Words, werds, wurds

Fuck.
George Carlin had a famous bit called “Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television.” The list, in the early 70’s was- Shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker, and tits. Three of them are now regularly used on “basic cable”. One of them is used regularly on BBC America because it does not have the same connotation that it has in America (just like ‘bloody’ for us Yanks, only in reverse, and yet those 2 words could go together), one of them is a compound word which has been said on TV before but which still causes problems because of the imagery involved, and then the two words which use the big F-word in it.
Again, as Carlin said, there are over 400,000 words in the English Language. Those 7 words, must be really horrible and awful. Those 7 will curl your spine and turn you into a really horrible and awful person.
I think we give all of those words, especially the BIG F-WORD, way too much power over us.
I am coming to really hate the hypocrisy of those people who feel that substitution is an acceptable form of using that word. There are many who use different versions of the word and feel that those are perfectly fine to say- frak, frick, effing, and fetching come to mind. When those substitutions are used, we all know what is being said, whether explicitly or not.
Why am I writing about this right now? It’s because of the Motion Picture Association of America. The MPAA.
This post is a PG-13 rated article. Yet, I’ll bet there are some of you that are already feeling very squeamish about it. Why? Because “that word” has been used 3 times already. However, the MPAA would rate this PG-13. The otherwords which are included in the "7 words list" can all be used in PG-13 films as well.
(For an amazing documentary to learn about the ratings system and the MPAA watch ‘This Film Is Not yet Rated.)
None of the uses of that word have been used in any sexual connotation (I never intimated in any real way that intercourse was happening between a boy and the person who gave birth to him, so that use in the list was purely of a non-sexual , expletive, nature). If the F word is used three times or less in a non-sexual way, the film can still be rated PG-13. If it is used once in a sexual way, or 4 times in a non-sexual way, the film would get an R Rating.
Does it matter in what way the word is used? Isn’t it the same word? If it hurts me to hear it once, based on how it’s used, won’t it hurt me the same amount if it’s the same word used in a different context?
Fuck.
Well, there you go. This article would now get an R rating by the MPAA, even though I have not used it to detail any intimate goings-on. This article is now considered by many to be beyond good taste. You should stop reading now because your mind will be forever altered by the content of it.
I am now going to continue writing even though I know that there are some who will no longer read it because it is already filling them with discomfort.
Still reading? Why? I have now said the word fuck four times (oops, now five) and we are now way beyond any modicum of good morality for this article.
In today’s world, with no backlash at all, children under 17 can hear violently divisive diatribes about politics, sex, religion, and race. 16 year olds can drive a car and, more than likely, use the kind of language while driving that they are being forbidden to hear at the theater.
I could even “talk shit” about the team who is going against my favorite sports team this afternoon. When my team fumbles the ball, I could say “What the hell?” or “Oh, shit!” and only get a disapproving look or a tsk-tsk from my wife (well, not MY wife, exactly)). I could cheer when the quarterback for the other team gets sacked and may have his arm broken (especially if it’s the guy from BYU or U of U depending on your political leaning) and not be called into question.
I could yell at my kid and tell him to just shut up because I am sick of him crying for gum since he is already chewing it (something that I heard last night at work), I could honk my horn really loudly and flip someone the bird who cut me off in traffic, I could harangue about someone cutting in front of me at the bank for hours because I was not quite (but almost) ready with my deposit slip and it took me an extra 3 minutes to get to the teller, and I am a normal person.
But, I say the word fuck 5 times (now six) and our children should not be allowed to hear what I have to say.
George Carlin was always an advocate for freedom of speech. He, and some of his contemporaries on the stand-up stage were thrown into prison for saying certain things.
The MPAA feels that it is more appropriate for your child of 13 to see a film about demon possession and exorcism (The Rite and The Last Exorcism), a serial killer stalking a teenage girl at her prom (Prom Night), dinosaurs terrorize and kill people when they escape from their zoo-like enclosures (Jurassic Park), a woman leaves her husband and travels the world for good food, spirituality, and sex (Eat Pray, Love), cheer for an indigenous people to kill many, many groups of humans threatening their way of life(Avatar), have giant robots destroying buildings in downtown LA (which I am sure were all condemned and in which no human collateral damage was caused) in Transformers, have an artist sketch a topless woman (Titanic), show many fantasy creatures be beheaded or mutilated but get a PG-13 because their blood is black not red (an artistic decision used by director Peter Jackson to ensure a PG-13 rating) in Lord of the Rings, rather than a film where a leader attempts to improve himself, learn about friendship, trust and loyalty, and say the dreaded word a bunch in an effort to overcome a weakness of his.
I could use the word shit or goddamn 150-500 times in a PG-13 rated film, but as long as the “queen mother of all dirty words” was not used, it could still get a PG-13 rating.
I could show the actual act of sex, as long as it was all under the covers or only showing what is referred to by the MPAA as brief or partial nudity.
I have experienced this week, people talking about “effing up” one thing or another, one person who could not get the “mother eff-er” to do what they wanted- and this was at a family gathering!
Yet, in discussing ‘The King’s Speech’ today with them, they talked about how it would have to wait until it came out on DVD and they could watch it on a “Clear-Play” machine, so that they would not have to see it in its R-Rated version.
The only reason that ‘The King’s Speech’ is Rated R is because the word fuck is used about 15-20 times in a speech therapy session to get a man who stutters to trust his therapist and to get a flow of language going so that he may actually speak. The director himself came out in a statement today regarding that scene and feels that it shows the trust which is building between the man and his therapist, and is a scientifically proven speech therapy method which is used. Groups have asked that scene to be cut and the director feels strongly that it should not be edited.
And, because the MPAA, and many people, give that one word such power, The King’s Speech is rated R.
And, because many people do not want to see R Rated films, then they are allowing the MPAA to decide what films are okay for them to see. The MPAA’s ratings board do not all have children and thei r values may not match our own, and yet we are still allowing them to say which movies we can see.
If you only want to see “quality, uplifting” entertainment- I am fine with that. But, I do not feel that a blanket statement should be made about ratings and the MPAA deciding what you should and shouldn’t watch based on their random rating system. You should research a film, discover why it is rated the way it is (whether R or even PG) and decide for yourself if that is a film, or a story, that is uplifting or of quality for you.
I am Mormon and believe strongly in its teachings. However, if a movie were to be made exactly based on the things described in the Book of Mormon, it would be a very R rated film. Yet, it is still a quality and uplifting work, just like many R rated films.
Robots from outer space beating the crap out of each other for a third time this summer will doubtless be rated PG-13 which will automatically make it a piece of quality, uplifting entertainment that many will flock to.
The King’s Speech is a film which teaches history, love, respect, dignity, friendship, trust, and honor in a film that I feel is uplifting. It is very well-made which makes it a piece of quality film making in my opinion. I feel this film should be seen by everyone and that the language is not used in a sexual, or hurtful, or damaging way.
But it is Rated R which means that it will damage and hurt our morals and values and will be destructive to our children.
Fuck.