F***: A Documentary (2005)

While on vacation this past week, I finally got a chance to watch a documentary I purchased on DVD some months ago. I was intrigued by the title of the film---of which only one letter of the four-letter title can appear in my blog. The film is titled F***: A Documentary, and even more shocking than the number of times the f-word appears in the film (the word is said or printed over 800 times) was the fact that the city of Wilkes-Barre, PA made an appearance on an intertitle card.

Originally released to much critical acclaim at various film festivals in 2005, Steve Anderson's F***: A Documentary details the history of the use of the f-word in our culture--from music and films to politics and t-shirts. The documentary features an impressive roster of interviewees---including Sam Donaldson, Kevin Smith, Alanis Morissette, Drew Carey, Ron Jeremy, Miss Manners, and the late Hunter S. Thompson. The film also features animated sequences by Oscar-nominee Bill Plympton.

In a section of the film about cable television, the following title card appears:

HBO was launched in 1972 to 365 subscribers in Wilkes-Barre, PA.

Today, HBO has over 38 million.

Back in September, blog fan Peter Metrinko also emailed me this fact; Peter also wrote that HBO (a unit of Time Warner) had primarily a sports focus when it first premiered.

For more information on the history of HBO and its commection to Wilkes-Barre, visit www.mackinac.org/article.aspx?ID=7981

The DVD for F***: A Documentary is not available to borrow from the Lackawanna County Library System--and I doubt it will be in the immediate future. But it's definitely worth a look.

For more information on the documentary itself, visit www.fourletterfilm.com/ ; WARNING: Please note, however, that the site does use the entire uncensored title of the film.

Also, a big Thank You to Peter Metrinko for the information and the link about HBO.