Attempted Murder is ok in a movie, cursing isn't?

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lawtonfogle

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I am having a problem with someone holding this view point.
This is a problem in real life, not online, so no, I am not talking about you/him/her/it.
I am not giving any references by which to find this person, so I do not consider this gossiping, but I wanted to discuss an issue it raised.


Basically, s/he (yes, I am going to try to keep gender hidden) was talking about one of the newer movies out. The one about some people on an island and for some reason a guy is trying to kill them, but it is actually a comedy (I haven't seen the movie myself, so I'm not sure). Anyways, s/he was talking about the violence, about the quite funny failed attempt to murder, but s/he had one problem with the movie, which s/he expressed by saying, "There were a few bad words in it though." Yes, s/he called the cursing 'bad words'. I raised an objection of how you could see the violence as funny, but be offended by the cursing, but most of the other around where I set just ignored my objection (I was the youngest there by a number of years, so I guess they felt like they could).

So, do any of you see a problem here?
 

jcook922

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Then the person is just stupid, gotta love violence in movies when it's done right. :cool:

No problem with cursing though really, I'm so desensitized and I've got a pretty foul mouth myself so it just flies by me.
 
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Belk

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I am having a problem with someone holding this view point.
This is a problem in real life, not online, so no, I am not talking about you/him/her/it.
I am not giving any references by which to find this person, so I do not consider this gossiping, but I wanted to discuss an issue it raised.


Basically, s/he (yes, I am going to try to keep gender hidden) was talking about one of the newer movies out. The one about some people on an island and for some reason a guy is trying to kill them, but it is actually a comedy (I haven't seen the movie myself, so I'm not sure). Anyways, s/he was talking about the violence, about the quite funny failed attempt to murder, but s/he had one problem with the movie, which s/he expressed by saying, "There were a few bad words in it though." Yes, s/he called the cursing 'bad words'. I raised an objection of how you could see the violence as funny, but be offended by the cursing, but most of the other around where I set just ignored my objection (I was the youngest there by a number of years, so I guess they felt like they could).

So, do any of you see a problem here?

It seems a common thing these days. Violence is deemed acceptable by society, cursing is not. It is one of those nonsensical, self reinforcing, societal double standards.
 
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seeker777

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America is a bit of an oddity imo.

Violence is Ok, but sexuality is a no no.

Yet, America is a society obsessed with flirtatious / teasing / sexuality. It's a weird contradiction.

Everyone is very familiar with the moniker that Britney spears carried earlier in her career as the " virgin harlot". That is America, that is what America wants.

One need only look at the massive uproar upon the nation seeing Janet Jacksons booby.

Up in Canada, we were not amazed at the sight of a booby on tv, but at the national outrage of having seen a booby.

So, I don't understand why violence is so widely accepted in entertainment in America....but cursing and nudity is feared?
 
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JadeTigress

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America is a bit of an oddity imo.

Violence is Ok, but sexuality is a no no.

Yet, America is a society obsessed with flirtatious / teasing / sexuality. It's a weird contradiction.

Everyone is very familiar with the moniker that Britney spears carried earlier in her career as the " virgin harlot". That is America, that is what America wants.

One need only look at the massive uproar upon the nation seeing Janet Jacksons booby.

Up in Canada, we were not amazed at the sight of a booby on tv, but at the national outrage of having seen a booby.

So, I don't understand why violence is so widely accepted in entertainment in America....but cursing and nudity is feared?

Quoted for truth.

I'm an American (though I certainly would never have chosen to be born here), and I find the way so many citizens act to be extremely childish.
 
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FaithLikeARock

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Feh, cursing is just tasteless. The only thing bad about it is that it's tasteless. To be fair, violence in movies is seen by most of society as something a good movie needs. Because it's a cheap theatrical device used to fill in time. It's not that it's a bad technique, but in today's cinema it's overdone and overrated. But, it's been proven time and time again that that isn't what people want.

I'm going to use The Dark Knight as an example. Because it is now one of my favorite movies of all time and certainly my favorite action movie of all time. Even though it's more of a philosophical thriller than a superhero action movie. (A few kids from my church and I went to see it and called it a "Good vs. Evil Seminar".) There was...I think actually NO real language with the exception of God's name thrown around once or twice. There was only one scene that was particularly bloody. And all the sexual references were almost making fun of themselves but they actually applied to the character at the same time. And three weeks later it's still the top grossing movie in theatres. Partially because it's Batman, sure. But people keep going back to see this movie. I've seen it twice and once it comes out in the three dollar theatre by my house I'll probably see it quite a few more times. People don't see this movie for the action, for the swearing (or lackthereof) or for the sex. Because it doesn't really have that. But it leaves you with such a deep feeling that you just have to see it again. It's the basis, not the content, that people look for.

Take another movie, A Walk to Remember, not my very favorite but one of my favorites as far as romance movies go. I haven't seen it in a while but from what I can remember there's no violence with the exception of a punch here or there, no language, and everything sexual was viewed as bad - as a way to turn a good girl into a sexual object (and a kiss here or there because -gasp- a romance movie can be good without a sex scene.)

Now let's take the flip side. Eastern Promise's, while not as well known, is another good one. But it's not one of my favorites. Why? Because they threw in too much content and not enough substance. The movie itself, it's lesson, it's characters, are all very real and it leaves you at the edge of your seat the whole way. But they decided throwing in a very blatant sex scene (because it wasn't implied heavily enough) and a knife fight in a men's sauna would really add to the movie. It didn't. In fact the latter actually made my friend laugh (not me. Just made me roll my eyes). The movie itself was good, but the content was...eh. And for some reason, it didn't get the greatest reviews.

It all comes back to the fact that people want good taste. But we've been fed so much of the same stuff that tasteless violence and sexuality is started to grow into the norm. Eventually the great movies will be the mediocre movies we see today. And the mediocre movies will just get worst. Am I making sense?
 
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cantata

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Well, what are Roadrunner or Sylvester and Tweetie but cartoons about attempted murder? Does the fact that they contain attempted murder make bad language acceptable in them, because it's not as bad as attempted murder?

I really think it depends on the tone.
 
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Robbie_James_Francis

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America is a bit of an oddity imo.

Violence is Ok, but sexuality is a no no.

Yet, America is a society obsessed with flirtatious / teasing / sexuality. It's a weird contradiction.

Everyone is very familiar with the moniker that Britney spears carried earlier in her career as the " virgin harlot". That is America, that is what America wants.

One need only look at the massive uproar upon the nation seeing Janet Jacksons booby.

Up in Canada, we were not amazed at the sight of a booby on tv, but at the national outrage of having seen a booby.

So, I don't understand why violence is so widely accepted in entertainment in America....but cursing and nudity is feared?

QFT.

It astounds me that seeing naked bodies on TV can be considered offensive by a society that allows a retarded cowboy to send its men and women to a horrible death in Iraq so he can increase the oil profits for his cronies.

If I was a parent, I'd rather my kids saw hardcore inappropriate content than serious violence on TV. Sex is a good, natural part of life and violence is a terrible evil.
 
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JCFantasy23

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The problem is the rating system and what is allowed in movies is stupid and backwards.

For instance, at 16 a person can legally drive in Florida, move out on their own, drop out of school, become employed, but they cannot watch R rated movies without parental permission? Yeah, dumb. If the person is responsible enough to work and get behind the wheel, sigh...

This is just one terrible example.
 
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cantata

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I'd recommend the excellent documentary This Film Is Not Yet Rated for some insight into the way in which films are rated in America.

In particular, sex is often rated higher than violence, while female pleasure and homosexual sex tend to increase ratings still further.
 
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