Quote:
Originally Posted by Lzen
I watched it last night. I have never seen the series. Not that I didn't want to, I just never wanted to pay for a subscription to HBO. I thought the movie was decent. It is a little odd how everyone cusses a lot. That just doesn't seem right to me. And the dialogue was a little strange at times. But overall, I enjoyed it.
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The language is a bit stilted and blue, but Milch justifies it, or at least tries, historically.
In frontier [lawless] lands, with tons of strangers and riches at stake, your stock in trade was your vocabulary. People trended to the flowery to imbue themselves with a sense of education and sophistication, and people trended to the blue to imbue themselves with a sense of badassery.
Basically, the language of Deadwood was how potentially hostile strangers established quickly that they are smart and tough.
Also, the guttural nature of cursing was considered effective in managing livestock. ie, if you were manning a wagon train, or finagling some draft horses, 'stop mother****er' and a few snaps of the reins got more results than a gentle whickering and gentle shake.