By Shari Randall
Long story short, the other night I tuned into an episode of The Rockford Files titled “White on White and Nearly Perfect.” It starred James Garner as Jim Rockford, a handsome and charming PI who works out of a trailer, with guest star Tom Selleck, who plays Lance White, an even more handsome and charming PI. Lance is so handsome and charming that no one can resist him - except for Rockford, of course.
One thing that struck me, aside from the fact that Tom Selleck really was very handsome and that the clothes people wore in the '70s were distractingly awful, was the lack of swearing. Throughout heated arguments, vigorous beatings, and tackling lowlife criminals, nobody swore.
This struck me because the night before I had watched the highly acclaimed Leonardo DiCaprio film, One Battle After Another. I should’ve counted the number of times the F word was used, but I think it would’ve been over 100 and that was just in the first 15 minutes.
I even noticed the F word popping up several times in Louise Penny’s latest, The Black Wolf.
I’m sure the fact that The Rockford Files was filmed in the ‘70s accounts for the lack of swearing. There were FCC rules, community standards, and advertisers to appease, I’m sure.
I was around in the 1970s. I don’t remember much swearing, and I went to a public high school. There were certain words that were not nice to use, according to the aforementioned community standards. Remember standards?
Frankly, swearing doesn’t shock me that much anymore. It’s so pervasive I think we’re all numbed to it. That means that a well-timed expletive from someone who doesn’t normally swear can drive home a point with delicious force. It’s the constant drip of the F word that’s annoying. A friend who is a kindergarten teacher told me she knew it was time to retire when a five-year-old called her a m*#%&$r.
Yes, the F bomb is a very versatile word. It can be used as a noun, verb, adjective, adverb, you name it, but for me hearing it everywhere is tiresome. I know that language evolves and standards change, but I think people have just become lazy.
One show I’ve enjoyed lately is Slow Horses. Yes, there is plenty of swearing, but there are also some truly entertaining insults from the main character, Jackson Lamb. At one point, he refers to useless character as a “refrigerator magnet.” Ouch.
As a writer, I strive for realism, especially in dialogue. But because I write on the cozier end of the spectrum, I have to have very good reasons for using a word that many readers might not appreciate. I’ve gotten around that by writing “Character X swears.” But I’m keeping “refrigerator magnet” in my word hoard for when I want a put down that will really sting.
Writers, how do you handle characters in the heat of a moment that calls for spicier language?
Shari Randall is the author of the Agatha Award-winning Lobster Shack Mystery series, and, as Meri Allen, writes the Ice Cream Shop mystery series.
I write more on the thriller end of the scale and my characters cuss. But not all characters and not all the time. And one of them who now has kids has changed her swearing habits since that event.
ReplyDeleteTo my eye and ear, Louise Penny long ago moved away from traditional mysteries to suspense thrillers.
Good point about how characters' speech evolves, too.
DeleteI write cozies, too, so the swearing is kept to very few choice words. I think it can be used effectively, but a lot of times, it's overused to the point of distraction. (And I love the "Rockford Files," too.)
ReplyDeleteHeather, that's such a perfect way to put it - "the point of distraction." I guess I find it distracting.
DeleteIn today's world, cuss words have lost their shock value. And thus, much of their impact. But many readers still find them offensive. I tend to avoid the stronger ones. A properly expressed "Well, damn!" while mildly offensive to some, is not likely to drive readers away. And an icy "I beg your pardon!" or a threatening "I know that's not me you're talking about, big boy" can go a long way toward letting the readers know how the characters feel.
ReplyDeleteGreat examples, KM!
DeleteSarcasm is a good weapon when swear words are too much. "Why bless your corrupt little heart."
ReplyDeleteYes! That's so much more powerful than a simple expletive.
DeleteI try to avoid using them (especially in my cozy mysteries), but sometimes dropping a minor one works into a short story. Otherwise, as I set many of my stories in the south, I use a phrase that implies the same thing.
ReplyDeleteRefrigerator magnet! Love it, and so noted, and will probably use it, too. I shy away from the F bomb (in life and my fiction). It doesn’t offend me so much as indicate a lack of creativity on the part of the user. Call me a snob. What can I say. I greatly prefer creative retorts, like refrigerator magnet, and one of my favorites came from the absolute worst book I ever read and finished – don’t remember the title or author but their comment, ‘they’re so dumb it’s like they time-share a brain and have forgotten whose week it is’, has lived on in my memory for at least 30 years!
ReplyDeletelol!
DeleteI will admit to using the occasional f-bomb in my personal life...usually while watching sports...so I'm not aghast by cussing. But I also get irritated when people use those words when there are kids around. So now kindergarteners are using them? Ugh.
ReplyDeleteI think people who use a lot of these words do it for lack of a more extensive vocabulary.
ReplyDeleteOnce you use these terms it loses the impact that it is meant to have so why bother with them it’s just part of an everyday conversations.
It has more of an effect when it is used to emphasize a particular feeling.
I also may think of a less than acceptable word but in conversation try use another more creative term while still getting across the feeling of the non-expressed word,