Posted on 12/28/2013 5:43:13 PM PST by afraidfortherepublic
Newspapers are among the last places in America that have close to zero tolerance for [expletive deleted].
I could give you a hint about what word is between the brackets, but I’d best not for fear of arousing the ire of the editing Comstocks. About twice a year, I quote a profanity from a public figure, using just the first letter of the word and then some bowdlerizing asterisks for the rest. No dice, my editor tells me. You’re writing for a family newspaper.
There was a time when such standards were the norm at major media institutions in America. Sometimes things went too far, as when Lucy and Ricky had to sleep in separate beds, lest the public get the right idea about where babies come from.
But, as Lee Siegel wrote recently in the Wall Street Journal, vulgarity has become so common in the culture that there’s nothing rebellious about it anymore.
Elvis’ below-the-belt gyrations were taboo-breaking and suggestive. Today, there’s nothing suggestive about Miley Cyrus. Nobody watching her twerk thinks, “I wonder what she’s getting at?”
Indeed, if there’s any larger message to her routine, it is simply to announce that the exception has now become the rule: vulgarity is expected, decency a surprise. (The two most rebellious comedians in my youth were Bill Cosby and Jerry Seinfeld — because they kept it clean or, in Seinfeld’s case, at least kept it suggestive.)
But my complaint isn’t really with singers, shock-jocks, comedians or whatever category Cyrus falls under. They’re not merely immune to finger-wagging on this score, they actually think such criticism is proof they’re rebels. The wiser course is to simply yawn and move on.
No, my real complaint is with how vulgarity has gone viral. We constantly hear that there is no common culture anymore.
(Excerpt) Read more at omaha.com ...
I wasn’t aware that comic strips still exist. Interesting.
We met an interesting couple recently while traveling andl the wife & I still correspond.......most anyone would find them charming
Until the guy opens his mouth
He can barely get through any conversation without using G__D***
I can’t stand to hear this profanity .....there’s just no need to do this in polite conversation.....or ever!
He’s an educated man.....but this surely must be a turnoff to others as well
Vulgarity and horrible language are a form of violence and terror. As the author said, even when you stick to clean programming - I love ME tv - you have to it through disgusting commercials.
I watched a bio of Marvin Hamlisch very late last night and then switched to TV to something very boring so that I could fall asleep. I woke up this AM to Melissa (?) Curry advertising on HLN a show called “Cook My A** Off”. I couldn’t believe it. They actually have a show on HLN that uses a crude word in its title. I guess that’s why I never watch HLN.
Haven't seen that one, but for God's sake, steer clear of "Serial Mom". It appealed to me because of Kathleen Turner and Sam Waterson, both likeable actors (on screen). The IMDB site reviews extol it as a masterpiece of black comedy (as in graveyard). Got it from the library. I lasted longer than my wife, but after 10 minutes I hit the "eject" button.
I've been in the Navy and worked overseas and am quite familiar with vulgarity of all types, but this one hit new levels - and it was non-stop. I was stunned that such crudities were performed by such known actors. I've used some of those words in stressful situations (thumb meet hammer) but not in casual conversation.
On the TV and spoken level, while surfing, you run across conversations (court cases) where every other word is bleeped out and it is so widespread that it reaffirms Mr. Goldberg's article.
Another peeve, and I've often seen it here, is the casual use of "it/this/that/etc. sucks". Another vulgarity that's become an every-conversation epithet.
(The only time I thought that use was proper was in a bit of graffiti, which said, "Dracula sucks".
A friend of mine and his wife stopped at our place in Texas on the return leg of a cross country trip. He's an online buddy, but lives in the same area of California where I hung my hat for decades. We've got several friends in common, as well.
Anyway, what really astonished my wife and I during their visit, was their kids' potty mouths. The eldest daughter is about fifteen, and the younger girl is perhaps eleven, but you should have heard them. They didn't think a single thing of uttering every swear word in the book in front of my wife and kids.
Later, as I was chatting in another room with my buddy, he unloaded a few choice words in front of my eight year old. I reacted pretty strongly to that, and he immediately apologized. He didn't swear in front of my kids again after that, but it still sort of shocked me that his standards were so loose that he didn't think twice about using such language in front of someone else's children.
I work in a factory and my co-workers are mostly intelligent, hard-working people. But. They over-use the same few words as every imaginable part of speech.
I have zero tolerance for bad language at home and keep reminding the kids, if they want to sound stupid, just talk like that.
Depends on what one defines as vulgarity. Open vulgarity or coded vulgarity ie innuendo/double meaning.
I like the comment of legendary British comic actor Kenneth Williams who referred to ‘healthy vulgarity’, a form of comedy which is based on innuendo and its the listener who makes the rude connection, not the comic. Rude, naughty without being open and crude.
The concept of grown adults taking really pleasure in being “naughty” kinda sums it all up.
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