I am not a huge fan of swearing. Mostly, I just don't find it pleasant to listen to. There has been a lot of talk about the NY Jets on HBO's Hard Knocks and the coach's potty mouth. Usually when people swear they're just trying to get attention. In this case it worked. The Jets are the talk of the NFL and Hard Knocks got it's highest ratings ever.With that said, I am reading the book Sh*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern. It is one of the funniest books I have ever read, ever! And it kind of makes me want to swear more. A lot more. I have to remember, just because Justin's dad says it, doesn't mean I need to. Funny in that context, but out of my mouth it would just be vulgar.
In 2009 Justin Halpern moved back in with his parents. Thinking the things his dad said were hilarious, he started tweeting them (tweeting is posting them on his twitter internet page and sending them out to his subscribers). It became so popular he wrote a book. Here are some of the cleaner quotes:
"I didn't say you were ugly. I said your girlfriend is better looking than you, and standing next to her, you look ugly."
"A parent's only as good as their dumbest kid. If one wins a Nobel Prize but the other gets robbed by a hooker, you failed."
The use of swearing for comedic purposes goes back a long way. I guess it doesn't bother me as much as long as it's funny. I always liked Richard Pryor and George Carlin. But I also felt comedians like Andrew Dice Clay took it too far (or maybe I just didn't find him funny enough). By the way, we have a good selection of stand-up comedy on both CD and DVD at the library. If you don't care for the swearing we have Bob Newhart and Bill Cosby.
What do you think about all the bad language in TV and the media?
3 comments:
While I generally don't like bad language in movies and TV I loved the series The Sopranos. Maybe the F word was just so common in that series that it soon became part of the background? Or else Tony and his Badda Bing pals and their violence just made the language seem "normal" for that series.
I'm neutral about bad language. For me, it's the context that counts. If it's funny like the way George Carlin used it, it's great. If it's just vulgar like the way Andrew Dice Clay used it, it's stupid and unoriginal.
Likewise, I'm not offended when Tony Soprano swears, but I cringe when I hear children say the same words.
I always thought it was so funny when Carmella and Tony yelled at their kids when they said the same swear words the parents used all the time. Adults OK? Kids No!
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