Profanity in Film

[mdsandall]

 

Can anyone please tell me when did TCM start showing movies at night with profanity in them? I am absolutely disgusted!

 

 

Monday night, Jan. 7, I was watching a part of "The Last Detail" starring Jack Nicholson, and was shocked that the profanity was not bleeped out or this movie was even shown. Please, please, please, can TCM stay with the classic scheduling by showing films with either bleeped out language or don't just show them. I love watching TCM movies but not like what I watched and then turned off. I realize there is a precode era. Where are we going to draw the morality line? Please reconsider not showing these R movies without the censorship. PLEASE!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks,

 

 

 

 

 

Marc Sandall

 

 

[ericsvdwsi8]

TCM only shows movies like this late at night, not during the day when children would be watching. If the language offends you change the channel. I've never seen "The Last Detail" but even I know the films bad language is legendary.

[slaytonf]

Well, the movie is about sailors. And there is nothing legendary about their cussing. TCM has shown movies with the seven little words for many years.

[FredCDobbs]

Hi mdsandall,

 

I agree with you. TCM is turning off its core audience with films like this that aren't old classics. I'm really not interested in cursing-sailor films of the 1970s. I didn't like them then, and I don't like them now.

 

If I want to hear guys cursing at each other, I can go down to my local cowboy bar any night of the week.

[DownGoesFrazier]

To the best of my knowledge, TCM never bleeps out profanity. They try to confine films with profanity, though, to late-night time periods.

[jfmx2]

Unfortunately, TCM is showing more and more of the "newer" movies. Next week they are showing What Lies Beneath, and that's a newer movie, and I've seen it and certainly wouldn't call it a classic. Also, just because you don't like swearing doesn't mean you're not grown up; it merely means you'd rather not be around foul language. I don't like comedians who feel the need to swear, it's not essential to being funny; and movies don't need to have foul language to be good. That's why true classic movies are so much better than anything made today. Just my opinion.....

[ericsvdwsi8]

I'm an adult and I enjoy films meant for adults. Sometimes that means harsh language or nudity-not in a gratuitous manner either. Many well regarded films include one or the other. I applaud TCM for showing a wide spectrum of movies. Many "earthy" films made in the 70's are now considered classics. "The Last Detail" was very well received when it came out. The screenplay (containing all those swear words) was nominated for an Oscar. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I've never seen "The Last Detail" but I'm glad TCM offers it-it gets a 92 % positive rating at Rotten Tomatoes:

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/last_detail/

I don't want my viewing choices subject to censorship because some people might be offended by the content. If you're offended by a movie change the channel (at 2:30 in the morning) but you're not entitled to dicate to others what is appropriate. Censoring movies would be exactly what TCM is not about. And as for morality-really? I'll decide for myself what's moral in my house.

[FredCDobbs]

>I don't want my viewing choices subject to censorship because some people might be offended by the content.

 

You are censoring my favorite non-cursing code-era classics for every cursting vulgar worthless 1970s film that TCM airs.

 

I stopped going to see new movies in the 1970s because they were so worthless and vulgar. I started seeking out old-classic retro theaters, and I began subscribing to cable so I could get Ted Turner's WTBS, starting around 1976. He would have never shown these types of 1970s movies on WTBS or TCM.

 

Stop censoring the classics on TCM, and watch the 70s movies on other channels. Dish TV advertises more than 30 non-commercial movie channels, and you can also get the various xxx rated channels too. Lots of "adult material" in those for you.

[ValentineXavier]

> {quote:title=FredCDobbs wrote:}{quote}

> If I want to hear guys cursing at each other, I can go down to my local cowboy bar any night of the week.

 

If you stay home and watch *The Last Detail*, you don't have to worry about getting a punch in the nose, or a bottle over the head, unlike the cowboy bar...

[slaytonf]

You will not get nearly the same cussing at any plain ole cowboy bar that you would get from sailors. The cussing in The Last Detail was tame as a little Sunday grandmother's quiltmaking chit chat compared to true navy blue. I thought I knew cussing until I hear a pair of sailor buddies going at it. Now I know what they mean by foul-mouthed profanity.

[hlywdkjk]

*"Can anyone please tell me when did TCM start showing movies at night with profanity in them? I am absolutely disgusted!"* - mdsandall

 

It began a LONG time ago and has been an occasional feature of the overnight line-up for years. Back in the late 90s, TCM even showed *The Exorcist* without removing one bit of Mercedes McCambridge's dialogue. (TCM will never intentionally edit any film they show.)

 

R-rated films will only appear on the channel during a short window of time on any day - between the approx. West Coast hours of 9pm and 3am. (Midnight to 6am East Coast time.) But profanity may be heard on TCM during other hours. A film rated PG13 can contain some very ripe language these days and TCM would not be shy showing such a film at 7pm. I know that one will hear an "f-bomb" in *Awakenings* when TCM shows the film next month.

