Inkless Wells

Paul Wells on all the latest out of Ottawa—along with the occasional post about jazz. Follow Paul on Twitter: @InklessPW

Categories: Capital Read, Inkless Wells

Hey look: a summer movie, with swearing

by Paul Wells on Tuesday, July 21, 2009 5:52pm - 13 Comments

From the print edition, my article about the new British movie In The Loop. With lots and lots and lots of warning about salty language, here’s a clip from the movie in question. And while we’re at it, here’s perhaps the classic scene from The Thick of It, the BBC series it’s based on. Salty language warning still applies.

Tags: In The Loop, purview, self-promotion, The Thick of It, week in the coal face

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http://intensedebate.com/people/DeliciousLattes DeliciousLattes

Spencer Ackerman was a consultant on the film too, apparently.
http://www.intensedebate.com/people/Crit_Reasoning Crit_Reasoning

Which is odd, because people who follow politics in any capital know well that swearing is one thing political staffers everywhere can do without hiring a consultant.

Which universe do we live in? Is it the one where political staffers routinely indulge in profanity so strong that it could strip the paint off a Chevy? Or is it the one where Lisa Raitt's conversational use of the word "sexy" gets flogged to death by hypocrites in the media, and prompts hysterical calls for her resignation by our lame excuse for an Oppositon?
Paul Wells

The premise of the movie, as I believe I made clear, is that a minister’s use of the word “unforseeable” provokes an international uproar.

A critical reasoner might note that “unforseeable” and “sexy” are adjectives, i.e. words that modify nouns — in the cases at hand, “war” and “cancer.”

I wrote a book that quotes the Prime Minister at length, swearing like a longshoreman. Nobody saw those quotations as anything more than charming colour. But feel free to keep flogging your horse, CR. I think you’re on to something huge.

Paul Wells

And as a bonus, in the movie the minister doesn’t spell “unforeseeable” wrong.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Crit_Reasoning Crit_Reasoning

The premise of the movie, as I believe I made clear, is that a minister's use of the word "unforseeable" provokes an international uproar.

Your could have made that point more clearly had you actually used the word "unforeseeable" in the review. You didn't. You mentioned "anodyne comments" that provoke a public furore. I haven't seen the movie, so I had no idea.

A critical reasoner might note that "unforseeable" and "sexy" are adjectives, i.e. words that modify nouns — in the cases at hand, "war" and "cancer."

Since I actually referred to "sexy" as an adjective, and you never actually mentioned the word "unforeseeable", I'm afraid your point is rather muddled.
http://www.intensedebate.com/people/Crit_Reasoning Crit_Reasoning

The premise of the movie, as I believe I made clear, is that a minister's use of the word "unforseeable" provokes an international uproar.

You could have made that point more clearly had you actually used the word "unforeseeable" in the review. You didn't. You mentioned "anodyne comments" that provoke a public furore. I haven't seen the movie, so I had no idea.

A critical reasoner might note that "unforseeable" and "sexy" are adjectives, i.e. words that modify nouns — in the cases at hand, "war" and "cancer."

Since I actually referred to "sexy" as an adjective, and you never actually mentioned the word "unforeseeable", I'm afraid your point is rather muddled.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Lord_Bob Lord Bob

"I wrote a book that quotes the prime minister at length… nobody saw those quotations."

A crueler man would make some very unkind comments!

To actually put a serious spin on my sheer snark, what you have to remember, Mr. Wells, is that the sort of people who'd buy and read your book about backroom Canadian politics are the sorts of people who are interested in backroom Canadian politics. The furore over an ill-conceived word in an inadvertantly public tape doesn't come from the political junkies, but from more ordinary Canadians who expect their leaders to behave more circumspectly.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Crit_Reasoning Crit_Reasoning

The furore over an ill-conceived word in an inadvertantly public tape doesn't come from the political junkies, but from more ordinary Canadians who expect their leaders to behave more circumspectly.

Lord Bob nails it, as he usually does. Ordinary Canadians would probably be shocked and appalled if they overheard the language that gets used behind closed doors by Canadian politicians. Political junkies, not so much.

I'm sure most politicians would be similarly embarrassed by "ill-conceived words" if recordings of their private conversations were obtained by the media. That's why the whole "Raitt tape" furore was so gloriously hypocritical.

http://www.intensedebate.com/people/Crit_Reasoning Crit_Reasoning

Which is odd, because people who follow politics in any capital know well that swearing is one thing political staffers everywhere can do without hiring a consultant.

Which universe do we live in? Is it the one where political staffers routinely indulge in profanity so strong that it could strip the paint off a Chevy? Or is it the one where Lisa Raitt's conversational use of the word "sexy" gets flogged to death by hypocrites in the media, and prompts hysterical calls for her resignation from the Oppositon?

Bruce

Umm… using the word "sexy" wasn't the problem. But you know that.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Crit_Reasoning Crit_Reasoning

You should check out some of the stuff that was said and written about Raittgate. It would appear that Raitt's use of the adjective "sexy" was a very big problem indeed.

sbt

The unfortunate "sexy" comment made headlines because it was … well … sexy.

http://www.intensedebate.com/people/Crit_Reasoning Crit_Reasoning

Which is odd, because people who follow politics in any capital know well that swearing is one thing political staffers everywhere can do without hiring a consultant.

Which universe do we live in? Is it the one where political staffers routinely indulge in profanity so strong that it could strip the paint off a Chevy? Or is it the one where Lisa Raitt's conversational use of the word "sexy" gets flogged to death by hypocrites in the media, and prompts hysterical calls for her resignation by the Oppositon?