Curses!
Friday, December 19. 2008
I hate to be a what's-this-world-coming-to curmudgeon, but I'm increasingly uncomfortable with the language many people use in public.
It used to be just the occasional "hell" or "damn" that peppered some individuals' public conversations, but more and more I'm hearing people drop what was at one time considered much more serious profanity, up to and including the "F" word. Do these loudly declaiming egoists not notice the pre-teen, pre-school, pre-"R"-rated-movie children within earshot? Are they uncaring, malicious, or simply clueless?
As a writer, I understand the power of words. I appreciate the various arguments with respect to "curse words," and what they mean in a "modern" society. But I also respect the sovereignty of each family and the right of parents to make their own choices regarding what their children are exposed to. Publicly profane individuals ought to be policed by society. It's a telling commentary on the state of our society that this generally does not happen.
I don't hesitate to "hell" and "damn" in my writing, because I want to try to reflect how people actually talk. I'm uncomfortable going any farther than that in my dialogue, though. And I'm concerned, based on the conversations I overhear at the airport, restaurants, and other public places, that the relatively mild profanity I allow into my writing will soon seem staid or even silly.
Am I alone in this attitude? Do others not still cringe at some of these curse words? Is the Internet to blame for our society's increasing callousness to the traditionally profane?
I hate to be a what's-this-world-coming-to curmudgeon, but I'm increasingly uncomfortable with the language many people use in public.
It used to be just the occasional "hell" or "damn" that peppered some individuals' public conversations, but more and more I'm hearing people drop what was at one time considered much more serious profanity, up to and including the "F" word. Do these loudly declaiming egoists not notice the pre-teen, pre-school, pre-"R"-rated-movie children within earshot? Are they uncaring, malicious, or simply clueless?
As a writer, I understand the power of words. I appreciate the various arguments with respect to "curse words," and what they mean in a "modern" society. But I also respect the sovereignty of each family and the right of parents to make their own choices regarding what their children are exposed to. Publicly profane individuals ought to be policed by society. It's a telling commentary on the state of our society that this generally does not happen.
I don't hesitate to "hell" and "damn" in my writing, because I want to try to reflect how people actually talk. I'm uncomfortable going any farther than that in my dialogue, though. And I'm concerned, based on the conversations I overhear at the airport, restaurants, and other public places, that the relatively mild profanity I allow into my writing will soon seem staid or even silly.
Am I alone in this attitude? Do others not still cringe at some of these curse words? Is the Internet to blame for our society's increasing callousness to the traditionally profane?
It used to be just the occasional "hell" or "damn" that peppered some individuals' public conversations, but more and more I'm hearing people drop what was at one time considered much more serious profanity, up to and including the "F" word. Do these loudly declaiming egoists not notice the pre-teen, pre-school, pre-"R"-rated-movie children within earshot? Are they uncaring, malicious, or simply clueless?
As a writer, I understand the power of words. I appreciate the various arguments with respect to "curse words," and what they mean in a "modern" society. But I also respect the sovereignty of each family and the right of parents to make their own choices regarding what their children are exposed to. Publicly profane individuals ought to be policed by society. It's a telling commentary on the state of our society that this generally does not happen.
I don't hesitate to "hell" and "damn" in my writing, because I want to try to reflect how people actually talk. I'm uncomfortable going any farther than that in my dialogue, though. And I'm concerned, based on the conversations I overhear at the airport, restaurants, and other public places, that the relatively mild profanity I allow into my writing will soon seem staid or even silly.
Am I alone in this attitude? Do others not still cringe at some of these curse words? Is the Internet to blame for our society's increasing callousness to the traditionally profane?
TRex on :
To restrict them would be an insufferable act of oppression....
Nucular dude...
TRex
Craig on :
CJ on :
But I do think the best writing is one that is capable of telling the story powerfully and engaging with minimal profanity. What profanity is there in Tolkien, for instance? To me there comes a point where "clean" writing actually becomes refreshing. It's the same way as in music; it's not a sound that tries to sound like other good stuff that's most interesting. It's rather a sound that manages to be interesting without sounding like other good stuff.
This is why classic movies--pre-Hays Code--are sometimes refreshing to me, in this era. The good ones told good stories without needing the profanity.
Brent on :
I don't believe those individuals who are not yet old enough to have formed a worldview of their own deserve to be subjected to this sort of verbal barrage. And I think it's common decency for people in public, who know, understand, and embrace the connotations of the words they're using (it's their culture, too), not to wield them as weapons toward those who can't yet defend themselves.
The discussion of profanity in art is a wholly different one. I don't presume to declaim on that topic; I've shared how I write, and everyone else is free to do whatever she wants. If I'm offended, I won't read the material. If enough people are offended, the work won't sell. So anyone who devolves too far should find the written word a self-limiting medium.
Brent on :
"[T]hink about how much power a single expletive can have if it's the only one in the whole f---ing book."
Yes, it was the only curse word in the whole text. The book's highly recommended, by the way, if one wishes to improve one's writing in a mechanical sense.
CJ on :
And %#@%&@(&%@ too!!
(B, just to clarify we're on the same page, I agree with everything you've said in this thread. I was just giving some thoughts. Good points you have, as usual!)