Main Page quotes - should we limit the profanity?

[Yournamehere]

I think , first and foremost, that the stupid Transformers ones have to go. Second, I don't think profanity is an issue, as I've stated before. We can't cap movies with violence and gore and then eliminate foul language because of it's offensive potential, that makes no sense. As far as professionalism goes, I think it's right to want to make the site look more professional and uniform, but taking swears out is just going to make the place look silly.

The ones I'd like to see go from the like are the Transformers quote (both of them, actually), most of the Shoot 'em Up quotes, maybe the Superbad one cause the humor presents a generation gap.

The quotes from Terminator, Lock Stock, Snatch and Lord of War should stay and never be taken down because they are either from good movies or they are just memorable quotes, their length or adult language content be damned.

[Ace Oliveira]

Originally Posted by Yournamehere

I think , first and foremost, that the stupid Transformers ones have to go. Second, I don't think profanity is an issue, as I've stated before. We can't cap movies with violence and gore and then eliminate foul language because of it's offensive potential, that makes no sense. As far as professionalism goes, I think it's right to want to make the site look more professional and uniform, but taking swears out is just going to make the place look silly.

The ones I'd like to see go from the like are the Transformers quote (both of them, actually), most of the Shoot 'em Up quotes, maybe the Superbad one cause the humor presents a generation gap.

The quotes from Terminator, Lock Stock, Snatch and Lord of War should stay and never be taken down because they are either from good movies or they are just memorable quotes, their length or adult language content be damned.

Amen. I agree with YNH. I couln't put it better myself.

[MT2008]

Originally Posted by Yournamehere

We can't cap movies with violence and gore and then eliminate foul language because of it's offensive potential, that makes no sense. As far as professionalism goes, I think it's right to want to make the site look more professional and uniform, but taking swears out is just going to make the place look silly.

I agree completely. Our site is full of movie images showing enormous amounts of violent content. It almost goes without saying that this is a grown-folks site.

Originally Posted by MoviePropMaster2008

it looks bad to new visitors and VIPs or casual visitors who are being shown the site.

First, what VIPs? Do you mean that there actually filmmakers or actors who look at our site?

Anyway, I imagine that people who find profanity offensive probably find guns and violence just as offensive, in which case they're likely to think of our site as "bad", regardless of the profanity. Have you ever met anyone who liked firearms but was vehemently opposed to the use of 4-letter words? I sure haven't. Maybe this is anecdotal, but everyone I've ever known who shoots guns also swears more than I do.

Originally Posted by Ace Oliveira

Amen. I agree with YNH. I couln't put it better myself.

That being said, you are still going to need to tone down your own swearing. Aside from the fact that you sound awkward doing it, I find it annoying because you're playing a stereotype of how Americans speak. We don't walk around saying, "What the motherfuck?"

[AdAstra2009]

Originally Posted by MT2008

I agree completely. Our site is full of movie images showing enormous amounts of violent content. It almost goes without saying that this is a grown-folks site.

I consider myself a grownup and I like movies with action and and whatnot; that doesn't mean that I think cursing is acceptable. (though as most everyone I do curse every now and then but I try and keep it to a minimum)

Originally Posted by MT2008

First, what VIPs? Do you mean that there actually filmmakers or actors who look at our site?

Quoting MPM's note he posted on everyone's talk page about snobby remarks on actor's gun training

(here is a note I've been posting around IMFDB)

I recently had the unpleasant experience of having some of the performers being insulted in some of our movie pages see what some of the IMFDB members write. there are some pretty condescending remarks regarding horrible grips, gun stance, bad gun discipline and blinking while shooting. I'm trying to promote the website and it's embarrassing to see actors getting insulted for pretty trivial reasons. What are your thoughts regarding this?

See below:


I'm asking all members to stop with the sarcastic comments in the screencap descriptions Too many members feel it's funny to be extremely sarcastic about actor's shooting stance, their blinking, their pistol grips. Only if it's so over the top as for the average person to notice, then don't keep on harping on it. Most actors are given only a bare amount of time to train, if at all. Many times the editor picks the worst take for pistol grip, but best take for other reasons like acting. Also much of the blame falls on the director. Some directors don't want to be bothered trying to train the actors and don't allow us armorers to even give them more training than the minimum safety training. People in the industry check out this website, and some think we're a bunch of obnoxious kids. I am not happy when people in 'the biz' look at the site and scoff at the snarky remarks. Some of them are the actual actors being insulted. We can always put in criticism, but IMFDB members going forward going to criticize a film, should try to do so in a scholarly manner or not at all. Thanks for your cooperation MoviePropMaster2008 05:51, 4 October 2009 (UTC)

[MT2008]

I just don't usually think of "actors" and "VIPs" as synonymous (since I have friends who are actors, all of whom are hardly "VIPs").

