RIPing Jerry Falwell


Several people of my acquaintance were thrilled to see Jerry Falwell die, spitting out “Good riddance!” and hoping that his passing was a painful one.

While I understand the anger, even hatred, for this dreadful man, I cannot join the celebration, partly for karmic reasons, but also because it’s pointless. Falwell was a tent revivalist clown who gained political power on the wave of the Reagan upsurge beginning in 1979. Right place at the rightwing time. That he was taken seriously as a political, at times moralistic, commentator by the Liberal Media showed that you can say the craziest, hateful shit, and if you claim to be speaking for God, it will not seriously hurt your career. But Falwell didn’t create the environment he so ably exploited — a significant chunk of Americans share the apocalyptic belief system that Falwell personified on a grander stage, and just because he’s now gone doesn’t mean that this mindset is weakened in any way.

Though he remained one of the top American religious celebrities to the end, Falwell’s real political influence faded long ago. It was easy to mock him and his poisonous reasoning, for everytime he popped off about the latest national sin, he looked merely old and ridiculous, just like his still-living pal, Pat Robertson. But go back to the early years, say from 1980-84, and you’d see Falwell at full strength, his organization, the Moral Majority, wielding serious political and cultural clout. People were actually afraid of the man and what he might do, and brother, did Falwell seize on that. I’ve written before that many comedians wouldn’t go after Falwell and the religious right back then, especially at the broadcast level, where the wrong joke or premise might scare off advertisers pressured by Falwell’s group. It was, in many ways, a timid time.

“SNL” did very little to mock Falwell, and when it did, the parody was broad and de-politicized. “Fridays”, on the other hand, went straight for Falwell’s throat and trashed the religious right on a pretty regular basis. The show lost sponsors and affiliates due to this and other outrages, but it appeared that the “Fridays” crew didn’t really care about that, because if they did, they wouldn’t have showcased the harsh attacks to begin with. (However, ABC cared, for obvious reasons, and this played a part in “Fridays” being cancelled.)

“Fridays” portrayed evangelists as closeted queers, racists, nazis, and raving lunatics. In one direct assault, “The Moral Majority Comedy/Variety Hour”, Falwell, played by Bruce Mahler, hosted a show celebrating attacks on gays, feminists, and the Bill of Rights, while promoting book burnings, beating up liberal figures like Jane Fonda and George McGovern, showing “typical” liberal parents zonked out on drugs while letting their baby die from neglect, a white supremacist magician who makes black people disappear forever, and a Plasmatics-type band who become Christian rockers playing a punk version of “God Bless America.” Nobody else on American TV performed this kind of material back then, and you had to be there to fully appreciate its effect. “Fridays” nailed Falwell when he was at his most powerful. Problem was, they were practically alone.

But for sheer satirical viciousness, not even “Fridays” could match Larry Flynt, who ran a very nasty, and funny, attack on Falwell in a 1983 issue of Hustler. This was nothing new — Hustler was always filled with political and cultural satire, much of it in bad taste, but some of it incredibly sharp and intelligently written. (The Realist’s Paul Krassner was a Hustler editor/writer for a time.) Flynt’s trashing of Falwell was squarely in this tradition, and Flynt made sure that Falwell felt the sting, which the Rev. intimately did.

In a parody of the then-print ads for Campari, which interviewed celebrities about their “first time” (wink wink), Flynt went immediately over the edge and didn’t look back.

FALWELL: My first time was in an outhouse outside Lynchburg, Virginia.

INTERVIEWER: Wasn’t it a little cramped?

FALWELL: Not after I kicked the goat out.

INTERVIEWER: I see. You must tell me all about it.

FALWELL: I never really expected to make it with Mom, but then after she showed all the other guys in town such a good time, I figured “What the hell!”

INTERVIEWER: But your mom? Isn’t that a bit odd?

FALWELL: I don’t think so. Looks don’t mean much to me in a woman.

INTERVIEWER: Go on.

FALWELL: Well, we were drunk off our God-fearing asses on Campari, ginger ale and soda — that’s called a Fire and Brimstone — at the time. And Mom looked better than a Baptist whore with a $100 donation.

INTERVIEWER: Campari in the crapper with Mom . . . how interesting. Well, how was it?

FALWELL: The Campari was great, but Mom passed out before I could come.

INTERVIEWER: Did you every try it again?

FALWELL: Sure . . . lots of times. But not in the outhouse. Between Mom and the shit, the flies were too much to bear.

INTERVIEWER: We meant the Campari.

FALWELL: Oh, yeah. I always get sloshed before I go out to the pulpit. You don’t think I could lay down all that bullshit sober, do you?

Falwell sued Flynt for libel and “intentional infliction of emotional distress.” While jurors in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia did not buy the libel charge, they did believe that Flynt meant to hurt Falwell, and awarded the offended Rev. $150 grand in damages. Flynt appealed on free speech grounds, and the case went to the Supreme Court, which agreed with Flynt and overturned the lower court’s decision.

Humorists and satirists owe Larry Flynt big-time for that. And in a way, they owe Jerry Falwell a debt as well. They don’t make ‘em like the old Lynchburg bigot anymore. I mean, Mitt Romney?

Possibly Related Classroom Projects From DonorsChoose.org Powered by Social Actions

Information and Links

Join the fray by commenting, tracking what others have to say, or linking to it from your blog.

