Caption Me Curious

Caption me curious, but I do not understand the allure.

I recently went to see a movie at the theatre knowing full well that it was rated R. Willy Nilly, I went in anyway, but when the opportunity to see Vin Diesel on the big screen presents itself, I, for one, tend to step up, hand over my hard earned tenner and proceed to the top row of seats. After all, I liked the first two installments of the Riddick series, for some peculiar reason (although with the rippling muscles and that deep baritone voice, that reason isn’t really all that peculiar). Sci-Fi action hero flick? Sure. Unrealistic, even for Sci-Fi? Yes sir! Entertaining? Potentially. Except for one teensy-tiny little problem.

Ok, maybe not quite teensy-tiny. (mind the gutter!)

Being a Riddick flick, (no rhyme intended) I anticipated the odd F-bomb and, not being a prude, I didn’t honestly mind. After all, it’s Riddick, right? Blatant, over-testosterone driven hero with delusions of grandeur? Yeah, probably, but again, this was all anticipated. Still, after a dozen or so uses of this flagrantly over-utilized expression by every character in the movie except the alien dog, it got old. And after the second and third dozen exploitations of said F-bomb, I felt like I was in the middle of strafing gunfire (or the high school lunchroom), rather than sitting in a theater presumably enjoying a movie.

Seriously?

Now, before I go any farther, please understand; I am by no means suggesting that this word cannot and should not be used, for any purpose. It’s a truly nasty word, I’m sure you will agree, but let’s face fact, sometimes no other word will quite do. Still, I’m reasonably intelligent and have a functioning imagination. Is this really the only word known to these writers? Honestly, with all the colourful, expressive, imaginative possibilities, am I to believe that this one word, and its equally unimpressive variations, tops the list for useful methods to effectively portray the “badies” in film, on the page and in art? Even in this post I find myself coming up with, at least, slightly interesting or unique euphemisms, lest I fall into enemy territory, so I ask again: Seriously?

Perhaps I’m a bit old-fashioned, somewhat out of date, more Shakespearian of thought and Dickensian of nature than my counterparts in the here and now, but I simply don’t feel the need. Perhaps my vocabulary (if I manage to spell the word correctly!) is more expansive than most or perhaps I’m simply a bit of a word-snob. (very possibly, in point of fact), but if truth be told, I often wish someone would have handed out a Thesaurus before film editing happened.

Ok, before this turns into a rant (too late!): my point. Nope, haven’t got one really. Maybe this is a rant. Unusual for me? Absolutely! But perchance you might agree. In any event, as I perused the offerings today on Facebook and even the WordPress Reader, I was shocked by how many times the image of and/or the word itself (and any variation thereof) accosted me, and before I grabbed my Kevlar and ran for cover, I had to vent, just a wee bit.

~Morgan~