By Michael Giere, The Bull Elephant. (image: Carlos/Unsplash)
“And in interviews and public comments, it is now the go-to word for female and male celebrities alike, lowering the glamour threshold to dirt level.”
I don’t know about you, but I’m growing weary of the foul, degrading pubic discourse that now comes at us from 360 degrees from every imaginable forum. Profanity-laden statements from politicians, authors, commentators, actors, and ordinary Joe’s and Jane’s have now overrun the boundaries of civilized discussion and communication, becoming a deadening and soulless shadow on the public body that darkens ideas, conversation, debate, love, humor, and purpose.
Even making this observation in the first place invites critics to suggest that the observer is a hypocrite, a goody two-shoes, pious, or posturing as a particularly virtuous person. The argument is, I suppose, that the unrestricted use of language and any expletive in any manner is a form of personal liberation of expression in the face of outdated orthodoxy, rather than an ironic act of conformity to the new normal it has become.
What was often considered the most obscene and degrading word, the f-bomb, is now firmly in command of the public space. You can scarcely see a movie or a TV drama series outside of the major networks, that isn’t pockmarked like the surface of the moon with the word. The language often overshadows even the most well-written scripts, such as Yellowstone, Homeland, and Billions. Men, women, and children use it in virtually every scene. And in interviews and public comments, it is now the go-to word for female and male celebrities alike, lowering the glamour threshold to dirt level.