"This" = the legal work of Al Bendich, who "was the last living member of the defense team in the 'Howl' case" and" the sole defense lawyer in the first of Bruce’s obscenity trials... the only one to end in an acquittal."
Well, of course, we can imagine a world like that. We live in such a world. Maybe not the United States — not right now anyway — but the world is more than the United States.
I'm reading the NYT obituary for Bendich, who was 85. It ends with Lenny Bruce — in his memoir "How to Talk Dirty and Influence People" — quoting Bendich's opening statement in that first trial:
“We are going to prove, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, that the nature of Mr. Bruce’s performance on the night of October the fourth was in the great tradition of social satire, related intimately to the kind of social satire to be found in the works of such great authors as Aristophanes, Jonathan Swift...”
The prosecutor would have none of this. “I’m going to object,” he interrupted. “Aristophanes is not testifying here.”
“Your Honor,” Mr. Bendich shot back, “I didn’t say I would call Mr. Aristophanes.”
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17 comments:
Obscenity or profanity is a relative thing, some thing which was considered offensive say 30-40 years ago now is completely acceptable and this is how society grows. Otherwise we would end up becoming a bunch of sissies who are offended at any thing and every thing critical or humorous.
Otherwise we would end up becoming a bunch of sissies who are offended at any thing and every thing critical or humorous.
Thanks God we dodged that bullet!
Mr. Aristophanes?
I always thought of Aristophanes as his first name.
tim in vermont said...Thanks God we dodged that bullet!
Yeah! Down with offensive words! So much better to use a euphemism and let our brains supply the dirty word--thus making the listener a co-conspirator in the coarsening of society.
While we may be horrified at the morals of those who preceeded us, let us remember they would be horrified at ours.
Otherwise we would end up becoming a bunch of sissies who are offended at any thing and every thing critical or humorous.
Microaggressions, political correctness, free speech zones. Nope, no sissies who are offended at any thing and every thing critical or humorous. Nothing to see here, move along.
Lou Reed's song "Work", about his relationship with Andy Warhol:
You ought to make things big
people like it that way
And the songs with the dirty words
make sure your record them that way
Andy liked to stir up trouble
he was funny that way
He said, It's just work
I am Laslo.
There were things you couldn't say then, there are things you can't say now, is the envelope of free speech truly larger than it was?
Freedom to insert obscenities into casual speech somehow seems hollow, as much of the force of the obscenity is lost when its use becomes commonplace.
Freedom to articulate a variety of social positions seems less now than then. No, you won't get arrested for that but you may get fired or denied employment or kicked off campus or just socially shunned, and these sanctions seem quite adequate to effectively restrict speech.
Other than in science and technology, "progress" is often an illusion as gains in one area are offset by losses in others.
A pederast with Tourette's Syndrome walks into a bar.
"Shit! Fuck! I want a beer and a small boy!"
The bartender shakes his head, says:
"I need you to watch your language, sir."
"Shit! Fuck! I can't help it, I have Tourette's Syndrome."
"Okay, okay, here's your beer."
"Shit! Fuck! Where's my small boy?"
"Sir, that is against the law."
"Shit! Fuck! I can't help it, I am a pederast."
"Okay, okay, here's your small boy," the bartender says, offering a young male to the customer.
"Shit! Fuck! I need Viagra!"
"I'm sorry, sir, I can't give you Viagra."
"Shit! Fuck! You hate me because I have erectile dysfunction!"
"Sir, I don't hate you because you have erectile dysfunction, you just need to go to a pharmacy."
To which the young boy interjects:
"Jesus Christ! I'm being turned over to a motherfucking child rapist with Tourettes that can't even get it up."
The bartender replies:
"I thought you would be GLAD about him not being able to 'get it up'."
To which the boy says:
"GLAD about that? I've got self-esteem issues!"
I am Laslo.
In some of his routines, Bruce used the n-word with wild abandon. He also made fun of transvestites and fat people. We have changed the verboten words and subjects, but we have not changed the concept of verboten.
Today people go to prison for a long time for having the wrong kind of pictures on their computer or for saying suggestive things to police officers who pose as teenagers.
Laslo,
pederast meas someone who likes underage but pubescent children. When you say "small boy" I'm picturing a 15-year-old dwarf.
I never felt like telling other people what words o use or not use - sixties child. But free use of obscenity does correspond with an era devoid of literary achievement. Is it that there are more fuckwits being born? Or is shit a poor substitute for wit?
Free speech is pretty much the only area in which the USA can legitimately claim to be the most-free nation on Earth, at least outside of our college campuses.
But it is a constant struggle to keep it that way.
But free use of obscenity does correspond with an era devoid of literary achievement
Most of the good writers moved to film, and then television.
Tanya Cohen has a thing or two to say about that:
http://pjmedia.com/michaelwalsh/2015/01/14/got-hate-part-deux-the-return-of-tanya-cohen/
"The prosecutor would have none of this. 'I’m going to object,' he interrupted."
This reminds me of one of the funniest (for a lawyer) hearing transcripts (now you know I'm not talking about normal people) I ever read.
While a lawyer was questioning his expert witness during a hearing, opposing counsel rose to object to a question, saying "I'm going to object to that question", to which the judge responded, "Very well, Mr. Smith. Proceed, Mr. Jones."
After this repartee was repeated several times, everyone in the courtroom understood that the judge was treating Smith's statements literally ("I'm GOING TO object", i.e., I haven't done so yet) -- everyone but Smith. Even when the judge responded to one of Smith's "I'm going to object" statements by saying "And when you do, I'll rule on it", Smith didn't get the point.
I heard this story and read the transcript as a young lawyer. I may not have been the world's greatest trial lawyer, but I NEVER said "I'm going to object" after that. @Althouse: Feel free to pass this wisdom on to your students.
I am not a robot.
I read Jurgen by James Branch Cabell upon finding it in a university library collection of once-banned books.
Those lists are excellent leads to good writing from long ago.
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