F no longer equals N

Disclaimer:  I watch little to no TV.  I haven’t been to a movie (at a movie theater) for several years.  I’m likely a “little” out of touch with popular culture.  With that in mind, I offer the following.

Last night Shana and I were watching a new series on Amazon Prime (Mozart in the Jungle).  We’ve watched several episodes, and all have a lot of your “normal” cussing.  The show also has – what seems to me – a rather prolific use of what we used to call the F word.  You know the one. 

I’m not sure what that bothers me so much.  Maybe I’m becoming an old fogey, unhip and unwise to the real world out there.  Maybe it’s a Midwestern prudishness.  I know I travel in different circles than the characters in the series.  I certainly don’t work in an artistic, creative environment like a symphony orchestra.  But, having said all that, it still seems like an overabundance of the F word.  Where I work, it would be considered very bad form to use the F word in a meeting.  We cuss a little, “damn” and maybe “shit” – but it’s been a long time since someone let loose with the big F-enheimer.

It bothers me how common-place the F word – especially among young people.  When I was a kid, the F word was almost equivalent to the N word.   If you used either, you quickly looked in both directions to make sure no grown-ups overheard you.

Is it possible to turn the tide – turn back the clock on the overuse of the F word?  Really, where does it go from here?  If everyone – young and old – is comfortable with the F word, does it lose its shock value?  Will need to come up with even more dramatic and vulgar expressions? 

Maybe I shouldn’t even care.  You know – WTF.