Content of Classic Films

[judd]

I've been trying to decide how to phrase this topic

Creature from the Black Lagoon is a fine film.  The monster is iconic and the movie is suspenseful and contains interesting ideas
  If we nic pic we can find faults but overall it's a quality piece which has hold up over time.  It's a G rated picture.  No profanity, nudity, love scenes or gore.
The Shape of Water won an Oscar for best picture of the year.  There's nudity, sex scenes, graphic violence, gore, vulgar and procaine language.  I wondered what kind of movie I was watching when I saw the opening scene.
I don't feel the movie is any better due to the inclusion of the edgy content.  It feels gratitious to me. 
Older films even horror movies avoided edgy content and they managed to and still do entertain audiences.
I'm I just out of touch or do you feel sex, swearing and graphic violence can be justified in movies?



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[Anton Phibes]

Swearing is (unfortunately) not only a reflection of day to day life, but some filmmakers don't know how to be impactful without it. Others can. Sometimes it's not needed at all.

Take a film like Salem's Lot. The film is a masterpiece. Its over 40 years old and made for tv. I don't know if there's a swear word, or much more than a drop of blood, in it. Really scary vampire make ups, atmosphere, a great soundtrack, director, and awesome cast carried the film. It made an impact. Without any of the stuff you mentioned as disliking.

While its not a deal breaker for me if a film has swearing, or gore,  I can live without it.  I don't need to "see" everything in every film to get the idea. Good imagination.

Yet in films like Carpenter's Thing....gore, effects, and swearing seem pivotal to creating the tension, fear, and isolation/paranoia reactions of men trapped in a no win situation.

As for sex and nudity in films: everyone here knows I am Ned Flanders to some degree, So I will refrain from commenting on this one. lol.

[Earth 2 Chris]

I think the suprising opening scenes in Shape of Water were a shorthand to show lonely the protagonist was. It also gave us a look into how regimented her life was. Now, could the filmmakers have chosen a different way to show this? Absolutely.

I'm by no means a prude, but I think the film could have reached an even broader audience if they'd cut those scenes, and the following sex and nude scenes out. The actions could have still been implied. "Show, don't tell" is a mantra filmmakers often live by, but in some cases, it's better to leave some things to the imagination.

I don't mind those aspects of the film, but I could also see the movie existing without it, and getting a PG-13 rating. But some filmmakers feel a PG-13 is now what a PG or even a G used to be. The kiss of death to be considered "kiddie fare". No Oscars in that pool!

[judd]

Is the extreme gore in the Fly remake make it superior to the original?  I don't think so.
I don't find Bram Stoker's Dracula with it's violence and blatant sexuality to be better than the first Nosferatu or Universal's Dracula.