Author Topic: Deadwood  (Read 6760 times)

Offline Gen Lew Wallace

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Deadwood
« on: December 26, 2012, 12:10:52 PM »
I picked up the complete series on Bluray at the local BestBuy on sale for $59. 

I don't get all the pay movie channels so I have never seen this show.  I've watched the first 4 episodes and I am struck by the profanity in it.  Did they really speak that way?  Otherwise it seems pretty edgy, but I think I like it.
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Offline WaddWatsonEllis

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« Reply #1 on: December 26, 2012, 12:21:05 PM »
Hi,

I think it is pretty much like today ... it depends on location (location, location ... *S*). education snd status .... of course. a bunch of guys together will talk trash and profanity can rule. AN educated person will have more adjectives and modifiers , even nouns to replace profanity. The presence of the opposite sex can often raise the verbosity of the conversation.

But in the end, I think self made men (like Swearingen, and for that matter, women like Tricksy) will resort to what they know and are comfortable with ... what will be commonly understood.

In the reenacting field, I have had this very conversation ... the general feeling was that profanity ran rampant in the West, but probably not as great as Deadwood ...

TTFN
My moniker is my great grandfather's name. He served with the 2nd Florida Mounted Regiment in the Civil War. Afterward, he came home, packed his wife into a wagon, and was one of the first NorteAmericanos on the Frio River southwest of San Antonio ..... Kinda where present day Dilley is ...

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Offline mr phil

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Re: Deadwood
« Reply #2 on: December 29, 2012, 09:58:53 AM »
Deadwood is one of my favorites. I was sorry it did not go past season 3.
They do talk about the language and cursin in the special features on the DVDs. Its kinda funny. There is one term that they call each other in the show that was very popular at the time.
Apart from the cussin the language that they used was very discriptive and part of what I enjoy about the show.
Fidgety Phil

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Re: Deadwood
« Reply #3 on: Today at 10:19:05 AM »

Offline WaddWatsonEllis

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Re: Deadwood
« Reply #3 on: December 29, 2012, 01:12:34 PM »
HI,

I did like and enjoy Deadwood ....

I don't remember if it was the last episode or some sequel .... but I find it remarkable that most of the people when ton to some kind of memorial lives ... and the sequel (or last episode had a little bio on each ...
My moniker is my great grandfather's name. He served with the 2nd Florida Mounted Regiment in the Civil War. Afterward, he came home, packed his wife into a wagon, and was one of the first NorteAmericanos on the Frio River southwest of San Antonio ..... Kinda where present day Dilley is ...

"Courage is being scared to death and saddling up anyway." John Wayne
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Offline GunClick Rick

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Re: Deadwood
« Reply #4 on: January 19, 2013, 11:54:20 AM »
They also did it to tell the scensors to bugger off.I think it was going to be a mini series on tv,but the scensors gave them to much grief,so it went to HBO and they cussed it up good!
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Offline Twitchy

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Re: Deadwood
« Reply #5 on: January 20, 2013, 05:49:53 PM »
I am laid up for a couple months due to rotator cuff surgery and thought I would use some of the time to watch Deadwood as I can't do a darned thing with my right hand/arm.  I had heard prior commentary on the series language but up till last week had not seen a single episode. I have really enjoyed evrything about it except the language.  I'm not offended by it (probably should be, I guess it's a character flaw) but just don't enjoy it.  I work in a male dominated and "macho" environment (I'm male but neither macho nor a bad ass).  I am Bi lingual being fluent in both English and profanity and have never heard cussing to that extent in such sustained fashion.  Usually it just comes in an occassional "blue streak".  That said, I'm halfway thru season 2 with season 3 on order at the library cuz in spite of the language, it's just that good.

