Richard, 1940-2005

Another great one died. I'll leave it to
firedoglake
and
digby
among others to give him the words he deserves. I caught his original
appearance on Saturday Night Live in the seventies and saw comic genius.


Richard Pryor, 1940-2005

The great Richard Pryor died today:
There is an entire generation or two around today that don't really
know Pryor in his prime, and it's hard to explain in retrospect.
Sure, he brought the "N word" to vogue; but that doesn't even begin
to touch upon the magic. He came off as a God child; angry and
remorseful about the state of race relations, but at the same
time amused and dismissive of it - he grasped the absurdity of
it, and threw it back out there for people to see.

"Why they never have a hero - a black hero? I always wanted to
go in the movies and see a black hero. I figured out maybe some
day on television they'll have it, man - like you see on the
television, they come out, 'Look- up in the sky! It's a crow!
It's a bat! No - it's Supernigger! Yes, friends, Supernigger!
Able to leap tall buildings with a single bound! Faster than
a bowl of chitlins! We find Supernigger with his X-ray vision,
that enables him to see through everything except whitey."

To say that Pryor's career skyrocketed would be an
understatement. If all the researched dates are right, he
would have reappeared in '72, went straight into "Lady Sings
the Blues," for which he received an Oscar nomination, helped
write Lily Tomlin's legendary TV special, was then up for the
lead in "Blazing Saddles" but couldn't be used because of the
controversial nature of his stand-up act, and instead co-wrote
the film with Mel Brooks, then wrote for -and appeared on -
"The Flip Wilson Show." Then he recorded his act and released
"That Nigger's Crazy" in 1974, and busted the charts. The next
year, he recorded live again and put out "Is It Something I
Said?," and busted the charts. Again. The next year he felt
patriotic and released "Bicentennial Nigger," and busted the
charts yet again.

Then, in succession "Car Wash," "Silver Streak," "Which Way
is Up?," "Blue Collar," "The Wiz," "Stir Crazy," "Bustin'
Loose" and finally his amazing "Live on Sunset Strip" in
1982. Richard Pryor had done more than capture the attention
of America; he had unlocked the door. The man who was "too
controversial" to star in "Blazing Saddles" in 1974 had
hosted the Oscars twice, appeared as a presenter twice
more and guested on Johnny Carson three times. No matter
what well-earned reputation he has in the pantheon of
comedy, it has to be remembered how much he contributed
towards the "normalization" of blacks in Hollywood.
Richard Pryor always knew better than to become too
respectable, and maybe that was simply due to a massive
self-destructive streak, I don't know. But one of the
mistakes he never made was to become what he despised.

Sixty five years was just way too short.


--Jane at firedoglake