-----Original Message----- From: Kevin Burton Smith <
kvnsmith@thrillingdetective.com> Sent: Nov 14, 2005
6:40 AM To:
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com Subject: RARA-AVIS: @$%$!!!
(was Surprise Endings)
Terrill wrote:
> I understand where you're coming from here, Mark,
but it brings up an
> interesting writing problem. If a writer decided to
place their story
> in less "enlightened" times, how would they handle
this issue without
> being offensive to our more tender sensibilities
while still being
> authentic to the way many people used to speak?
Especially - but
> certainly not exclusively - bad people?
I think a key point is that Mark says "contemporary writers
who set their books in the past and use it as an excuse to
REVEL in racial, ethnic and homophobic slurs." (emphasis
mine)
What's he's complaining about -- and I'm sure he'll tell you
so himself in far better terms -- is overkill.
As I said, in the very statement you quoted, I UNDERSTAND
what he's talking about and where he's coming from. But I
think this boils down to an argument similar to that age old
one about pornography. When has the writer crossed the line?
And I think the line will be in a very different place for
each reader. It's incredibly subjective.
Then Keven wrote:
DEADWOOD, much as I love it, suffers from the same fate. I
have no doubt cowboys sat around their blazing saddles
farting and calling each other cocksucker, but a little goes
a long way, and I think sometimes on DEADWOOD they're cursing
just to remind us we're not watching network television. It
doesn't make the dialogue seem particularly real or tough --
it just makes the writers seem to be trying too hard, and
rather self-consciously at that, to be "real" and
"tough."
It reduces what is often powerful and muscular writing to the
level of grade four boys in the schoolyard trying out "bad
words" to impress each other.
The key is to use words (or any other part of language, I
suppose) to set the tone of the times; not beat the reader to
death with them. Real life, as always, is a poor
justification for poor writing.
Which is a perfect example of what I am saying. I don't
consider most of the profanity on DEADWOOD an attempt to make
the characters sound tough (or even real). It appears to be
punctuation of some sort. And as such, is often very funny.
There are times when the profanity actually reveals various
levels of weakness or cowardice in the characters, not
toughness.
And I'm not sure the writers on DEADWOOD would want anyone
thinking they were trying to present a quasi-documentary
about "real life." The profanity is highly stylized, not
realistic. As is everything else about the show.
But see, the line is in a different place for you and
me.
TL
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 14 Nov 2005 EST