Curse Words

U

USLatin

Panamaniac
I thought I'd ask something "RETARDED".

Very bad one right? I remember that ratings are very subjective to the people you get screening your film. I can see a lot of people finding it very offensive.

We'll probably get an "R" anyway, but I still have some hopes for a "PG13". I am not going to force it, but while this word fits the situation and character there are also others he could use.
 
IMHO if you can take out the curse words then take them out. Don't have them in the film just to have them in the film. You have to have a reason to have them in the script/film and if you cannot come up with a good reason then they should not be in there. The excuse most people use is, "That's the way people talk." That is a weak excuse. This is reel life not real life. Be more creative and inventive thatn most peopel and eliminate the curse words. Think of the additional income through sales of theater tickets, DVD's, cable, network, TV, etc. that will arise with a clean film.

I write my first few drafts of a script with the curse words...then I find a way to take them out. There is always a way. No excuses.
 
"Retarded" is not going to push you from PG13 to R. "F*ck" even finds its way into PG13 movies. It's a real crap shoot. Are you actually planning on submitting your movie to the MPAA?
 
Suppose you are doing a documentary about veterans and veterans issues and sometimes the word sh-t comes up when a veteran is doing some real life venting.....Should I edit that out? Would that be a deal breaker for say PBS or if the film is to be shown down the road in high schools???
 
I'm a little slow to catch on but I really get tired of these retarded postings.
 
Oh, cool, tons of responses!

CallaghanFilms said:
Only cut a word if it is THE WRONG WORD...Cut it for no other reason.

Simple as that:beer:
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This is my POV as well.

Kess said:
IMHO if you can take out the curse words then take them out. Don't have them in the film just to have them in the film. You have to have a reason to have them in the script/film and if you cannot come up with a good reason then they should not be in there. The excuse most people use is, "That's the way people talk." That is a weak excuse. This is reel life not real life. Be more creative and inventive thatn most peopel and eliminate the curse words. Think of the additional income through sales of theater tickets, DVD's, cable, network, TV, etc. that will arise with a clean film.

I write my first few drafts of a script with the curse words...then I find a way to take them out. There is always a way. No excuses.
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It is their character to curse in the type of situations they use these words. I only left the ones that I couldn't take out. It wouldn't be right if they didn't curse at all. When you are a young male semi-player type of a certain education and a supernatural evil dude pops out of nowhere scaring the crap out of you, then you are most likely not going to say "darnet" especially if you are drunk. :)

I managed to keep it down to less than or about 10 curse words in 95 pages.

They are used as exclamation points also. But as you can tell I am still trying to get rid of a few more of them. :)

10s said:
I'm a little slow to catch on but I really get tired of these retarded postings.
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LOL... well, I think you are joking... then again you might actually be fed up with the same question being asked a million times. I only asked in hopes to get this sort of answer:

Blaine said:
"Retarded" is not going to push you from PG13 to R. "F*ck" even finds its way into PG13 movies. It's a real crap shoot. Are you actually planning on submitting your movie to the MPAA?
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Thanks Blaine! I thought that might be about it but never really pay attention.

And thanks to everyone else too.
 
In your original post you seemed to think you could take a few of them out and if you feel that way then you should. You answered your own question. If you can't find a way to take them out then leave them in.

Do the unexpected. Someone jumps out and scares the hell out of you. Maybe the person passes out or throws up on the attacker or runs into traffic and gets hit by a bus instead of saying anything. Over 50,000 scripts are written every year and 49,900 of them will never be sold. Why is that? Because they are not original...they are similar to everything else.

Don't do what everyone else is doing...or you will get what everyone else is getting.
 
Kess said:
In your original post you seemed to think you could take a few of them out and if you feel that way then you should. You answered your own question. If you can't find a way to take them out then leave them in.

Do the unexpected. Someone jumps out and scares the hell out of you. Maybe the person passes out or throws up on the attacker or runs into traffic and gets hit by a bus instead of saying anything. Over 50,000 scripts are written every year and 49,900 of them will never be sold. Why is that? Because they are not original...they are similar to everything else.

Don't do what everyone else is doing...or you will get what everyone else is getting.
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But I was trying to copy everyone's good ideas and put them into one un-original POS that I can whore myself out with. :crybaby:

Lol... I only asked about the curse word, but thanks for your pressure to be original, it can never hurt. I wonder what you would think if you read it. :happy: It might not win any awards, but I started just because it was a different.
 
USLatin said:
I thought I'd ask something "RETARDED".

Very bad one right? I remember that ratings are very subjective to the people you get screening your film. I can see a lot of people finding it very offensive.