 

TCM was once sent a copy of *Reds* with certain language "bleeped out". The channel apologised for showing that altered version and rescheduled the film to run intact at a later date.

 

TCM is still commited to showing the greatest films of all time -- uncut and commercial-free -- and sometimes that means films for mature audiences will be shown over night. Plan accordingly.

[DownGoesFrazier]

In Philly, if you want to hear guys cursing at each other, all you have to do is to step outside.

[ericsvdwsi8]

Fred, TCM airing movies from the 70's and onward isn't censoring your favorite code era classics-those movies still get plenty of airplay. What it is doing is ensuring that TCM is a viable offering as a movie channel welcome on today's cable line-up with something for movie fans of all ages. Some of us enjoy the classics produced in the last 40 years as well as the really good stuff from the 30s to the 60s.

If you really stopped going to movies in the 1970s you have missed a lot of really good films. That's your choice, but please don't choose for me. I am an American, I grew up enjoying the freedom of choice that being a member of a free society brings and I don't take kindly to people trying to impose their beliefs or tastes on me or anyone else.

[FredCDobbs]

>If you really stopped going to movies in the 1970s you have missed a lot of really good films

 

No I didn't. I said I stopped going to NEW movies in the 1970s, and I didn't miss anything. I started seeking out retro and classic theaters, which were all over the SF Bay Area back in those days, I saw a complete WC Fields and Mae West festival, including many films that have never shown on TCM.

 

The Last Detail is not a classic film. It is poorly photographed, of no interest to me.

 

I went to several new films in the early 70s, but they were just awful. Not for me. So I just gradually stopped going to see 1970s films.

 

Anyway, this thread is about profanity on TCM. I'm not interested in hearing profanity in films. That is symbolic of lousy scripts of the 1970s.

[DownGoesFrazier]

Just curious---If you didn't go to all these post-1970 movies, how do you know whether you missed anything or not?

[FredCDobbs]

>Just curious---If you didn't go to all these post-1970 movies, how do you know whether you missed anything or not?

 

How difficult is that to figure out? I'll give you a few days to figure it out.

[DownGoesFrazier]

Am I missing something? You saw most of the "Coming Attractions"? You read most of the reviews?

[Hibi]

I think they should show films with profanity at all hours. I cant stay up late!

[DownGoesFrazier]

I ******* agree.

[Hibi]

Damn straight!

[hlywdkjk]

*"Anyway, this thread is about profanity on TCM. I'm not interested in hearing profanity in films. That is symbolic of lousy scripts of the 1970s."* - FCD

 

Fred,

Check and see if your satellite provider is offering the Free Showtime/The Movie Channel weekend today and tomorrow. I think there are a few films you'll enjoy - especially *War Horse* and *The Help*. (But skip *The King's Speech*. Even in the film's context, I fear the profanity will be bothersome to you.)

I know I am looking forward to seeing them for the first time.

[jamesjazzguitar]

The issue isn't if post studio era movies should be shown but if TCM, as a brand, should show them (really what percent of their programming should be devoted to post studio era movies).

 

Fred and I want to keep that percentage to a minimum (no magic number of course but I would say no more than 10% (or so) of the schedule devoted to post studio era movies).

 

Sorry but the 'don't choose for me' comment is way over the top in my view. People like Fred and I are just expressing our preferences, just like you are.

 

As for "I don't take kindly to people trying to impose their beliefs or tastes on me or anyone else".

 

Well then you must not take kindly to 99% of private businesses since most "impose their beliefs or taste on the public": e.g. a restaurant owner that decides his place will be a Mexican restaurant. A station that decides to show mostly studio era movies etc....

 

i.e. what they market is a reflection of their beliefs and taste.

 

Edited by: jamesjazzguitar on Jan 12, 2013 5:00 PM

[jamesjazzguitar]

Fred, I admit I didn't understand your comment about 'not missing anything' either. I admit I have missed a lot of modern movies (i.e. have NOT seen them). Maybe there were some gems that I didn't see. Do I regret this? Well I can't say since I didn't experience them.

 

 

[lzcutter]

James,

 

I think the majority of people who enjoy seeing post-1960s movies on TCM schedule aren't asking that TCM change their schedule to emphasis more modern films at the expense of the studio era films.

 

Most are just posting their support that TCM continue to show films from all decades, just as they have always done.

 

There are a handful of posters who would like to see more of the post-1960s films on more of the schedule but I think the majority is happy with the percentage as it is and has been from the beginning.

[jamesjazzguitar]

 

lz; I agree with you. Like with any brand I have a certain expectation of what the product will offer me. With TCM that is mostly studio era movies, but I have no problem with TCM showing post studio era movies, or with any adult content those movie would have.

 

The only complaint I have with TCM programming is that I wish they would show less 'repeats' and show studio era movies they haven't shown before (or in a long time). Reading about studio era movies I come across hundreds I haven't seen and that I wished TCM would show. But I do understand the issue about obtaining rights to those movies.