{"id":1657953,"date":"2022-09-26T07:59:14","date_gmt":"2022-09-26T11:59:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1657953"},"modified":"2022-09-26T07:59:28","modified_gmt":"2022-09-26T11:59:28","slug":"how-bad-words-paved-jason-batemans-path-to-ozark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-bad-words-paved-jason-batemans-path-to-ozark\/","title":{"rendered":"How \u201cBad Words\u201d Paved Jason Bateman\u2019s Path to \u201cOzark\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhow-bad-words-paved-jason-batemans-path-to-ozark%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1657953&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<p><strong>Jason Bateman\u2019s character did some terrible, no-good things in four seasons of \u201cOzark.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Audiences likely rooted him on, much like they did with James Gandolfini\u2019s work on \u201cThe Sopranos\u201d or Bryan Cranston\u2019s meth cook in \u201cBreaking Bad.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>How did the cute kid from \u201cThe Hogan Family\u201d transition into a well-heeled monster for the Netflix smash?<\/p>\n<p>Blame \u201cBad Words.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The 2013 dark comedy cast Bateman as a misanthrope crashing a kiddie spelling competition. The comic actor made us laugh, of course, but his character\u2019s pain gave us pause.<\/p>\n<p>That film, directed by Bateman, paved the way for his stunning \u201cOzark\u201d transformation. And it\u2019s one more movie they couldn\u2019t make today.<\/p>\n<p>Bateman stars as Guy Trilby, a 40-year-old preparing to crush the competition at an eighth grade spelling bee.<\/p>\n<p>How?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Guy exploits a loophole in the competition\u2019s rules to enter as an adult, and he has the spelling chops to go the distance. He\u2019s aided by a clueless reporter (Kathryn Hahn, the film\u2019s weakest element through no fault of her own) and a burning desire to come out on top.<\/p>\n<p>Why?<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s the film\u2019s biggest mystery, and one that takes a back seat to Guy\u2019s brutal behavior. He\u2019s whip smart and cunning, and anyone who crosses him learns that lesson the hard way. Bateman delivers every put down with maximum cruelty, and his comic chops ensure those barbs land. Hard.<\/p>\n<p>And then we meet Chaitanya (Rohan Chand, delightful). He\u2019s a fellow spelling bee competitor with a smile as sweet as molasses. Chaitanya and Guy strike up a curious friendship, with the older competitor teaching him about stealing, booze and the female anatomy.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s oddly reminiscent of Buttermaker (Walter Matthau) plying his pre-teen players with booze in 1976\u2019s \u201cThe Bad News Bears.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s wrong, of course, but in the context of \u201cBad Words\u201d both funny and illuminating. To say exactly why would spoil the big reveal for those who missed the comedy the first time \u2019round.<\/p>\n<p>So why wouldn\u2019t a film studio make \u201cBad Words\u201d today?<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodintoto.com\/what-is-cancel-culture\/\"><strong>RELATED: WHAT IS CANCEL CULTURE, AND WHY SHOULD ARTISTS FEAR IT?<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s start with Gil\u2019s potty mouth. He dresses down several women in the coldest way possible, a no-no for modern scolds. It\u2019s the Patriarchy \u2026 on steroids!<\/p>\n<p>Plus, he refers to young Chaitanya as \u201cSlumdog\u201d and other ethnic slurs, a secondary no-no in our hyper-aware climate.<\/p>\n<p>Does it matter that it reveals Guy\u2019s eagerness to shock, or the fact that he treats the lad like a boy, not a studying machine like his biological Dad?<\/p>\n<p>Of course not. We can\u2019t have certain characters behaving badly in certain ways. Now, if Guy was a contract killer, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodintoto.com\/sjw-hit-men-films\/\">all would be forgiven<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Bad words (2014)<br \/>Dir; Jason Bateman <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/7y64cn8d2h\">pic.twitter.com\/7y64cn8d2h<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Name cannot be blank (@crybabeedeede) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/crybabeedeede\/status\/1404866608334581766?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 15, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/grantland.com\/hollywood-prospectus\/smaller-movie-roundup-total-sleazebag-edition\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Critics recoiled at Guy\u2019s language<\/a>, even back in 2013 before the woke revolution changed the face of film commentary.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It needs us to find his racism, misogyny, callousness, and impropriety funny.<\/p>\n<p>Well, yes.<\/p>\n<p>Sometimes (many times) inappropriate behavior is funny. Just ask the rapscallions behind the \u201cJackass\u201d franchise, for starters.<\/p>\n<p>What they\u2019re missing, of course, are the reasons why Guy became who he is. And, without spoilers again, critics may not approve that underlying message, either.<\/p>\n<p>Still, this is Bateman\u2019s showcase in more ways than one. \u201cBad Words\u201d is his directorial debut, and he returned to that gig throughout his tenure on \u201cOzark.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s a fast study.<\/p>\n<p>The actor\u2019s follow-up directorial gig, 2015\u2019s \u201cThe Family Fang,\u201d proved adequate but hardly memorable. \u201cBad Words\u201d singes the viewer from the opening scene, and Bateman\u2019s willingness to plunge the darkest depths of his character made \u201cOzark\u201d a reality.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jason Bateman\u2019s character did some terrible, no-good things in four seasons of \u201cOzark.\u201d Audiences likely rooted him on, much like they did with James Gandolfini\u2019s work on \u201cThe Sopranos\u201d or<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1657955,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1657953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1657953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1657953"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1657953\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1657955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1657953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1657953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1657953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}