film fest: Fuck (USA - 2005)

Fuck was a fascinating documentary about the "f" word. It covered the etymology of the word - at least what we know (primarily by debunking the myth that it's an acronym); discussed its uses in an number of environs; and got the opinions of celebrities, porn stars, talk show folks, people that don't want the word to be on TV and Pat Boone. If you're Pat Boone, you don't like the word fuck.

Pat stole the show. He first explained that he thought use of such words singled you out as a low-life, essentially. And he said that he used his own name in place of fuck. If he hits a bad shot in tennis, "BOONE!" Pat Boone is either a comedic genius or a silly old man, because it was hilarious. Later on Ice-T, who was almost creepy in his love of the word, started joking that he was going to replace fuck with Boone! too. He was joking, but after watching him try it out, I wouldn't be surprised if it stuck.

My opinion? I'm not above the occasional swear either in my blog or real life. To me, fuck is like a spicy spice. Sprinkled here and there it can be a refreshing, funny surprise. It's also like the use of midgets in comedic films. Nothing funnier than an unexpected midget sighting on screen (like Peter Dinklage's appearance in Safe Men as a hit man or in Elf as a children's book author). But you can have too much of a good thing. Too many fucks or too many midgets just isn't fucking funny anymore.