Given that the SyFy and USA Network basic cable channels have liberated themselves from the artistic constraints of prudish government censors, it is a good time to visit the use of the f-word in modern culture. The chances are it will be discovered that cutting people loose with the f-word on broadcast airwaves is neither very liberating nor any more than a blip on the big screen of cultural profanity. You have to be more than amused at the BuzzFeed article written about this news. It seems the writer was deliriously happy to write an article where she could uninhibitedly use the f-word in an article. It’s good to know such a liberating feeling still exists in the world of journalism or writing or blogging.
But on to the word itself.
Standup comedians and comediennes have been using the f-word for at least a decade in their acts. In fact, it can be argued that a comedy routine that doesn’t use the f-word is simply not funny. I do see a problem with some comedians who feel they have to find a place for the word because it is necessary to be funny. Long time comedienne Carol Burnett, who is now 84, demonstrated the utter simplicity of getting a laugh by using the f-word on Comedy Central (Google “carol burnett colbert comedy central”). There is a lesson to be learned in there somewhere.
Versatile does not seem to begin to define the importance of the word.
Sera Gamble co-creator of The Magicians said, “We all just feel more like ourselves when we can use the word ‘f—.’ It feels honest. And it’s just a perfect word.” This is a rather strange statement given that most Millennials use it as a common part of their vocabulary and children below the age of 7 use it whenever they can when away from their parents. “Honest” and “perfect” seem to be writer’s terms in Gamble’s world, but the whole point of writing dialogue is to define the character’s mood, personality, etc. Maybe at one time a string of f-words would be offensive, but in today’s culture it simply boring or unnecessarily excessive.
Maybe the big hullabaloo is that it is being used on basic cable channels. I’m not sure if USA and SyFy are the first choices of cable viewers, but the last time I checked USA drones on one day after another with Law and Order SVU, and more recently, NCIS. For anybody who is serious about watching TV today, Netflix and Hulu are better and more versatile options. Many of the under 40 demographic are looking for more original and, quite frankly, better programming. The number of quality shows is distressingly low given that there are so many forms of media that can be used to reach an audience in search of quality. What are the popular types of movies now? Animation, superhero, and CGI formats.
Personally, I can’t help but to still be impressed at the early dialogue in Pretty Woman. It was loaded with sexual innuendo and all about the act without once feeling obligated to use the f-word. We are talking about a businessman who is paying a prostitute for sex! But that was 1990, almost 3 decades ago. We have evolved into a culture where using the f-word is liberating and a central part of a comedy routine or a character’s dialogue.
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