I’ve noticed an upswing in the casual use of the f-bomb in books and movies within the last few years. I’m not here to debate whether this is a good or a bad thing. It’s a style choice. Not necessarily one I enjoy, but again, personal preference.
Rather, what I’ve found curious is what seems to be the use of frequent f-bombs as an interest hook.
For my book club’s last cycle, we chose between The Bone Doll’s Twin by Lynn Flewelling and Brigands & Breadknives by Travis Baldree. After finishing The Bone Doll’s Twin (and writing about it here, if you’re interested), I picked up the option my book club didn’t pick, as I sometimes do. It’s been a minute since the last time I read a book by Baldree (Legends & Lattes), but I remember enjoying it, especially as my first foray into cozy fantasy.
Since it’s been a minute, my memory is a bit rusty, but I also feel like I recall the f-bomb being used sparingly in Legends & Lattes, which is not the case in Brigands & Breadknives.
Or at least it wasn’t in the first 15% or so.
As I said, I’m not a big fan of dropping the f-bomb in just because. So when I started Brigands & Breadknives, and that word was everywhere, it really dampened my reading experience, which was so frustrating. As a self-proclaimed TTRPG nerd, I love the concept behind Baldree’s work—what happened to the adventurers after they stopped adventuring? I really wanted to read Brigands & Breadknives, but not if I was just going to get annoyed the entire time.
So, I put the book down for a few days. Then, I decided to give it another shot. I started reading, got into it, read another 15% or so, and suddenly realized the use of the f-bomb had dropped to almost nothing. The change was so stark that when a character dropped the f-bomb twice in one sentence a bit later, it literally shocked me.
😕
After sitting with this for a couple of days, I realized this is not the first time I’ve encountered this phenomenon. There’s been at least one, maybe two or three, movies where I start watching, sigh at the frequent dropping of the f-bomb, and stick it out, only to settle in after a while because the cursing has chilled out. It seems very strange to me to have characters up and change their speech patterns, and I can only conclude the f-bomb is being used as a hook to engage a target audience who wants a lot of f-bombs in media.
I certainly understand grabbing the attention of the audience one hopes will spend money on a product. But doing it at the expense of dialogue or narrative consistency seems very odd to me. To start off with one style, maintain it long enough to get people invested, and then drop it feels inauthentic. Why not just write the book, use the language you want to use, and market it to the appropriate target audience? Perhaps a decision made by the marketing department, not the author?
Anyone else noticed this phenomenon? (Also, anyone else ever go to type the word “phenomenon” and always just end up with a jumble of letters they let spellcheck fix? Sheesh.)
👋 Fair travels,
Mary
P.S. A big thanks to Ben_Kerckx from Pixabay for the image.
P.P.S. All books link to The Storygraph because I love that site and want to introduce it to as many people as possible.