Offline GunClick Rick

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Re: Deadwood
« Reply #6 on: January 20, 2013, 07:24:56 PM »
Great series but the language just got in the way of a good story.
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Offline Badguybuster

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Re: Deadwood
« Reply #7 on: March 25, 2013, 03:49:22 PM »
I hate when a movie or series has profanity just for the sake of it but i loved that show.  Olyphant is excellent in Justified too

Offline GunClick Rick

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Re: Deadwood
« Reply #8 on: March 25, 2013, 03:59:24 PM »
I need to buy that series,anyone got a used set for sale? :)
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Offline FiremanBrad

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Re: Deadwood
« Reply #9 on: November 27, 2013, 09:29:22 PM »
I'd bet most any mining camp was just as "raw"!!!

Offline Jack Wilson

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Re: Deadwood
« Reply #10 on: December 17, 2013, 09:27:38 PM »
This discussion regarding profanity in the HBO series, "Deadwood" is interesting and thought-provoking.

First, I'm not offended by the profanity in the series one bit.  I compartmentalize this sort of thing and if I find something in a tv show or book  or in a business that I don't care for, I will simply turn it off, stop reading or leave. 

But having said that, I must say that I question how much of this insulting name calling and abusive profanity actually occurred in the "old west."  Why?  People had guns close at hand and you just really never knew how short the fuse was on someone you didn't know or how far you could push someone you did know. 

It simply just didn't pay to be unnecessarily abusive.  First, there was no reason for it to begin with, since communicating civally with others has always been the best course of action and second, there was no reason to smart-mouth someone who might come back that night and kill you over an indiscreet remark.

Who knows though?  I imagine if we looked hard enough on the Internet, we might find scholarly essays and more in depth treatises on profanity in the old wiest.


Offline GunClick Rick

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Re: Deadwood
« Reply #11 on: December 17, 2013, 11:26:41 PM »
First of all it was done becuase of censore abuse hence being on HBO,it had some and was going to be a series,so they spit in the face of the censors and did it through HBO and really cussed it up..Supposedly Victorian times so i don't think it was that bad unless you were in the saloons and such and the guns they had were in the saloons for the most part,regular citizens did not carry especially in the city except maybe them outlaw lawmen ;) I believe it was a little like it is today,couple of buddies haveing a snort and cussing it up some ,but when it was in public around others they kept thier tongues.My granpa wa a converted christian by the time we grand kids came along,he never talked much and when he did it was usually a story that was funny,but he was afraid he would cuss if he got to comfortable.But then again he always had a mouth full of snuff,chew,cigar,pipe,and just a touch of medicine he kept in the kitchen cupboard.If he talked we could barely understand him anyway,mue monna mo ova mere en han me at mmmmm hammmer? :D

Any way i read an article in some magazine or something that it was gonna be on regular tv as a series until the censors chopped it up..
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Offline GunClick Rick

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Re: Deadwood
« Reply #12 on: December 17, 2013, 11:32:15 PM »
I really wanted to watch it with my wife but that was not going to happen,it was a great series but the language just got in the way,the dumb a--no good cock fighters ,nothin but a bunch of chickinBEEEEEP and lousy BEEPIN BEEPPER BEEPS!!!!! Get my BEEPPIN meaning!!! :D :D
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Offline Octagonal Barrel

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Re: Deadwood
« Reply #13 on: December 18, 2013, 02:30:01 AM »
Interesting question.  I watched the whole series (via Netflix), and was taken by it.

Do I struggle with being taken by a series with so much profanity?  Yeah, I do.  But the profanity wasn't the only language used.  I personally thought the episode after Wild Bill's death (the 4th, or was it the 5th in season one?) was some of the best English language writing since Shakespeare - if you can get past the profanity.  Swearingen's dialogue about "what's coming" politically is incredible, but E.B.'s soliloquy (in the same episode) on who he is and his relationship to Swearingen is simply astounding.  Entirely worthy of the Bard with no doubt.  But not just well written, exceptionally well acted, excellenty staged, and excellently filmed as well.

Is that amount of profanity historical?  The writers and producers said they thought "yes."  I personally suspect all good drama, including good TV drama, is a distillation of the real.  Condensed.  Probably more four letter words per square inch of film than reality, I suspect the language is over the top.  But I also suspect the feel the series protrays, including the profanity, might be true to the period.

