Why Can’t Talent Be Enough?

Recently I went to see the cop-buddy comedy “The Heat” starring Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy.  I’ve been a fan of Melissa McCarthy’s ever since I first saw her on the hit sitcom “Mike & Molly” a few years ago.  What I liked most about her on that show (a comedy centered on two people who meet at an Overeaters Anonymous meeting, fall in love and get married) is how witty she is with the one-liners.  She is a big girl who is just the right amount of self-deprecating that you laugh with her, and not at her.  I appreciate that.  So, back in 2011, when the movie “Bridesmaids” came out and I saw she was in it, I knew that I would at least enjoy her role.  I did.  However, this was not the Melissa McCarthy who I was used to seeing in primetime.  This was an edgier version.  Still funny, but edgier.  Then came “Identity Thief,” again funny (seriously, every time she throat punched someone, I hollered), but this time what I noticed is that the number of times I hear her use the “F” word was alarming.  I was disappointed.  Even with this, and because she’s my girl and all, I still decided to give her another shot and support her latest movie, the aforementioned “The Heat” (I’m a glutton for punishment, I know).  I settle in, fully ready to laugh heartily, but what I witness instead is a steady barrage of “F” bombs for about two hours!  You’re breaking my heart Melissa!  Now, don’t get me wrong, I can take anything in its place, and in the proper context, but when the behavior is gratuitous, and one uses profanity for the sake of using profanity (her liberal use of the word felt more like it was ad-libbed, than scripted), I’m instantly turned off.  I find Melissa McCarthy to be ridiculously talented and funny, so why does she have to cheapen that with vulgarity?  Is she overcompensating in some way?  Why can’t being funny be enough?  One of the things I love about movies and scripted television is the creativity behind it.  I love when a show or film evokes emotion; is thought-provoking; or takes your mind off of the stresses of the day, for a little while anyway.  However, some of the movies and television shows out now (“reality” or otherwise) depend on profanity, sexually-explicit behavior, and even violence to keep audiences engaged.  Give us more credit than that.  Trust that your audience is smart enough to appreciate quality work, over something done to get a cheap laugh.  See, while I still love Melissa McCarthy, and love the message that it sends that a woman who isn’t a size 2 can draw at the box office, supporting her next feature film project will not be high on my “to-do” list again.  Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to enjoy those reruns of “Mike & Molly.”