Gosh Darn It Anyway

 I just watched a series on NETFLIX that was a historical depiction of life in the 1880s. Specifically, the assassination of James Garfield. The costuming was very "of the period", the sets were stunning and authentic looking. (Probably AI, but they were great.)  And, the actors were excellent. The actor portraying Charles Guiteau, the assassin, knew how to portray CRAZY.  He was believably, mentally ill. 

However, and this is my point today.... I was off-put by the language. No way, am I going to believe that folks, in that era, used the F word, at least once in every other sentence. It's 2026, for Pete's sake, and choose to not even spell it out. This very formidable and admirable series had the actors...politicians, and every day folks sounding like, what my mother would call, "drunken sailors."

Truthfully, I have never met a drunken sailor, so I don't know how one speaks. And, furthermore, I don't think my mother hung out with many drunken sailors, in her lifetime. I do, however, have experience with what a bar of soap tastes like. Back when kids got spanked and had consequences for breaking rules, a bar of soap stuck in your mouth was supposed to keep you from using bad words. Well, it worked for me.......most of the time.

And yes, I am judging and I do know that Judgement of Others, is not a gift of the Holy Spirit. I just want to say the the overuse of curse words, in speaking, acting or writing, in my humble opinion (and you all know that I am definitely not humble) is an example of inferior vocabulary. In my research of this subject, I read that screen writers today, write dialogue using profanity because that's the only way they can interpret emotion to today's viewers. That's the way today's viewers speak. 

Remember when our kids were toddlers and we were told to tell them, when they were angry and screaming, "Use your words and tell us what you want. Don't cry." Well apparently, today's audience only reacts to four letter dialogue.

And you know what I say to that theory.....Phooey. 

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 Dear Lord. sometimes we think we know everything. Well, You know we don't. Help us to be kind and respectful of our fellow travelers. Love is the answer. Not angry words.