While I’m listening to Sufjan Steven’s John Wayne Gacy Jr right now, I am also thinking of Devotchka’s How It Ends, Joe Hisaishi’s orchestral composition for Hayao Miyazaki’s animation Howl’s Moving Castle and Corrine Bailey Rae’s Like A Star.
I didn’t realise it was possible to be completely besotted with so many different ranges of music at one single moment. I suddenly feel like a two-timing cheat.
No complaints though. Every single track is so worth falling for.
—————
I mean no discomfort to those who swear freely on a regular basis, but despite today’s apparent acceptance of the F word as a norm, I still can’t help but flinch at it when its said or read. However small of a deal its made out to be, the four-lettered word still falls under the obscene and profane category in my book.
It is in that light that I face some difficulties in watching Inside Man, Garden State and even Little Miss Sunshine without squirming, even if only a little. With the exception of Inside Man (an action movie about a bank robbery practically qualifies it for a licence to spout expletives every 3 minutes), I wonder whether said movies could have had the same effect it had if they were to have done away with parts of the script that would have made any old-fashioned mother indignantly force the characters to wash their mouths clean.
I don’t know.
Garden State was a really good movie, and for the most part, I may even dare venture to say I loved it. What was rather disappointing though was the inclusion of certain scenes where any form of expletive wasn’t necessary to get the message across and make the movie more effective. It just didn’t make any sense.
I am no conservative. I say things I am less than proud of sometimes when I completely lose my cool, and only in extreme circumstances do I accidentally let "the word" slip out. After that, I’d feel like spitting myself hoarse, if that’s medically possible. But there are limits to the usage of crassness when you’re trying to watch a story unfold. Used in frustration, I can try to understand. Using it because you can though is just pointless, not to mention annoying. If Zach Braff were to cut out the abusive lingo in most scenes, he would probably be left with a thin script but I would have given a whole lot more credit to Garden State.
As for Little Miss Sunshine, I guess I can see how its supposed to play out. But to place 3 characters, 1 of which who peppers his every other sentence with his own brand of French in the presence of a 7 year old is somewhat disconcerting. My, she’s going to have an interesting childhood. To the movie’s credit though…I think this is one which I can digest with a pinch of salt. Spoiler Alert!–> I love watching a guy protect his younger sister. It’s just so…sexy? Lol.
So where does all this leave me? Doomed to blacklist every great movie because of not being able to handle a little foul mouths here and there? Or forced to overlook unwelcome vulgar language just to enjoy the overall engaging plot? To what extent would coarse words spoil the entire story?
I’ll tell you once I find the answer.
Why do I always place myself in a position where I have more questions than answers?
And that makes another one.
Maybe I should just stop asking pointless questions. That could work.
By the way, I finally got around to watching The Constant Gardener. I know it’s a bit late, but time wasn’t a luxury when it first came out. All I can say is…that’s what I’ve been missing?
If Hollywood produces more movies like this one, I can safely conclude that the IQ and emotional intelligence of audiences all around will be appreciated more rather than mocked and insulted. We need to know that there can be such stories to whet our palates for entertainment that comes with brains attached.
Enough said here.
Lets just hope Pei Ling doesn’t get jealous, yeah? ;P
