I may have no filter but at least I’m not a foul mouth…
Some time ago my wife and I were watching a TV special with Michael Bublé and everything was great right up until he opened his mouth and wasn’t singing… what a foul mouth! To this day, I can’t listen to his music. I refuse to support someone that uses foul language in public. It’s completely unprofessional. Sadly, there is vastly more tolerance for those who blatantly use foul language than for those who inadvertently or unintentionally or even unknowingly say something that’s not “politically correct.” Why is that?
In an interview with Neil McCormick for the Telegraph in Dec 2011 (Me and My Big Mouth), Michael Bublé (I refer to him as Bubblehead because of his apparent inability to express himself without swearing) said:
Almost every night when I’m on stage, my manager will say to me, “Well, kid, 30 people wanted their money back.” Our office gets people sending T-shirts back; they send their CDs back. I get letters saying, “I really liked you but you were crude, you were rude, you used foul language, you were suggestive.”
He goes on to say…
At first it was a real worry for my agents. They kept saying, “Mike, you’re losing the audience.” Especially when I wasn’t playing to that many people. I remember my American agent saying, “Tonight, it was huge. Seventy people wanted their money back.” And I said, “Give them their money back. I don’t want them at my show. I don’t want some stuck-up prude so up their own [bleep] they can’t laugh at themselves,” I said. “Give me my kind of people, and we’ll be fine.”
Why was it a worry to his agents only “at first?” Is it because “we,” the public don’t think our vote counts? Or is it that “we,” the public lack the courage or conviction to act? If 30 to 70 people consistently walked out and wanted their money back (and this was in his early career), how many more didn’t leave but were still offended? How may more could “handle it” (his kind of people) but were perhaps concerned for a spouse or friend? How many more weren’t offended but would have preferred not to hear such language? At the end of the day, were we to poll the audience, how many would vote for foul language (e.g., “can you say that again but add more color… that wasn’t quite enough!”)?
For me, it’s akin to being forced to inhale someone’s cigarette smoke. Let them be how they want with their family and friends but once they step out in public, they should keep a civil tongue (and this includes our President). In my opinion, public figures have a duty to the public much like a CEO has a fiduciary to the company (especially since public figures refer to themselves in the 3rd person all the time). A fiduciary means one’s duty to the company overrides one’s duty to oneself. In other words, a fiduciary has an obligation to act in the best interest of the company. You might say, “what about comedians?”
In Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee (S1E16: A Rusty Car in the Rain), Jerry Seinfeld (arguably one of the most successful comedians of all time) discusses this with Norm Macdonald:
[Norm] Are you allowed to swear on this program? [Jerry] Sure, but I’ll bleep it. You know how I am with the words. [Norm] I’m not going to use those words. Well listen, as I get older I understand the value of clean comedy; and how it’s a superior… now you’re going to say it’s not superior but it is superior… [Jerry] Oh, it’s totally superior. [Norm] Oh, you think it is? [Jerry] Completely!
In speaking about Rodney Dangerfield…
[Jerry ] I’ll go so far as to say this. I think the cursing ruins his act. [Norm] I would agree with you. I had no idea as a matter of fact. I was so naive. I only knew him from his Tonight Show appearances… and it wasn’t until I got to Los Angeles… and I was like wo! [Jerry] I think it underminded his charm. [Norm] Yeah, even the way he used to dress so beautifully with the suits and the character and then I’d go ‘what’s the character now?’… it didn’t seem to make any sense.”
I really liked Rodney Dangerfield and was saddened to learn that he felt he needed to use foul language. He’s the one who always said, “I get no respect.” Apparently, he didn’t give respect either.
Even though there’s a growing segment of people who prefer clean entertainment, most attempts to provide this are shut down in the name of artistic integrity (an oxymoron to be sure). For example, we all know that Hollywood offers edited movie titles to the airline industry but these are not made available to the general public. Attempts to provide similar offerings are aggressively squashed (remember Clean Flicks and now newcomer VidAngel?). It seems that Hollywood will do anything to justify its lifestyle. I can assure you that this is NOT an economic or business decision.
Sometimes, people use or display foul language but don’t understand the severity. For example, you can get right up in my face with foul language in Spanish or Italian (I’m fluent in both) and it means nothing to me. The English equivalent, however, is another story.
While living in Italy, my family and I visited Le Cinque Terre (five centuries-old coastal villages connected by walkways). It’s one of my favorite places. While in Vernazza, we ate at a local pizzeria. As we sat down, I noticed that the server had on a t-shirt with a big F***! across the front. I mentioned to the owner that given the number of tourists that were from English-speaking countries, it probably wasn’t a good idea for the server to wear this. However, it wasn’t until I told him the equivalent in Italian that he sprang to action (i.e., he went over to the server and smacked him on the head and told him to go home and change… it was his son). :-)
Have you ever walked out of a live event? Have you ever asked for a refund? Have you ever commented to someone to please refrain from using foul language? Have you ever asked a co-worker to knock it off with the bad language? People, the only way we can vote is with our feet and our wallet!
FWIW, no one is perfect. From time-to-time I find myself letting out a word or two but I try to limit these to my fake swear words: shite (English), shiite (Muslim), Bastardo (Spanish & Italian), etc.
Bottom line, it’s never a good idea to use foul language in public and the same is true in business. You may think you know who you’re talking to but please refrain. Find some other way to articulate your frustration or joke or story or whatever. Thanks for listening.
BTW, I can recommend StudioC and Dry Commedy Bar for family-friendly comedy and VidAngel or ClearPlay for filtering Hollywood content (streamed from providers like NetFlix or Amazon Prime).
“Because I am hard, you will not like me. But the more you hate me, the more you will learn. I am hard but I am fair. There is no racial bigotry here… Here you are all equally worthless. And my orders are to weed out all non-hackers who do not pack the gear to serve in my beloved Corps. Do you maggots understand that?” — Full Metal Jacket (1987)
Robert is 58 years-old, married, father of 8 children (4 girls, 4 boys), and lives in North Salt Lake, UT. He describes himself as an technology entrepreneur, family man, traveler, movie lover, and cyclist.
