Oh man, do I love the word fuck. I use it and I use it all the time and though it can often sully my attempts to be taken seriously by a few individuals, I use the word fuck and all of its variations whenever and however I please. It’s practically a bodily function. And even my most foul mouthed friends have taken great pains in getting me to use it less frequently. People are very startled by the word Fuck, and no one knows why. What is it about this four letter word that sends people in to a fit? Why does the word fuck send even the most liberal people in to a series of gasps and furrowed brows?
Fuck is a word that’s almost a volatile as the N Word, and even the most educated people aren’t sure what nerves is touches. “Fuck” is a movie I’ve wanted to see since its release, mainly because I still can’t understand why it’s such a word that’s almost considered worse than the likes of equally offensive swear words like hell or damn. “Fuck” tries to uncover the meaning of the word, and more so tries to explore why it’s such an offensive and dangerous word to use. Did you know that one use of the word Fuck can turn a movie from a PG-13 in to a hard R by MPAA standards? From Janeane Garofolo to fucking Pat Boone, “Fuck” takes every step to see why fuck is such a bad word and how liberals and conservatives view it as a linguistic tool however crude or demoralizing some may view it as. There are also searches for the origin of the word that traces back to the 1600’s often found in famous poems and has often been used to break down barriers.
And while director Steve Anderson doesn’t provide any concrete answers to where, why, and how fuck is, he presents a hilarious and potentially shocking perspective on the word fuck and how lefties and righties perceive it as an imprint of our society and what it means towards our intelligence. One of my favorite interviews is with Hunter S. Thompson who seems all too happy to show his love for fuck, while Pat Boone comes off quite moronic without any tricky editing to hang him. He uses the word “Boone” to replace fuck. And he’s proud of it. And there’s also that secret agenda from the administration to not so much snuff out the word but slowly phase it out from the human language while never undermining what the constitution upholds openly. Though some insist that there’s no real mission to destroy the word, Garofolo presents evidence that implies the contrary.
Why is the word fuck an exception to some and not to others? Why do the FCC feel the need to monitor this and decide? There’s also looks at societal breakthroughs fuck has provided with an unabashed definition of sex, a blunt depiction of love, and of course the trouble it’s gotten icons like Lenny Bruce and George Carlin in to. Anderson’s documentary “Fuck” doesn’t really seem to try for the big answers, it just asks the big questions and leaves it up to the audience to decide for themselves what’s obscene and what’s just plain hyperbole. Maybe fuck is a bad word because we don’t know where or how it started; who knows? Maybe we’re just too fucking sensitive. Some people have said that this movie is just one big excuse to say “fuck” a lot with the pretense of credibility, but that’s a load of fuck, because Steve Anderson doesn’t really try for the definitive answers, he just extrapolates why fuck is considered such a vicious word when it’s such a cathartic exercise.