We'll probably get an "R" anyway, but I still have some hopes for a "PG13". I am not going to force it, but while this word fits the situation and character there are also others he could use.
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Is there some reason why you are worried about ratings... are you actually going to submit something to the MPAA for rating?
 
USLatin said:
I don't know how that works, but I thought it was required for distribution so yes.
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I would imagine it is up to the distributor, and there are a number of DVD's out that are 'unrated'. Unless the 'unrated' means 'X', I think often that is just a marketing ploy to get a few more buys on some big name film, "The Unrated Version', and when it comes down to it, the 'unratedness' are a few more 'words' that put it into a different catagory, or perhaps a few 'scenes' (like more blood, longer shots on some 'gore', perhaps an occasional stunt boob shot... etc.)

But the point is, material is distributed in Unrated form. If you really do run into a road block... well that's what ADR is for, to put 'acceptable' utterances into dialog that the MPAA objects to...

Personlly I'd go for the R, and be done with it... especially if it is a nearly direct to DVD project (that is very limited or no theatrical distribution...).

The idea being, if the use lf language would really be 'off' from the rest of the material... like your big burly beer guzzling bad guy in a scene with blood, guts, and gore, says, 'Oh, Fudge'... well, the blood, guts, and gore, are going to get you an R anyway... unless you chop the scene anyway... and then it doesn't matter what the dialog words were...
 
I will read your script if you want my two cents worth. I'm always willing to help anybody. We all need good films to go see and if can help anyone out then I'm all for it.
 
I've been told by some to cut some F's and S's out of one of my scripts because it can detract from the subject matter. But, personally, I feel that if it is appropriate for the subject matter then there's really no way around it. Just as long as you aren't repeating it every other word just for the sake of saying it. But, in my case, when you're dealing with a film about undereducated criminals, it wouldn't be very believable if they talked like choir boys.

(Look at In Bruges, for example. There was quite a bit of foul language but it was understandable judging from where it was coming from.)

Just see if it flows with the subject matter and the mood. Or if you really are shooting for a PG-13 rating then you could cut it out.

But honestly, I feel it's a bit silly when filmmakers portray certain situations and not a curse word is said... because in real life, chances are they would be.
 
J1clark, we have VERY limited blood, I'd say almost non-existent gore and no gratuitous sex whatsoever. As I said before, is can't be too far from a PG-13.

Tim, "In Burges" was a BRILLIANT film. Good example. I loved it and it would have not been right if Collin Farrel's character didn't curse exactly the way he did through and through.

I am thank full for all the opinions. I go crazy some times when I am stuck inside on a re-write for days on end and it is very nice to "type" to some people about some of the things that are in your head at the moment.

I'll let you guys know how many and which curse words I have once I am done and I get to run a curse word report on the script. Just to keep this conversation going, cause it is just so very poo pooing useful. :)

Edit: AHAHA!! I was not aware that "FAK" was now replaced by "po pooing" instead of the "****" we used to get on DVXuser. That actually made it way funnier. Lol!
 
Blaine said:
"Retarded" is not going to push you from PG13 to R. "F*ck" even finds its way into PG13 movies. It's a real crap shoot. Are you actually planning on submitting your movie to the MPAA?
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Don't quote me, but I think the rule now is, if there is more than one "F" word, it is an automatic R.

I also heard there was a push to make any smoking of cigarettes in movies be an automatic R rating... Don't know if that ever happened or not though.

Later,
Jason
 
My 3 cents: IMO, It's OK to just rough out these story issues approximating the general direction of audience guidlines; it'll go through further refinement later once it's in the hands pf a producer. Given that, I wouldn't worry too much about any of these PG-13 concerns because if it sells, and once there's real money in the game, the producers will rewrite this to fit the market they see the property servicing. They will rewrite it until they strongly believe it has a chance at making a good profit. Everyone knows this is how the game is played. Rewriting is the norm, so relax and tell a great story. What happens downstream will be some elses headache...unless you're the producer or a financial stakeholder.

My inflated 3 cent Bottom line: the story needs to have heart, aka (resonating depth); that's what needs to come through foremost.
 
Jason, I hope you are wrong about the new "F" rule. But no cigarettes in my films, unless I want to use it to portray a character with certain flaws that would make him a smoker. Not this one.

10s, about your 3-cents. I am a producer on this film, and on a rush to get it 120% ready. And about your inflated 3 cents, you are so very right, yet again. I sincerely appreciate all the feedback you've been giving me. I really like your way of thinking.

Just so you guys know, I am merely taking a break from the actual writing by focusing my mind on other things. This thread is helpful, but please don't assume that I am freaking out over this. Or anything else. :)
 
The producer huh, hmmmm, OK, if you're the producer write it and shoot it both ways. It should hurt your schedule/budget just a smidgen, but you'll have options in the end.
 
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