$#*! my blog says

Didn’t know what the #&%! I should write about today, but I did read John August’s post about profanity in pilots the other day, so why not talk about profanity?

First, did you know that profanity can be good for you?  Yeah, I saw that episode of Mythbusters too.

Second, I find the way profanity is treated by the media to be interesting.  I think it's incredible that movies like The Dark Knight and Avatar are rated PG-13 while a film like The King’s Speech gets an R rating because of one scene where Colin Firth (humorously) drops the F bomb over an over again. Apparently, being blown up or stabbed in the face/chest is okie dokey as long as there isn’t lots of flowing blood or the movie is a “fantasy.”  It’s the same with network TV.  People get raped, murdered, shot, and mutilated on crime/law shows almost every week, but as long as it’s not too graphic, it’s just fine.  But, don’t even think about dropping a swear word.  That’s over the line.

And then there's sex in movies/TV...the way sex gets treated is bizarre.  I remember people protesting that film Zack and Miri Make a Porno just because it had the word “porno” in the title…as if the film was an actual porno that was going to be shown to your kids in school (btw if you want to protect kids, please keep that Miracle of Life film out of classrooms, you know the one with the close up of a baby being born...seriously, that movie kinda traumatized my entire 11th grade class).

All jokes aside, I don’t really have a problem with violence, profanity, or nudity/sex on TV or in film as long as it’s being used to "serve the story" or whatnot.  I just get annoyed by the way the three aren’t treated equally.  I guess profanity is just the easiest to police.  What’s simpler than “these are the words you can’t say in your movie or you’ll get this rating” or “these are the words you aren’t allowed to say on network TV.”  On the other hand, violence gets a pass when it's not bloody…and sex…well, like I said, the way that it’s treated confuses the heck out of me.  Shows have teens having sex all the time, and some get majorly called out for it (Gossip Girl, Skins) while others don’t get as much/any grief (Friday Night Lights, Parenthood, Glee).  I know it has to do with the age of the actors and the perception of how sex is being “sold” or not sold to teens who watch the shows, but it’s still a little strange.  Then there’s movies. I always thought any nudity equaled an R rating but look at Titanic...that has a big old nude scene but gets a pass (and a PG-13 rating) because it’s…what…“artistic”?

In the end, not sure there’s a point to this post except that I think a writer should write whatever they want as long as it serves their story...but I agree with John August in that it’s dumb to fill a pilot script with profanity (especially for a baby writer).  There are pretty much only 2 major cable networks (HBO and Showtime) where you can say all the words you want.  Why limit yourself so much?  Or better yet, why write a show that you know is a network type show not a pay cable show and load it up with words you can't say?  I guess some writers want to look edgy or maybe they think their show does belong on HBO?  I remember reading the pilot for The Mentalist a while back and it had some profanity in the dialogue.  I figured this was because the creator had done an HBO show before.  Regardless of the reasoning, the show ended up on CBS and all traces of bad language were erased.  While I think established writers can get away with slipping profanity in pilots and still be taken seriously, baby writers might look foolish to do so.