My wife and I often enjoy watching movies on TV.
And with the multitude of options that are now available via a plethora of streaming networks (both pay and free) and good old broadcast channels, there are – to say the least – plenty for choices. In fact, picking one can become a bit of a challenge due to the numbers involved.
But we’re routinely successful in finding an interesting movie to watch. We sometimes check out popular flicks we didn’t see in the theater, but we also are prone to landing on the somewhat obscure variety. In fact, we’re frequently pleased by some of the lesser-known ones that turn out to be worthwhile, or even excellent.
It’s rather amazing how good some of these unfamiliar and undiscovered films are. It’s not uncommon for us to be impressed with many aspects of them, including the characters, storylines, dialog, sound, costumes and scenery. That last one is huge; sometimes we run across films that portray beautiful panoramic landscapes, are shot in remarkably detailed sets and employ thoughtful and appealing cinematography.
It’s fun to be drawn in by what a movie looks like, and it’s cool when an old-time town, building or other site is being shown and you sort of feel like you’re there.
But whether it’s an Oscar-winning movie or one almost nobody has heard of, there’s one common denominator that determines whether we truly enjoy them or not: The overuse and abuse of profane and vile language and imagery.
Whenever there’s a lot of that kind of thing, it becomes distracting from the movie’s story and objective and can ruin the flow for the viewer. And basically, I’m convinced almost every film that goes overboard with vulgarity would be every bit as good without it. In pretty much every instance, if the foul language was replaced by less nasty words and phrases, nothing would be missing or lost, and the viewing experience would be no less rewarding.
Some people might say, “if you don’t like it, don’t watch it.” Well, that’s exactly what we do. When there’s just too much of that stuff, we have no problem bailing out and moving on with another search.
The same goes for so many of the new-ish series being aired these days – particularly on the streaming networks. In some of them, characters use so much repulsive language that it becomes somewhat unbelievable – like to the point that you’re thinking, “I don’t know of anyone who actually talks like that.”
And it’s not that we’re prudish or unaware, it’s just that we find it unnecessary (and uncomfortable) to try to put up with what seems like an excessive amount of indecency.
Anyway, the good news is that there are so many options these days that finding enjoyable movies that aren’t chock full of filthy conversation and images isn’t very difficult.
And the reality is, the searching can be well worth the results.