Better than I could say it

New York Daily News - Home - Stanley Crouch: Pryor's flawed legacy:

"When we look at the remarkable descent this culture has made into smut, contempt, vulgarity and the pornagraphic, those of us who are not willing to drink the Kool-Aid marked 'all's well,' will have to address the fact that it was the combination of confusion and comic genius that made Pryor a much more negative influence than a positive one."

For all that we may rightly sympathize with Pryor for the tragic circumstance of his last years ravaged by MS, or his struggle with the demons of his soul that led to his attempted suicide in the famouse cocaine-freebasing incident, it is important to take a realistic view of Richard Pryor's career and its impact on American popular culture in the latter part of the 20th century.

His early career seems to have been a reaction against the unfortunate circumstances of his upbringing. His first TV gig was on the Merv Griffin Show which, in its day, was fairly safe and wholesome venue. Later, as this essay by Stanley Crouch makes clear, Pryor turned back to his roots in a very unhelpful way. This is all the more sad because Pryor was a film writer and actor and live comedy performer of very considerable skill and talent.