A History of the Mother of All Dirty
Words
Jim Dawson
Feral House Press 2009
Web: http://www.feralhouse.com/
“A Boys best friend is his Mother”
Norman
Bates in Psycho
Motherfucker
is made up of two separate Anglo-Saxon words — one considered sacred, one generally considered profane — locked
together by constant usage. The term began as a common insult, “Mother fucker,”
to denigrate a son by insulting his mother. The U.S. Supreme Court (Keefe v.
Geanakos, 1969) called it “a vulgar term for an incestuous son” that is
“admittedly highly offensive.” Motherfucker once had the power of an
incantation that could set mild-mannered men into fits of homicidal fury. Even
today, many Americans believe it’s a linguistic toxin that poisons the air when
breathed aloud. While they will tolerate all sorts of profanities this one
seems beyond the pale. But others look upon it as a neutral or even positive
term, it has become a term of choice in certain communities and comedians love
it for its polarizing effect.
The
Compleat Motherfucker is a fascinating journey into all aspects of the term,
from the biological (the taboos against incest), the linguistic, historical and
sociological. There are discussions of its use in literature, music and comedy
as well as a comprehensive discussion of its use within film, with lots of
scene descriptions and examples. Dawson
also hones in on specific comedians such as Lenny Bruce and Eddie Murphy to
offer us an in-depth examination of its power when used creatively.
“Your mamma’s on the top of my
things-to-do-list”
Yo
Mama, Butterfingers (Australian rap Group 2004)
Dawson
also explores the use of the term as both an insult and as humour, its use
within various segments of the African American communities and its linguistic modification
into such terms as MILF (mothers I would like to fuck).
The
section on Hollywood offers an excellent history of censorship and the battles
that have continued to this day over not just MF but over language in general.
His historical coverage is comprehensive going through literature, music and
film and right back into the fifties and beyond. Many believe the first
reference to the term Mother Fucker is in 1890 !
The
Compleat Motherfucker is packed with fascinating references, quotes and amusing
historical episodes. It documents everything from computer games with modified
MF references to books, magazines, movies and more. It is the ultimate reference
on a forbidden word.
This review will appear in Volume 2 No.4
(2009) of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.
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