when i first heard about the history of swear words, netflix’s new docuseries, i was skeptical about it. it’s hosted by nicolas cage and i assumed that his presence was an indication that this was just another netflix program seemingly governed by an algorithm programmed to decide What Millenials Are Into.
the history of swear words is exactly what it sounds like, though with less hitting-over-the-head with cage’s presence than you might expect. each episode centers a different swear word (“fuck, “shit,” and “damn” to name a few, in case you’re jogging your memory) and its history. this education is delivered by a slew of comedians and experts, along with clips from movies and television as de facto primary sources.
through its 20 minute run time, it oscillates between celebration over the malleability of curses and good-faith explanation of how exactly the meaning of these words have changed. beyond an interest in etymology, the show demands very little from its viewers and offers us a quick reprieve from the rollercoaster of narrative.
lately, along with all of the other 2000s nostalgia, i’ve been missing shows like video on trial and i love the 90s, talking heads shows that seemed to have gone the way of home phones and shared desktop computers.
i’m also a total sucker for explained, the far geekier vox-produced netflix docuseries. while certainly educational, explained’s well-curated archival footage proves that its producers haven’t forgotten about the importance of visuals. because of this, it feels a lot less stuffy, and a lot more bingeable, than something you’d find on pbs. (if you haven’t seen the show, i’d recommend “music” and “weed” as starting points.)
i don’t mean to say that the history of swear words is entirely like these shows. its experts make it a little more high-minded than something like video on trial and its comedians make it more personable than explained. yet the show does feel like the closest we’ve come in a while to the vh1 and much music productions of yore.
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