I am curious. I want to have a intelligent conversation about this. As most of you probably know, I am not a huge fan of dropping the F-bomb. Just not my favorite word. I don’t use it in the comic, I don’t say it on the radio show, I bleep people who do, etc. It has always smacked of how badly people treat each other generally to me, as its used mostly in a derogatory way.
That’s not to say I judge anyone who enjoys having it in their regular vocabulary arsenal. More power to you…just keep it under control when my kids are around. 
Anyway, the question is this: Why is it that some movies are wall to wall F-bombs? Let’s take a classic like Goodfellas, or Pulp Fiction. Does spattering an array of F words to the tune of hundreds in a film add to the artistic merit, or even financial goal of a film?
I will give you an example. My first viewing of The Big Lobowski happened to be an edited version on cable…but here is the kicker: I had no idea it was edited. They did such a nice job that I literally missed all the cuts and breaks and sound changes that usually accompany badly “edited for TV” fair. I loved the movie, quickly called it one of my favorite Cohen bros. films and moved on.
When I told people I had seen it and loved it, they gaped at me like I was crazy, and said, “how did you get through it with all the F-bombs in it?” I had no idea. Now the question is this: Would the film been any better or worse with or without the heavy swears? I am not pretending to have the answer, but I would like to hear yours. You could apply the same argument to all of the biggest offenders. In other words, I guess what I am asking is, would a guy like Quintin Tarantino be considered the film genius he is without it? Or is that part of what makes the man in some eyes?
And lets face the raw truth…no one would care, be shocked, impressed, or whatever your reaction if the word did not incite just that: a reaction. It’s just that kind of word, pure and simple.
I know there is a whole other argument and conversation that can be made of violence in film, but we will save that for another day. For fun, I found this list of the movies that have used the F-bomb the most in film history. Interesting stats. WARNING: F-bombs are part of the link…durrr.
So, thoughts, feelings, stuff?
True…true… for awsomely creative uses of the various ‘unmentionable’ words the canadians take it in my book with the genius ‘Trailer park Boys’.
Seriously, the extreme rude ‘C’ word was used by such a literary ‘genius’ as Chaucer in the 14th century so why am i so surprised when i hear it near the park bench i am nestling. Not that anyone cares about his gibberish. Also the women are reclaiming that word over here, which confuses the issue even more, when a derogatory term gets flipped (yay) into an empowering term. Not that anyone can flip the ‘f-bomb’, for it is a shared term. Or can they? (or is it?) Think of this: which would you rather…and F-bomb or an H-bomb? Hmmm? What was the question again? Did someone say Mario? Oh he’s great. My point is,and has basically been YOU have a problem with language that other people may not, and certain writers/directors may try to take advantage of that. Fair doos, you can say no thanks. However language is a tool, whatever you might think, and as such, when in the right hands can be awsome. I’ve written loads here so for my complete essay on this subject stare at the sun for 10 minutes whilst reading Dr zeuss. Or something. Watch ‘Trailer Park Boys’. Genius. Don’t steal my precious vocabulary Scott. Even if you hate it, and some abuse it.
Mr. Kurtz. It’s okay. People will still like your comic.
Wait.
Johnson?
Why the hell do you post stuff like this? Knock it off. You are falling victem to the comment pool. Seriously, dude. Walk away.
Uh, by swear movies I mean movies with swear in them, those KINDS (uh, genres, is it?).
As for the word kund, didn’t it used to be much less worse than pants way back?
Surely that means you watch very very few films?
At the end of “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang,” Val Kilmer (still in character) apologizes directly to all the Midwestern viewers for “saying fuck so many times.” I think the unstated implication — that the more highly-educated coastal residents have long since figured out that words are just toys without inherent meaning or power — is true. Sure, that’s a sweeping generalization, but tough.
By the way, that’s an incredible movie. Go watch it right now.
“Mature Language” = “Immature Language”
Go figure.
But that at least it explains why seeing Betty White saying %&$@*!$^&# was hilarious.
During the Senior talent show at my highschool the band i was in did a System of a down song called suite-pee and instead of saying motherf–ker they made us say Melon Farmer.
