The Use of Swearing in Film

In order to engage with my target audience and make the thriller opening appear more adult and not suitable for children, I have decided to include a small amount of swearing in the dialogue. In the 1960s swearing would be rarely found in film, seeing as the first swearword on British television caused national uproar in the 1960s. However I plan to show a distressed detective who is in the middle of a case which he cannot solve and he knows that every day that the case goes on, someone else is likely to die. I have decided to use dialogue in my opening to express the protagonists negative views on the situation and how angry he is about how other people doubt he's worthy of this case. Swearing also adds to the development of the character as the use of bad language connotes a low threshold for handling difficult circumstances and makes it seem like Hudson could just snap at any second. Due to the connotations that swearing carries, this is another subtle hint to the audience that the detective and the killer are in fact the same character. Although Hudson is the protagonist of the opening, his bad language and quick temper suggests he also has a dark side to him and can turn on a hostile mood like a light switch, perhaps how he would also turn on a killing mentality.

I have used swearing in my script to highlight the detective's frustration at those around him as well as with the other detective to show how other people are starting to doubt him. The use of swearing will also support the actions of the detective as he goes to attack a reporter at the end of the second scene who asks him if he 'knows people are dying'; this sends the detective over the age as knocks the reporters notepad out of his hand and shouts at him. By using swearing, I am showing how the detective is on the edge, swearing in film is no longer a taboo subject and is a common feature in films with a rating of 15 upwards. I have also used profanities in the script to offend the people around him who are only trying to do their own jobs, by using foul language I am degrading the characters around him, showing that the detective has a higher status than all of them as he gets away with swearing at them without any consequences.