Regarding Kurt Thoss’ “Filthy `Maguire’ ” letter of July 27. It seems as if Mr. Thoss took a rather narrow view when complaining about the Tom Cruise film “Jerry Maguire.”
In fact, the criticisms he levels seem downright invalid.
Mr. Thoss felt that there was too much “filthy language” littered throughout the movie. He stated the often-used assumption that if there are an excess of “unnecessary” words in a piece of work that it is a substitute for a larger vocabulary.
I can’t agree. First off Mr. Thoss should not have been surprised by the amount of swearing in the film; it was clearly rated “R” and had no advertisement of violence.
Also, to simply assume that the writer has a limited vocabulary because they use the f-word is folly. Let me point you to the stand-up and written work of Dennis Miller; the man has a mind like a thesaurus and also uses profanity like punctuation. Also see the work of playwright David Mamet.
The profanity isn’t overused because of the world where the film exists. Go to any professional sports event and you are more than likely to hear those words.
It’s an adult movie. Until Mr. Thoss can handle that, I, humbly, suggest he stick with the G and PG films.
———-
Send letters to Arts & Entertainment, Chicago Tribune, 435 N. Michigan, Chicago 60611. Or e-mail to tbannon@tribune.com. Please include your name, address and phone number.
