All the F*cks in the World… Language in screenwriting

​F*ck, f*ck, f*ck, f*ck, f*ck. The new word on the street.  (I’m such a lady that I can’t even spell the word out without blushing…lol). But as I told you guys in a previous post, one of my new obsessions is Survivor’s Remorse. If you can’t handle a few…well, a million f*cks, then you can’t handle this show.

Everyone recalls the marketing campaign around Shonda Rhimes’ use of “seriously.” The Grey’s Anatomy clan loves that effin word. You can guarantee that a scene won’t got by without hearing the word “seriously.” I don’t know if the Remorse producers took a bite out of the Shondaland apple or if they are truly a bunch of potty-mouths (lol, when’s the last time you heard that term? 1995?) but, in my opinion, Remorse has dibs on “f*ck.” How can someone call dibs on a term that’s been around for centuries? By using it as it’s own storytelling device.
 
F*ck is the word choice of the hour in every episode of Remorse. I noticed early on that the word was used frequently but it really picked up and made a “name for itself” as a character in Season 2. So much f*cking so, that I f*cking think it’s a f*cking game amongst the f*cking actors to f*cking see who can f*cking say f*ck the most f*cking times in one f*cking sentence and still f*cking make it make f*cking sense.
 
Obviously, there won’t be any f*cking ad campaigns around the f*cking word “f*ck” for Remorse, unless the f*cking marketing team and f*cking producers find the f*cking “beeps” just as f*cking amusing. If not, I don’t give a f*ck. I’ll be f*cking watching anyway. If you won’t f*cking watch, #FOH.

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AUTHOR

Shannan E. Johnson is a former creative executive at The Syfy Channel turned CEO + Head Consultant of The Professional Pen, a script consultancy that develops screenwriters from idea to pitch to become more confident storytellers ready for a professional screenwriting career, and consults with scripted development teams at entertainment companies to streamline their notes process to get to pre-production more efficiently.