Beate wrote:Have you seen films like The Hangover II, Bridesmaids or The Change-Up recently? THEY are crude. The above mentioned scene doesn't even come near that.
No I have not seen those films, because from what I've heard, they appear to me to be severely lacking in content and wit. Life is too short for me to give them a chance. I am only interested in seeing good films. I went to see this one on the basis of a personal recommendation, despite the fact that I would normally have great reservations about spending time watching the majority of mainstream comedies. I don't tend to use mainstream films as a benchmark because I think that they are mostly bad and I hope for more from cinema. I feel that this is besides the point. Whether or not this film is "without crudity" is not dictated by whether or not other films exist that are more crude, but by whether it actually is crude itself.
Crude is a word with multiple meanings. Two examples below.
1) Characterized by uncultured simplicity; lacking in sophistication or subtlety
2) Lacking tact or taste; blunt or offensive.
So basically the main definitions of crude as understand it are (1) unsophisticated, or (2) cheap sexual and scatological content.
In my view there was not a single piece of wit in the film. Every single attempt at a joke made me cringe, as I felt that it insulted my intelligence as an audience member so much. Therefore, I regard the entire film to be crude under the definition of its lack of sophistication or genuine humour. In addition a very large proportion of the film relied upon cheap sexual/scatological content. The above mentioned example is basically a joke about how wanking is embarrassing and funny. If that's not crude in both senses, then I don't know what is. Another example, a man stands in a position with his penis in the face of another male character (the head of whom obstructs the audience's view of the penis). A ha ha!!! My sides are splitting at this incredibly funny and original scenario!!! What incredible mind produced this piece of comedy genius? Its a penis, and penis' are very, very funny!!!
The term crude does not always need to be an insult. For me, a film like The Guard could easily be considered crude base upon its sexual content, swearing, etc. I would however argue that it is a beautifully written film with wit, and emotional resonance that are both sadly lacking in the inane Crazy, Stupid, Love.
heehee 6/10
