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FacebookI got old fast. I don’t know when it happened, but at one point I turned into an old fuddy-duddy. This weekend, I tried to watch “Knocked Up.” I say tried because I turned the DVD off about 40 minutes into the movie. I found the dialogue to be incredibly crude and offensive. Pubic hair this. Pubic hair that. Smoke some weed. Talking about smoking weed. More pubic hair references. It was beyond lowbrow. It was crude and offensive.
I don’t think necessarily the subject matters bothered me–I just didn’t like how things were presented. There can be plenty of funny, obscene jokes. There real talent is in how you deliver them. In “Knocked Up,” the script made no attempt to be creative. The mere mention of the word ‘bush’ was supposed to be funny. To me, that’s not funny–is vulgar.
Maybe I’m just too out of touch with things. I know this Judd Apatow is supposed to be the greatest thing in cinema comedy today. Maybe the film was smarter than I give it credit for–it wanted to show how the main character and his friends are all a bunch of lowlife losers. But as far as interesting dialogue, I hardly think using crude and offensive language as the sole point of humor is funny.
I’m a big Kevin Smith fan (at least his early works). I know he frequently touched on offensive topics while using crude language. But his dialogue had far greater intelligence than what “Knocked Up” had. There’s a difference between using an f-bomb because you’re too stupid to think of another adjective than cursing in a funny way.
I don’t know where it happened, but I’ve reached the point in my life where I find the f-word offensive. I wouldn’t necessarily shun someone for using it…in the right context. But when it causal gets thrown around like a football or if the sayer is using the word because they know it’s offensive…that sorta thing just bothers me. I don’t think it’s because when you reach a certain age the meaning of the word changes. I’ve known the f-word every since I was six years old. I think what’s different is my perception. I’ve been around longer and I see who uses it. The people with foul mouths tend to be the lower end of society. People who are too stupid to have a large vocabulary. People who are so out of control, they let the emotions run wild. Those who are intelligent, well-dressed, and not without mental disease rarely throw out an unsolicited f-bomb. Those who are convicted felons, gangbangers, and high school dropouts do. The meaning of the word hasn’t changed. But as I get older, I realized the type of people who tend to use it. I’m not one of them.
Getting back to the movie…
I wasn’t shocked by the language and crudeness of the movie. I’m bothered that some studio executives thought this was actually good. And even more disgusting, it was a huge commercial success. I’m not in favor of censorism and whitewashing our society. If people want to see such a film, they should be entitled to. I’m bothered most that people want to see the movie in the first place. The American public liked that movie. They enjoy non-plot driven pot smokeouts. They like to hear a bunch of stoners discussing celebrity’s pubic hair. I find that to be offensive. I’m not saying we need to live a prissy society where everyone wears tuxedos. I just don’t like being in a world where people are intentional offensive because it might come off as funny.
Maybe I should watch the rest of the movie and see where it goes. Maybe the point of the idiot stoners is to show they’re idiot stoners and the dad-to-be grows up and realizes what an idiot he is. But as far as I could tell, the first 40 minutes of “Knocked Up” glorified the lowbrow lifestyle. And that’s what I find offensive.
I ended up watching the rest of “Knocked Up.” I won’t say it got better…but then again ‘better’ is a relative term. The pubic hair references died down and the last two acts were nowhere near as primitive as the first 40 minutes–but that didn’t exactly make it watchable.
I think I’m extremely bothered by drug use in movies. That’s not to say it bothers me to watch two lowlife gangbangers get stoned–I just hate the movies that make it seem like pot use is a normal, acceptable part of society and everyone does it. I hate to use the term because it’s cliché but that’s the best way to describe it: the glorification of drug use.
I know potheads are out there and a lot of folks do it, but as a whole–it’s not acceptable behaviour in society. Debate the merits all you want about the effects of marijuana, but as a whole our society frowns upon it. There are a lot of movies that paint a different picture. I know Cheech and Chong made a fortune in movies about smoking pot–but even in their films they were portrayed as outcasts. But in a movie like “Knocked Up” where a father and a son openly discuss using marijuana or in “Harold and Kumar” where everyone in its universe smokes weed, that sorta stuff bothers me. I know marijuana use is part of our society–but it’s not like everybody is doing it.
Man I’m old. Might as well put me on a porch, in a rocking chair, and give me something to whittle. I can pass the time reminiscing about the good’ole days while yelling at the neighbors to keep off my grass. I’m gonna go have a glass of prune juice.