“Visual swears in film” from Strong Language

Source: Visual swears in film

Here’s an interesting with an interesting perspective.  It discusses all the non-verbal obscenities that appear in film, such as obscenities on t-shirts or in graffiti in the background.   I am not a prude by any stretch of the imagination, but I believe that too much obscenity turns off a certain portion of a writer’s readership.   On the other hand, sometimes a scene is of such intensity that it demands obscenities just to keep it plausible (e.g. some of the stories I am working on are set in hell, where obscenity-littered speech would be the norm).  As is said in Ecclesiastes:  “For everything there is a season.”

What this article inspires in me though, is not half-assed prudery or some type of literary caution or self-imposed censorship, but it opens up my mind to subtle places where I might place obscenities to express some subtlety of meaning or atmosphere.

Thoughts?  Comments”

Author: Phil Slattery

Publisher, Rural Fiction Magazine; publisher, The Chamber Magazine; founder, the Farmington Writers Circle. I have written short stories and poetry for many years. In my careers as a Naval officer and in the federal government, I have written thousands of documents of many types. I am currently working on a second edition for my poetry collection and a few novels. View all posts by Phil Slattery