More on the subject of CAS shooting, I think it was the second episode that both Wild Bill and Seth Bullock gunned for the same bad egg cowpoke at the same time.  I don't think any range in my area would allow a CAS shooter to use reverse Cavalry draw for fear of sweeping the loading table.  But watch Wild Bill pull both '51's with that reverse Cavalry draw.  It's classic and (if only acted) a beautiful portrayal of the art of historic fast draw.  You'll definitely have to watch it in slo mo to catch the action.  Looks real good to me.

But the profanity was a heavy burden to bear.  It's the main reason I haven't bought my own copy of the series yet.

Drew Early, SASS #98534

Offline Octagonal Barrel

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Re: Deadwood
« Reply #14 on: December 18, 2013, 03:29:40 AM »
Re-reading these posts, it occurs to me that Charles Portis, who wrote "True Grit," is said to have been a master of the history, language, and culture of the American South during that period. It's one of the things that makes "True Grit" the classic it is.  Instead of a dump truck of profanity, you get carefully used language, along with a boat load of religion and moral judgements of those about you who caused trouble...

Portis' Matty uses harsh language at times, but not profanity: "The men were all chained together like fish on a string.  They were mostly white men but there were also some Indians and half-breeds and Negroes.  If was awful to see but you must remember that these chained beasts were murderers and robbers and train wreckers and bigamists and counterfeiters, some of the most wicked men in the world.  They had ridden the 'hoot-owl trail' and tasted the fruits of evil and now justice had caught up with them to demand payment.  You must pay for everything in this world one way and another.  There is nothing free except the Grace of God.  You cannot earn that or deserve it."  Maybe you'd disagree, but to me these sentiments are harsh (and no, I'm not a bigamist).  Yet no profanity at all.  None needed.  (If you haven't read the book, for heaven's sake, get it and do so.)

Compare the above to E.B.'s soliloquy.  Had Swearingen undertaken the same observations, any guesses as to how he'd have put it?

I suspect Portis' portrait of language is the more accurate compared to "Deadwood."  Likewise, "The Virginian," (Owen Wister).  The Virginian (the original "man with no name") is a model of linguistic restraint, unlike his practical joking.  The baddest egg in the novel, Trampas, isn't portrayed as using much profanity, either.  Vile sentiments at times, but not vile language.

My suspicion is that these novels, especially Portis', approximate American western Victorian period language better than "Deadwood."
Drew Early, SASS #98534

Offline Mogorilla

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Re: Deadwood
« Reply #15 on: December 18, 2013, 12:06:31 PM »
8albarrel, I agree on the comparison to the bard.  When Al is talking to the severed Head, it is an amazing piece of writing and great delivery.   It was one of my favorite shows ever.  Truly after about the 3rd episode, i did not even notice the language, not that I speak like that, unless I am spitfire mad.   
Wife watched part of the 1st episode and pronounced it crap.  Several weeks later, she caught the 4th episode.  We then went back and watched the first 3 again to catch her up.  When it was on HBO, the phones were unpluged. 

Offline GunClick Rick

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Re: Deadwood
« Reply #16 on: December 18, 2013, 12:09:25 PM »
And i quote
"Maybe this book will help: Holy Sh*t: A Brief History of Swearing."

 I liked Darrels other brother Darrel~ ;D
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Offline The Elderly Kid

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Re: Deadwood
« Reply #17 on: December 18, 2013, 03:50:32 PM »
Do note that this series takes place in the nearly all-male society of a rough-and-tumble mining camp. Mark Twain and many others who went out west during those years remarked how rough and profane those places were, especially since the inhabitants were rarely beyond their twenties. Men began to moderate both their behavior and their language when "respectable" women came in to stay. I remember well the all-male society of the Army in the 60s. Our everyday language was every bit as profane as that used on "Deadwood," just not as eloquent. It wasn't how we talked at home or among civilians.

Offline GunClick Rick

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Re: Deadwood
« Reply #18 on: December 18, 2013, 07:28:03 PM »
 ;D

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6pJdZCMmZs[/youtube]
Bunch a ole scudders!

 

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