Libera Dreams

Elendil,

If they cut out most, if not all the swearing, I believe it would have been at least a strong PG-13 movie, due in part to the talk of sex, but mostly by some of the tense situations at Billy's house and the violence. About the only movie I've ever seen that has a strike in it and was PG was the Disney musical Newsies, and they cut out most of the violence (and all the blood). Any violence that was left was more staged, complete with comebacks and such.

I think the cursing allows more people to get drawn into the life of the miners in the 1980's (remember, not all people react the same way to movies) and gives it a bit more realism. Thankfully, since the West-End/Broadway shows are out, more people are buying/renting Billy Elliot, so many people are still watching it.

Rich,
I guess there may be more swearing publicly if the shock value is less. With that being said, some of the filthiest mouths I've encountered on this side of the pond have been Boy Scouts on camping trips (or worse, at summer camp). Talk about shock value, at least to the average citizen. If you were ever a scout (when you were at least 12 or 13), you'd understand.

Rich wrote:

Elendil wrote:
PS: Rich, that's a really funny story. And the thing u said about british ppl cursing more than US people seems quite surprising.

Before I incur the wrath of my UK friends, I should probably clarify what I said. I don't know who swears more, but it just seems it has less of a shock value over there.

Actually Rich, you are right. I travel quite a bit and without question nobody curses/swears as much as the English and Irish (in general terms not tarring everyone with that brush). However, I don't say that in derogatory way. It is just a fact of life and having seen the Billy Elliot movie (but not the musical) it portrays an accurate reflection on daily working class life in the north of England.

I myself can curse with the best of them! I will not take the name of the Lord in vain, but I personally am not offended by cursing. I do understand that there are people who are and I respect that. I try not to curse in public or around my parents out of respect. If you are that offended by cursing you are really limited in the movies you can watch. I wonder who and when in society that these select words were determined to be "NAUGHTY" I started rambling sorry, I just wanted to say curse words are not offensive to me, but respect that people should not be subjected to it if they care not to hear it.

Mathmaniac wrote:If you were ever a scout (when you were at least 12 or 13), you'd understand.

It's been 37 years since I was a scout and now that you reminded me, I understand completely.

I've been on Resident Summer Camp Staff for the past 6 summers. It's a Cub Scout camp, so we hold our tongues in front of the campers, but when it's just the staff around, your mind starts in the gutter and descends from there.

Part of this may be because it is so taboo to say anything like it in normal society, so think of it as the release of pressure after being built up for 10 months in the year. Plus, most of the staff members are teenagers, so it is almost natural for them to do something "against the norm."

In the subject of swearing...

I sometimes may swear to myself in times when I get angry or frustrated.

What I do not enjoy hearing is when people say 2 curse words every sentence that comes out of their mouth as if they are stuck with that vocabulary. I think its ok if ppl swear when upset, but it gets really annoying when people swear so casually. thats just what i think.

And of course, i would discourage kids to swear so that they do not develop bad habits of "incurable swearing" in the future.

Of course. Swearing can be vocabulary-limiting if taken to an extreme. I know more than a few teenagers with that problem. Besides, it is unimaginative, using the same 4-letter words over and over again in different permutations.

I have to agree, swearing can be a problem. But I just hope no steriotypes are being created about teenagers. There are many who have fine vocabulary and rarely swear. Judge them as individuals, not as a group.

Libera_me wrote:I have to agree, swearing can be a problem. But I just hope no steriotypes are being created about teenagers. There are many who have fine vocabulary and rarely swear. Judge them as individuals, not as a group.

Haha Libera_me, you hit the nail on the head right there. A real problem, this is, in Britain, where young people are in general tolerated rather than welcomed with open arms--ok, ok, that's a bit of a sweeping generalisation, but the government's children's ministry has been looking at ways to 'improve' the image young people have in the country. Many Britons have the attitude of, 'Oh, you're young [ie below 20, I guess], ergo you're a troublemaker!'

When Libera first really broke out, and again when they signed with EMI, there was this almost collective gasp of surprise (lol) from some in the British cultural establishment: 'Wow--kids, from south London no less, with talent! Amazing!'

Oh, but about swearing:
It's a bit like a narcotic, eh?

I'm guessing similar generalizations are made about kids who come from the inner city of <insert city here>. Especially in the less welcoming/more dangerous neighborhoods, people believe that since the neighborhood is "less safe" than others, the kids must be drug dealers/muggers/gang members/etc. This is absolutely not true. I am a Scoutmaster in the inner city of Syracuse, and my scouts, although not perfect angels, are fighting to live good lives, especially with some of the crap that is in the area. I have never seen/heard of these guys dealing drugs or getting into gangs or anything like that.

Soooo... anyone seen any good movies lately?

I saw the new xmen movie. It was probably the best one yet. The boy who plays young logan, Troye Sivan, is also a singer and a few days ago I received an autographed cd from him. That was unexpected!!!

I've also updated my top movies list, from most favorite down...
1) Duma
2) Empire of the Sun
3) Master and Commander
4) The Horatio Hornblower series
5) *can't think now, I have too many others*

Master and Commander is awesome...

I last saw Valkyrie and Wall-E in the theatre (no, I don't get out much lol)...loved them both. Eddie Izzard in a "serious" role has humour all its own

Empire of the Sun... I'm still a fan! Reading the book now, too.
I love Disney classics, especially Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and Pocahontas.

I saw Hayao Miyazaki's Ponyo last weekend. It's very good; the animation is beautiful and inventive. (And I'm sorry to say, for the UK people here, that you'll have to wait until next year to see it.)

I'd wanted to see one of Miyazaki's movies for quite awhile, but never had the good fortune to be able to until now. I really want to see some of the others now.

I watched Gran Torino the other night... really enjoyed it. Great performance from Mr. Eastwood.