Sunday, January 6, 2019

Explicit Language

Monday, January 7, 2019

Don’t use foul or abusive language.  Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.  Ephesians 4:29 (NLT)

…in 1915, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that movies were not considered protected speech under the First Amendment and thus were subject to regulation.[2]  After wrestling with what the movie industry could show on screens for a decade and a half, the 1930 Hays Code became the first ratings system to alert the public as to content in a movie.  That code evolved into the modern-era ratings system (1968 MPAA) created by the movie industry itself.  That system now includes explanations of why movies are classed G (general audiences), R (restricted audiences), and so-on.  Violence, Sex, and Language are the main considerations. 
But it is the why that always catches my attention.  When Elizabeth and I are trying to decide which movie to watch, I look at the ratings.  Explicit language always gets a pass for me.  I just don’t want to hear it.  I threw my lot in with the Apostle long ago, that being a foul-mouth just isn’t helpful to living a Godly life, and being taken seriously as a follower of Jesus Christ.  Foul language displays hatred, and anger; it also conveys a sense of distaste for others, including disrespect and denigration. 
I also have to laugh when I see movies that earn a more restrictive rating (like “R” or “NC-17”) because they contain what is termed explicit language – it’s anything but explicit!  That word means “clear” or “obvious” or “plain”.  What Hollywood calls explicit is simply vocal shock filler, replacing the need for elevating ideas with genuinely-intelligent vocabulary by polluting the atmosphere.  Let’s face it, if you haven’t got the brains to say something clearly, profanity can deflect attention from your ignorance…and if it’s yelled louder, you’ve got a real shot at hiding gross stupidity!
There is a story about the 19th century author Samuel Clemmens (also known by his pen name, Mark Twain[3]), a man committed to the constant use of profanity, and his wife, Olivia, a godly woman who was always trying to get her husband to clean up his foul-mouthed ways.  She had little success.  
One day Olivia decided to pull out all the stops.  She figured if she demonstrated for him just how awful profanity sounds, he would quit.  Walking into the room where Samuel was writing, she stubbed her toe against the door jamb (on purpose), and then let fly a string of locker-room curses that would have turned any air blue.  Without looking up, or missing a beat, the legendary Mark Twain blew out a puff of cigar smoke and said:  My dear, you oughtn’t talk like that.  Smugly, Olivia replied:  You don’t like the sound of those words, Samuel?  Said the author:  Oh, they’re great words, but you just don’t have the music to go along with it.  In an ironic and perverse way Samuel Clemmens nailed the Apostle Paul’s point, that cussing, foul-mouths are a strange fit for God’s family. 
In Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus Paul gave us the higher level for speech, letting every word dropping from your lips be helpful and encouraging.  It’s hard to do that with an alphabet that is only 4 letters strong!
For You Today
Hollywood does nothing but push the limits of culture’s envelope when it comes to holding-up profanity, obscenity, and violence as normative or trendy-cool.  And that means exactly what it sounds like, you can expect next year’s Oscars, Emmys, and Music awards to contain worse than this year’s! 
The question begs:  Is this what we really want our children to see, hear…and become?
You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image:  Pixabay.com
[3]Image:  Pixabay.com

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