It’s just a word, there used to be serious connotations involved with curses such as bloody or hell to such an extent where it was considered unacceptable for general public, of course they’re still considered that way to some extent in certain areas. However it makes little difference, the importance of the word is what one attaches to it. So merely saying ‘fuck’ shouldn’t really warrant much to cause, however saying something such as ‘gonna fucking kill you’ should as the context generally associated with it is that of a death threat. However the human mind treats certain sayings as being directly tied to emotions rather than being solely a piece of language, as such it may rouse similar feelings in others as the word is so prone to be associate with.
I just say this (I just hope that Shakespeare won’t mind me abusing his quote
) :
a turd by any other name is still a turd and it still smells like sh*t …
I would not want anyone to tell me what I should or shouldn’t say.(period)
Bleeping and other forms of censorships can not hide what the true intent was.
It merely covers the ‘bad’ word with a new variant.
Why is saying ‘F*ck’ worse than saying ‘Beep’ ?
Everyone knows he meant to say the F-word …
I am sure that in the future you will be bleepin’ out the ‘beeps’ as by that time ‘beep’ has replaced the F-bomb in both intent and meaning.
Mind you … I do mind it when someone uses a curse every f-ing time he says something, but other than that it tends to add colour and meaning when used with care.
There is only one thing worse than a person that beeps every second … and that is someone that pretends that by hiding the curses the excrement stops smelling.
It is like using perfume to cover the fact that you didn’t bathe for weeks.
You still stink …
@Dutch JaFO
Here here!
Fascinating discussion.
I’ll be brief, because much of what could be said has already been said (111 replies + this one) but I would disagree that replacing the ‘f-word’ or ‘f-bomb’ (so called, I believe, because when used sparingly, it has such a dramatic effect on what’s being said, etc. Comedians use the term a lot, I understand) with something else is just as bad.
My reason? The original meaning of the word. As a crude and vulgar way of expressing having sex, there are many times when I wish to swear or give emphasis to something, but I don’t mean to convey anything about sex whatsoever! I mean, I don’t drop a brick on my foot and think “Sex!” Yet, by saying the F-word, in one interpretation, that’s what it means! In fact, whenever anyone says to me “F*** you!” I usually either think or reply out loud “No thanks!” because essentially they are propositioning me, and in most cases I don’t want that at all!
However, this is just my belief, and the knowledge it offends some (and me at times, especially if overused) mean I try not to use it much. However, I do agree that if you surround yourself with media where it is used extensively, it starts becoming a major word in your vocabulary, and a real effort not to say out loud. Indeed it irks me the prevalence of it in a lot of metal music, since I love the music but disagree with such prevalent use of that language.
So, in summary, I do believe there is a difference sometimes when saying an alternate word instead of the ‘f-word’. Sometimes because of meaning, and also because I think phonetically the word itself is actually quite abrupt-sounding, and an alternate word might actually flow better!
Man, Pulp Fiction. I wanted to see because people made it out to be this big deal of a movie (and I like the actors in it), but boy, the first five minutes was awful. I couldn’t focus on the dialogue and what they were saying. It was all “F-” this and “F-” that. I stopped watching and since its release I probably only ever manage to see famous clips from here and there.
I don’t know why people should be accepting of such things. To me it’s kinda ridiculous. Most of the times people don’t say anything bad context-wise so I don’t see the need to actual swear every other word. Personally, I’d rather discourage people from this culture of “trash talking.” I don’t like it. Some people do it for fun and that’s fine if you’re talking to someone who’s in the same mindset, but for others it’s very insulting and it would be even more so if you think “too bad for them.” I think doing so would create a negative impact socially.
Questworld – for a film where one large segment of the film revolves around cleaning off the brains of a kid that’s been shot in the face off the seats of a vehicle, not to mention another scenario involving gay rape and a gimp, I’d say that getting up in arms about a few expletives hurled about was a bit, well, petty.
If you’d chosen another film, perhaps I’d agree with you, but it’s a dark comedy involving drugs, fairly extreme violence and most things in between, for gods’ sakes!
(that apostrophe is in that position intentionally. It’s not a typo.
)
This is what you missed Scott, when watching the TV version of The Big Lebowski
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gU2ZgaQ_H-Y
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