The
Cutting Room Floor
I love good movies. From the time I managed to acquire my
first black and white TV as a kid, or had the chance to go to the theaters,
I’ve been fascinated with intriguing stories and creative cinematography - the incredible
complexities of so many different components that are created and mixed,
shuffled and honed to create a visual experience that exposes one to unlikely
circumstances that lift your soul, fire your imagination or bend your mind.
My wife likes movies as well. One of her all-time
favorites is Hunt for Red October - a great movie. I also really like good
animated features such as Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, Monsters Inc.
and Ratatouille to name a few. An old favorite is Fival Goes West with the
voices of Dom DeLuise and Jimmy Stewart. We both like most of the popular
political thrillers; The Pelican Brief, The Firm, Clear and Present Danger,
Patriot Games, etc.
When the trailer for Michael Clayton came out, my wife and I
were intrigued. Not enough to go to the theater, but enough to rent it. For the
most part we like George Clooney and were looking forward to what appeared to
be a good, intense political thriller. Was it? I’ll never know.
You see, I turned the movie off only ten minutes in after
been accosted by the “F” word for the fourth time – the first one expelled in
the opening two minutes of dialogue. It was rated “R” which I forgot to check
at the time of rental. Otherwise I would have done some research. My mistake. I
don’t automatically dismiss all “R” rated shows. I thought Schindler’s List was a very good film, as was Amistad,
and Saving Private Ryan – all carried the “R” rating.
But what makes so many of those in the film and TV
industries think that generously peppering their efforts with (strong)
profanity somehow makes the work better? Does it? Really?
Have you ever watched a show or film and thought to yourself,
profanity sure adds that extra element of quality to a movie to make it great. That’s
what was wrong with all those Star War’s and Indiana Jones films. Right?
Yeah, I didn’t think so.
I can hear the critics now – artistic expression, realism,
power, grittiness, blah, blah…
The fact is most genuinely popular and lasting movies have
little to no profanity or sex, or even the so-called ‘edginess’ being pushed in
trendy storylines. CBS recently ran a news story about profanity and sex in
movies and according their research, films that were generally clean in
dialogue and story content grossed almost double that of the movies full of
trash.
As a SciFi fan, I was looking forward to the new Battlestar
Galactica series when it premiered several years ago. After the first several
episodes however, their scripting of pseudo profanity wore thin—as did the
erratic, full zoom-in and outs as part of their “edgy” new look. About a year
later I gave the show another try. The attempt was short lived. About halfway
through the episode the characters broke into their silly space-sailor banter
and that was the last of the show I ever watched.
It’s generally known that a certain segment of the viewing
public is attracted to trash, which is why there is so much of it out there.
And as long as people keep eating it, the movie, TV and literary industries
will keep dishing it up. It’s their method for hedging bets on a minimum
guaranteed return.
I really do love movies, but when it comes to strong
profanity, crude humor, and explicit material, I’ll never intentionally put up
with anyone shoving my face in the scripting or literary toilet in the hopes of
finding a good story in it somewhere.
Am I disappointed? Absolutely. Renting Michael Clayton cost me
a buck. I could have otherwise used my Washington to purchase something of real
value, like a box of Goobers. Or maybe help someone in the entertainment
industry buy a clue.
- Ranse
Parker
Circle
of Doors
