Portal:Comedy/Selected article/30

Fuck is a 2005 American documentary film by Steve Anderson, which argues the titular word is key to discussions on freedom of speech and censorship. It provides perspectives from art, linguistics and society. Oxford English Dictionary editor Jesse Sheidlower, journalism analyst David Shaw, and linguists Reinhold Aman and Geoffrey Nunberg explain the term's evolution. Comedian Billy Connolly states it can be understood regardless of one's background, and musician Alanis Morissette says its taboo nature gives it power. The film contains the last interview of author Hunter S. Thompson before his suicide. It features animated sequences by Bill Plympton. The documentary was first screened at the AFI Film Festival at ArcLight Hollywood. The New York Times critic A. O. Scott called the film a battle between advocates of morality and supporters of freedom of expression; a review by the American Film Institute said this freedom "must extend to words that offend". Other reviewers criticized the film's length and repetitiveness. Its DVD was released in the US and the UK and used in university courses.