WORDS: Are we coarser?

7-9-12

You know the old conundrum, “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, has it made a sound?” As a kid, my friends and I pondered the deep philosophical significance of that question; but of course, we found no solution. Now that I am older, the answer is obvious: No! What happens when a tree falls is that in the process air is disturbed, and that's it. Only if there are eardrums present can the organism find meaning in the event. The disturbed air is called a sound and the brain makes a guess about what caused it. So, this obviously tells me that I am smarter than I used to be. Huzzah!

Now that I've established that point, I can segue on to the gist of this essay. The other day, in the Post, there was an article that described the reality that some of our elected officials have publicly used so-called foul language. Even though the offending words were blanked out, from the context I deduced the word, shit. The author decried such use and quoted some experts, though in what I have no idea (perhaps they were ethicists, a bogus enterprise at best). The consensus, to quote one of them is that such language is “evidence that our society is “coarsening.” Absurd!

When I was a lad, certain words and situations in movies were absolutely forbidden by the notorious Hayes Committee. That idiot organization appeared because movies till then were thought to be too ribald for the general public and, heaven forefend, a child might get to see one! The words virgin, pregnant and damn could not be used in polite company and the twin bed industry got a boost because husband and wife never ever slept together and they wore not quite coveralls but highly opaque garments. And, when two people kissed, always a man and woman, the screen faded to black. When young, I assumed they then had a snack or listened to music.

A movie, “The Moon is Blue,” broke the rule when one character called another a “professional virgin.” I had no idea of what that meant, but I knew something worth an oooh had occurred. By the time Rhett Butler (Gone With the Wind) said, “Madame, I don't give a damn,” I was a jaded fifteen year old who knew and understood everything in the world. How long did it take for women on TV became pregnant?

George Carlin, that magnificent humorist had a list of taboo words that he used in his act and by and large, they remain somewhat proscribed. Still, the word fuck has become more prominent. Most don't want their children to use or even know the word but almost any movie will teach it to them.

What am I getting at? This: Spoken words have no intrinsic meaning. They are like the falling tree, agitations of the air; it takes a listener who interprets the agitated air and has a reaction. I suppose everyone reading this has some reaction to fuck, but there is a good chance that each one had an idiosyncratic response. And, we are each responsible for our own interpretations. Let me repeat, we are each responsible for our own interpretations. When that fellow said that a politician using the word shit coarsens our society, what he said has no objective meaning. Do you live in a coarser society now that virgin and pregnant are publicly acceptable? Is it coarser because married people in the movies sleep in the same bed or wear somewhat scanty clothing, if any? I don't think so.

Those who pontificate about such miss the reality that the Greek philosopher who said you can't step into the same river twice was right. Everything always changes. Our acceptance of such language simply means that things have changed. We used to laugh at the Brits because the word bloody was not permitted. Why did we laugh? Because that word, absent British meanings, sounds benign, what's the big deal? And even the Brits have figured that out.

Life would be a lot more interesting if people were willing to assume personal responsibility for their reactions. The accusation, “you made me love you” would change to I love you because I love you. Now, isn't that nicer?

If you beg the heavens above

To strike you with feelings of love

Keep clearly in mind

You never will find

That the heavens can give such a shove.