[MattyDienhoff]

I agree wholeheartedly with YNH, and I have a few things to add:

* There's nothing unprofessional about rendering a quote exactly as it's said in its source material, including profanity.

* Censoring profanity in quotes looks silly, to say nothing of the fact that it's a bit hypocritical given that there is violent content here as well.

* Protecting minors from mature content is a noble cause, but, seriously, this is the internet. Any chatroom, comments section, multiplayer video game or forum is bound to have profanity, and I can guarantee you that you'll hear more profanity in a few online matches of Halo or Call of Duty than you'll find in all the quotes on this site put together, and I don't have to tell you how many minors play those games.

I know "it's a big problem so it's no big deal if we add to it" is no excuse, but this is just my realist take on things. Anyway, this site is obviously meant for a mature audience, and I dare say it wouldn't hold the attention of most minors for very long even if they did stumble across it (there aren't many explosions in screenshots).

* I do believe that using profanity in image captions or other text in articles themselves is very unprofessional. Use of profanity in the somewhat less formal sections of the site (on talk pages or the forum) is fine as long as it's not too excessive.

[MoviePropMaster2008]

The notion of violent content is not actually true. We rarely have heads exploding or viscera on pages (there are very few pages of real gore). The vast majority of the shots are people FIRING guns. And we don't have any real gory shots on the main page.

So I don't buy that "we have violent content" arguement. It's phony. Network TV will show violence, but they bleep out the profanity. Our society can accept some violence, but profanity is still offensive to some.

The Profanity looks unprofessional. I know that kids LOVE profanity. I can usually tell scripts written by high schoolers in that the profanity is ridiculous. Don't count Tarantino or the Script of Scarface, those are anomalies and rightfully so.

It's one of many issues in which there is an AGE gap of what is acceptable. I find the excessive profanity objectionable in that I don't want to be embarrassed when I show the page to others.

[MT2008]

Originally Posted by MoviePropMaster2008

The notion of violent content is not actually true. We rarely have heads exploding or viscera on pages (there are very few pages of real gore). The vast majority of the shots are people FIRING guns. And we don't have any real gory shots on the main page.

But my point from earlier was, if a person is offended by profanity, aren't they just as likely to be offended by guns and anything related to violence? In which case, they're going to hate our site regardless of the profanity? The fact that we don't show "gore" isn't necessarily going to be relevant to such people; the fact that we are a GUN site is what's likely to offend them in the first place.

And as I've said before, everyone I know who likes guns also swears, though that's an anecdote.

Originally Posted by MoviePropMaster2008

So I don't buy that "we have violent content" arguement. It's phony. Network TV will show violence, but they bleep out the profanity. Our society can accept some violence, but profanity is still offensive to some.

Personally, I think that's kind of ridiculous. It's OK to show some dude on TV mowing down lots of people with an automatic weapon, but a use of the "F-word", or a glance at a woman's nipples = evil? (and remember that on European TV, they're allowed to show tits, and they do) I always figured death was worse than profanity or nudity, but apparently, people disagree. Go figure...

Originally Posted by MoviePropMaster2008

The Profanity looks unprofessional. I know that kids LOVE profanity. I can usually tell scripts written by high schoolers in that the profanity is ridiculous. Don't count Tarantino or the Script of Scarface, those are anomalies and rightfully so.

It's one of many issues in which there is an AGE gap of what is acceptable. I find the excessive profanity objectionable in that I don't want to be embarrassed when I show the page to others.

First of all, I agree with you that excessive profanity used by IMFDB members in conversation is immature, and that's why I keep telling Oliveira to watch how much he swears. THAT makes us look unprofessional, and I've told him so.

But quoting what ACTORS have said in a MOVIE is just not the same thing. I don't think you should be embarrassed to show your friends what the directors/screenwriters/actors in the movies were comfortable making up.

[AdAstra2009]

Originally Posted by MattyDienhoff

* Protecting minors from mature content is a noble cause, but, seriously, this is the internet. Any chatroom, comments section, multiplayer video game or forum is bound to have profanity, and I can guarantee you that you'll hear more profanity in a few online matches of Halo or Call of Duty than you'll find in all the quotes on this site put together, and I don't have to tell you how many minors play those games.
.

Just because other places are loaded with profanity doesn't mean we should have to drag ourselves to their level.

[Excalibur]

It's not "dragging ourselves to other's level"

And we're just quoting a movie. If there is one swear in an awesome quote, then it's acceptable. But we should not really swear in firearms description. Everything else should be professional.