View From the Phlipside - Oscars and censorship

My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media. TV, radio, the movies and more. I love them, and I hate them and I always have an opinion. Call this the View from the Phlipside.

Well Sunday night was Oscar night, the big night  

for the big awards when it comes to the movie world. If you were surprised by any of the winners of the top awards you probably weren't paying attention. It was pretty much a night for the favorites with The King's Speech coming away as the big winner. Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. I'll be circling back to it in just a moment.

I know there's a small dedicated band of folks who are grossly disappointed that Inception didn't win some big awards maybe especially Best Picture. I saw Inception and liked it a lot but it won where it should have won in the effects categories. There was a little controversy prior to Melissa Leo's win for her self promotion in some of the trade journals for the award but hey I give her extra points for being honest. You hear a lot of actors say they don't care about the awards. That probably means you hear a lot of actors lying through their teeth. I don't think there's a single award this year that you can point to and say it was a gross miscarriage by the Academy.

Now to circle back to The King's Speech. I just heard that a PG-13 version of the movie has been prepared. They do this primarily by eliminating one scene where Colin Firth's character goes on an obscenity laden tirade as part of the therapy for the future king. The scene is shocking only at first then becomes poignant and finally quite funny. But it involves the repeated use of what we now call the F-Bomb. There's a whole industry out there dedicated to "cleaning up" movies for those with apparently delicate sensibilities. And it makes me crazy.

There is gratuitous use of obscene language. For me it has always been the comparison between Richard Pryor's stand up comedy and Eddie Murphy's early work. Pryor used it for a purpose, Murphy just used because it was shocking. The language in The King's Speech is for a purpose. It shows the necessary breaking down of barriers for Firth's character to overcome his disability. When you take it out you screw up the story. All for those people who simply can't deal with the raw-er side of real life. If a few carefully chosen words that are an integral part of a great story are just too much for you then you probably shouldn't get out of bed in the morning.

But do me a favor. Don't screw up a perfectly wonderful movie because of it.

Call that the View From the Phlipside.

"The View From the Phlipside" airs on WRFA-LP Jamestown NY.  You can listen to WRFA online HERE
Copyright - Jay Phillippi 2011