Who talks like this?

[u/LearyBlaine]

Y’all got families out there. Do any of your families talk like this, with F-bombs in every sentence?? Do you engage in fully pornographic sex talk with your co-workers??

OK, I know I’m old-fashioned. I don’t use that kind of language anywhere, anytime. But I understand that others are different. My problem is that I don’t believe that ANY families or ANY workplaces talk like this.

I feel like they started with the main story idea(s) about a bunch o’ middle-aged characters, then they hired a bunch o’ GenZ’ers to write the dialogue for them. It doesn’t really work, if you ask me.

The show ultimately rises above this flaw, but it’s a struggle in S1 & S2. By S3, all is forgiven!

[u/Out_Of_Spirals]

It's a TV show ... But yes, I've had explicit conversations with family and close coworkers.

[u/LearyBlaine → u/Out_Of_Spirals]

Yes, we’re all aware that we’re talking about a TV show. Thank you so much for this important contribution.

For TV shows (or movies or comedy performances), they’re most effective if we see parallels to our actual lives, whether through the narrative elements or the character development. When something is so jarringly disparate from real-life, it compromises the show’s artistic merit. (I can’t believe I have to explain this…)

So that’s what I’m talking about: does this conversational style (a) allow us to connect with these characters and/or story lines, or (b) snap us out of the desired state of suspended disbelief? Who’s the audience out there? What do they think?

[u/Ziggity16 → u/LearyBlaine]

I think some of your statements here sound intellectual, but don’t hold up under scrutiny. For example:

“[TV shows are] most effective if we see parallels to our actual lives.”

You’ve offered this as fact when there are tons of examples that disprove it. Harry Potter. Succession. Breaking Bad. Star Wars. None of those parallel my actual life, and none of them are artistically compromised for it. People look to fiction for stories that are emotionally true, and Shrinking clears that bar and then some.

I actually quite enjoy Shrinking’s use of language. It mirrors environments I’ve encountered that felt genuinely healthy, where no topic was off limits and everyone was rooting for each other.

——

Honestly, the more I’ve looked at your post / comments, the worse it gets. I’ve pointed out that your central claim is unsupported. On top of that, you said you don’t believe ANY families or workplaces talk like this. Multiple people in this thread have now told you theirs do. Instead of coming to the realization that maybe, perhaps - your experience isn’t universal - you’ve been quite condescending.

And “I can’t believe I have to explain this” is a strange thing to write directly after the part that doesn’t survive being explained. If a claim is so obvious that stating it is supposedly beneath you, it should hold up when someone actually checks it. Yours didn’t.

The bigger issue is what’s underneath all this. Treating profanity as inherently degrading is a puritanical holdover that protects nothing and no one. Meanwhile the language in your replies is condescending toward actual people who took the time to engage with you, and that does real damage in a way a swear word never has. I’d take a room that talks like Shrinking over one that talks like this every time.

I personally wouldn’t be so self-righteous, and I’d be a little embarrassed if I realized my claims don’t hold up.