said in multiple interviews that he often encouraged his audiences to think as well as to laugh.
If Carlin did ally himself with a set philosophy, it was far away from anything the modern American politic had codified. Carlin was notoriously disgusted with mass thinking, saying near the end of his life that he loved individuals, but was suspicious of groups. Carlin was not some sort of American folk poet. If one wants to make a comparison, Carlin was far more akin to atheist philosophers like David Hume (who lambasted God and religion, and vaunted empiricism).
Judd Apatow’s and Michael Bonfiglio’s documentary film “George Carlin’s American Dream” — airing in two parts on HBO Max starting on Mary 20, 2022 — does not compare Carlin to Hume, but it does lay out a very fair and thorough portrait of his career, his relationships, and his philosophy, capturing Carlin’s thought process without tipping (too far) into embarrassing hero worship. I think Apatow and Bonfiglio understand that Carlin likely would have been grossed out by any portraitist that tried to paint him with too clean a brush, and they clearly made a great effort to be as open and as clear about Carlin’s life as he would have been himself.
The compassionate undercurrent
Courtesy of George Carlin’s Estate/HBO
I wouldn’t be so bold as to speak for Carlin or declare what he would and would not have wanted, but I suspect he would have appreciated being depicted as a man and not as a movement, a person and not an institution.
Carlin’s notes and letters to Brenda and to Sally form the main, compassionate undercurrent of a documentary that often has to face the fact that Carlin’s outlook on life was, as he aged, incredibly bleak.
Not to get a big head
Lionsgate
Whenever “American Dream” gets a little too big for its britches — that is: when it starts delving wildly into Carlin’s important place in the cultural landscape — Apatow and Bonfiglio are wise enough to undercut themselves. When one gets the impression that Carlin is becoming a massive TV star, they will include a quote about how unsatisfied Carlin was. When following Carlin’s career through the ’70s, they include criticism from Cheech Marin or spoofs from MAD Magazine or “SCTV” about the weakness of his material. The most critical moment in “American Dream” comes from, of all people, Jerry Seinfeld, who points out — rightly — that no comedian has ever changed someone’s point of view, and let’s not get carried away with how “important” comedians can perceive themselves to be.
Overall
HBO
“American Dream” contains a lot of readily available clips from Carlin’s standup work, and those who had been following Carlin’s career for any span will likely be familiar with large portions of Carlin’s story; it will serve less as an education for many, and more of a reminder. “American Dream,” which runs nearly four hours in toto, attempts to be thorough and is careful to give each stage of Carlin’s career its due without ever falling completely into the trap of hero worship.
The title, we find from the film’s coda, is most certainly ironic. Carlin pointed out that the American Dream was so named because you had to be asleep to believe it. Rather than leaving audiences feeling sentimental about Carlin and his deep abiding love for individuals, Apatow and Bonfiglio repeatedly slam audiences in the face with how bad the world is now. A sour, angry Carlin rant from 20 years ago is just as relevant now as it was at the time, and that is incredibly sad. Many in the social media sphere’s have said — and this is discussed in “American Dream” — that Carlin’s commentary on a post-Trump world would be welcome, and his bitterness would be welcome as a salve. Given how disgusted Carlin was with the world at the end of his life, I am glad, personally, that he was spared having to witness it.
“George Carlin’s American Dream” will debut on HBO on back-to-back nights. Part 1 debuts May 20, 2022, with part 2 debuting May 21, 2022. Both episodes will be available to stream on HBO Max beginning Friday, May 20, 2022.
The title, we find from the film’s coda, is most certainly ironic. Carlin pointed out that the American Dream was so named because you had to be asleep to believe it. Rather than leaving audiences feeling sentimental about Carlin and his deep abiding love for individuals, Apatow and Bonfiglio repeatedly slam audiences in the face with how bad the world is now. A sour, angry Carlin rant from 20 years ago is just as relevant now as it was at the time, and that is incredibly sad.
Many in the social media sphere’s have said — and this is discussed in “American Dream” — that Carlin’s commentary on a post-Trump world would be welcome, and his bitterness would be welcome as a salve. Given how disgusted Carlin was with the world at the end of his life, I am glad, personally, that he was spared having to witness it.
“George Carlin’s American Dream” will debut on HBO on back-to-back nights. Part 1 debuts May 20, 2022, with part 2 debuting May 21, 2022. Both episodes will be available to stream on HBO Max beginning Friday, May 20, 2022.