Information
May 16th, 2007
Comments
Feeds and Links
Comment Feed
From This Author
Del.icio.us
Digg
Technorati
Categories
Uncategorized

Other Posts
What Camus Sees: The Plague Within
A Hello And Some Film Recommendations

Readers

Shop newcritics

Featured books:


Viewing 14 Comments

    • ^
    • v
    Falwell made his impact in the 80s. Nothing much after that.
    • ^
    • v
    "PS: This is horrible, Falwell is not a dreadful man."

    Not any more, no.

    Now, if Rove and Cheney could be found, dead and in each other's arms, it'd be time to go look for those dancing shoes.
    • ^
    • v
    I really miss Jerry Falwell... When I made Eagle Scout 2 years ago, one of the congragulatory letters I got was form Jerry Falwell.

    PS: This is horrible, Falwell is not a dreadful man
    • ^
    • v
    After rereading it all, I realize I was being a bit of a negative contrarian in my original post. I think I understand the general tone of the article. It is not exactly pro-Falwell. I am still somewhat annoyed by it but probably more due to my own wishes to read a more damning piece on the man. My apologies.
    • ^
    • v
    Your context was clearly lost on me.

    Re Falwell being a clown, Falwell died with still many followers and admirers. While his views may have gotten more bizarre in his years (I'm not sure he changed much at all) he was still able to get on national TV and spew his crap. He was not a clown but a man taken seriously by media and therefore a person to be reckoned with. Some may also mistakenly call Sharpton a clown. Making light of Falwell is a mistake. A caricature he was not. Caricatures and clowns do not help elect two-term presidents.

    I understand comics going after public figures but feeling sentimental over a man because his influential rants are no longer with us to provide humor for us dismisses the harm this man did. We should be glad the man is gone.

    I clearly remember my parents pointing out the racism of F-Troop to me. Although it did not prevent them from "banning" the show.
    • ^
    • v
    Gee, Slappy, I'm sorry I read these comments. Minutes of my life wasted trying to figure out what the hell you were trying to say.
    BTW, I believe a study of 'Hogan's Heroes' would be a fascinating window into American culture of the mid-60's. Bob Crane must be an icon of something.
    And how did your parents feel about F-Troop?
    • ^
    • v
    Slappy sez --

    "Sentimentality requires fondness. Anyone owing Falwell anything requires Falwell having contributed in anyway anything positive to society."

    Umm, no it doesn't. I was referring to Falwell contributing to his own rancid caricature, which too few comics took advantage of until it was safe.

    "'Liberal Media' is a term I’d expect Falwell and his ilk to use."

    Context, Slappy, context. I used the term against itself, which I thought was obvious, given my overall tone, but it was clearly lost on you.

    "A clown is a joke and is not worthy of concern."

    A clown who fronts for death squads and statist criminals is still a clown. Indeed, Falwell got more ridiculous as the years went by.

    "I think you are greatly mistaken on all counts."

    Obviously.
    • ^
    • v
    Every time I did a search for my name, I'd end up with stories linked to Jerry Falwell and Dennis Prager.
    As a Canadian, I have to say that Americans are capable of ploughing up ground into which some particularly strange mushrooms begin to grow, only instead of leaving them growing, your population ingests them in large numbers, and soon begins to hallucinate some very bizarre realities.
    Must be the Cold North Strong and Free, but our social soil doesn't seem to produce such fun guys.
    When I think of the Moral Majority I'm always reminded of St. Paul's statement that "we weren't given a spirit of condemnation." I find it quite useful in discerning whether someone is actually a Christian or not. A little condemnation is human, a lot is coming from some other spirit, and it ain't God's. I'm just glad it's not me who has to decide what to do with Falwell in the afterlife. Maybe his name says it all, he fell well.
    • ^
    • v
    Sentimentality requires fondness.
    Anyone owing Falwell anything requires Falwell having contributed in anyway anything positive to society.
    "Liberal Media" is a term I'd expect Falwell and his ilk to use.
    A clown is a joke and is not worthy of concern.

    I think you are greatly mistaken on all counts.

    Tom W: My parents never prevented me from ever watching or reading anything. Zero censorship as a child. However the one show they absolutely refused to allow on TV (not that I even wanted to watch it) was Hogan's Heroes. They said making a joke out of the Nazi's was disgusting and not something that should be laughed at.

    I prefer to get my materiel from elsewhere.
    • ^
    • v
    Hey Slappy, the guy did provide material!
    • ^
    • v
    "You get sentimental over Falwell who you describe as a 'dreadful' man. You tell us humorists in a way owe Falwell. Use the term 'Liberal Media' in capital letters. Refer to Falwell as a clown."

    Yes, I wrote those things. What's your point?
    • ^
    • v
    You get sentimental over Falwell who you describe as a "dreadful" man. You tell us humorists in a way owe Falwell. Use the term "Liberal Media" in capital letters. Refer to Falwell as a clown.

    Put me down with the "good riddance" crowd. I'm sorry I read this piece.
    • ^
    • v
    We've always had these religious braying jackasses in this wonderful country, and, the good Lord willing, we always will have them.

    I was just reading (or trying to read, and, finally, trying to skim, because it all got a little tedious for my tender brain) the New Yorker's current review by Anthony Gottlieb of Chris Hitchens's and some other new and newish anti-religion books, and I had to chuckle at some of the quotes from Hitchens's book (not that I'll ever actually read the book; that's why we have book reviews), and I was thinking, poor Christopher: lately the only people that agree with him on Iraq are the mystical 30% who think that GWB is the second son o' God, and now these people will hate Chris too.
    • ^
    • v
    Nicely done.
 

Trackbacks

(Trackback URL)

close Reblog this comment
Powered by Disqus · Learn more
blog comments powered by Disqus