talk dirty to me
The Aristocrats is being called the dirtiest movie ever made, and there’s not even any nudity — it’s just footage of dozens of comics telling a very old joke called “The Aristocrats.” The MPAA refused to rate The Aristocrats, saying that the NC-17 wouldn’t even cover it. AMC has refused to show it on any of its 3,500 screens. The film won’t hit Austin until late in August, when both the Dobie and the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar will have screenings.
Apparently the joke itself is either perfect or awful, depending on who you ask (and depending, I suppose, on who’s telling it) and dates to the days of Vaudeville. The filth emerges from the individual comics’ improvisations and expansions, which apparently make liberal use of the dreaded c-word.
Penn Jillette, who produced the film, says this in a letter at the movie web site:
“I don’t want to shock or offend anyone who doesn’t enjoy being shocked or offended. I want to make people laugh and love life and love watching all my friends making each other laugh.”
Sounds like my kind of movie.
If you want to read more, Radar has a spoiler-filled guide to the movie. Slate columnist Jim Lewis says the film shows “comedy disappearing, almost literally, up its own ass.”