Tag Archive: George Carlin


The Mastermind: After the heist.

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November 16, 2025

The Mastermind directed by Kelly Reichhardt (USA, 2025)

In the BBC Mastermind quiz show which first aired in 1972 the catch phrase invented by original question master Magnus Magnusson when the time buzzer sounded was “I’ve started so I’ll finish.”   

In Mastermind, the movie, the feckless anti-hero JB (James Baline Mooney) played by Josh O’Connor starts something he has no idea how to end.  

I like the premise of this film which I take to be a study of alienated manhood and the drawbacks of a society founded on rampant individualism.

O’Connor was apparently cast because, unlike so many male lead actors,  he does not have a gym-toned body. Kelly Reichardt wanted him to look unexceptional because, although this is a heist movie, it’s a million miles away from the world of Ocean’s Eleven.

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STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES

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January 17, 2011

The late lamented Pete Postlethwaite as the archivist in The Age of Stupid

Save the planet. What? Save the planet, we don’t even know how to take care of ourselves yet. We haven’t learned how to care for one another, we’re gonna save the fucking planet? – George Carlin

My daughter found this quote on the Internet, oblivious to the fact that  I was watching The Age of Stupid at the time. Synchronicity, or what?

Both Carlin’s cynical rant and  Franny Armstrong’s campaigning film are depressing because the connection between the two is quite strong.

Carlin is right to question the presumption that human beings are motivated by altruistic motives while the faint hope offered by Armstrong is that we can all learn to act in less selfish ways.

Her film argues that the only way the effects of climate change can be halted, let alone reversed, is if the twin pillars of the capitalist dream – growth and consumerism – are rejected.   I can see no reason to hope that this is likely.

This is not to say Armstrong’s film has no value; she presents an important doomsday scenario without being preachy or patronising. In an ideal world it would be a wake up call not just for individual citizens but also for global corporations. The problem is, we are not in an ideal world.

Related article

10:10 Climate change campaign (Guardian.co.uk)

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PRO-LIFE – ANTI-WOMEN

Filed under: Gender, Parenting, Politics — Leave a comment
May 27, 2010

Chanced upon this truth via fuckyeahradicalquotes and thought it merited wider circulation:

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THE GREATEST BULLSHIT STORY EVER TOLD

Filed under: Atheism, Fiction, Politics — 3 Comments
January 1, 2010

In the name of reason and justice, Atheist Ireland’s  campaign against a proposed new law to make a new crime of blasphemy deserves all the support it can muster. To challenge the proposed legislation they have published a list of 25 quotations on their website any one of which could make them liable  to a fine of up to 25,000 euros (£22,000; $35,000) if this ridiculous law is passed.

This is my personal favourite by comedian George Carlin :

“Religion easily has the greatest bullshit story ever told. Think about it. Religion has actually convinced people that there’s an invisible man living in the sky who watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever ’til the end of time! But He loves you. He loves you, and He needs money! He always needs money! He’s all-powerful, all-perfect, all-knowing, and all-wise, somehow just can’t handle money! Religion takes in billions of dollars, they pay no taxes, and they always need a little more. Now, talk about a good bullshit story. Holy Shit!”

 

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