Tattooed - still OK to use in a generic menacing sense?

Collapse

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Tattooed - still OK to use in a generic menacing sense?

    Up front, let me caveat this post - It is not a big, serious question on which the fate of a script depends. It's really about language, social change, and perception.

    As I read a friend's script, I saw this as part of a character intro: "a beefy, tattooed gang-banger..."

    Since tattoos are now sported by all sorts of non-menacing people, we got into a discussion as to whether using "tattooed" as a symbol of menace might not be effective these days. And actually, it might turn off some readers, because some "significant" number of them have at least one tattoo.

    (I don't mean simply saying, "JOE, 29, in a T-shirt, his tattooed-covered arms on display, drinks his beer" - and that that, alone, means he's menacing. Though some years ago, I think it would have worked that way.)

    Any of you out there, especially if you have a tattoo or 6 or 7 - Thoughts on this?

  • #2
    Re: tattooed - still OK to use in a generic menacing sense?

    Gang bangers do have tattoos. In fact, if they don't have tats, it's extremely unlikely that they're actually in a gang. I think if you want to really make him menacing, you should give him a tat on his neck or his head or his face. Those are the really hard core dudes.
    Chicks Who Script podcast

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: tattooed - still OK to use in a generic menacing sense?

      Seems fine. You just assume the tattoos are gang related. Or if you want you could specify, "Gang tattoos all over"

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: tattooed - still OK to use in a generic menacing sense?

        Since tattoos run the gamut of styles, I'd suggest he add a bit of specificity to the description to make it clear they're gang tats or meant to menacing. For example "a tear drop under his eye" or "a Latin kings crown on his neck".

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: tattooed - still OK to use in a generic menacing sense?

          Seems fine to me. The combo of "tattooed" and "gang banger" immediately gives me an image of someone heavily tattooed. Someone like Birdman (the Heat's Chris Anderson).

          Extreme tats are menacing. No getting around it.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: tattooed - still OK to use in a generic menacing sense?

            Or three dots under his right eye like Ice Cube.

            As a heavily tattooed fellow (several on neck/chest/arms etc) I don't see anything offensive about implying that the tats are meant to make him SEEM menacing. Most of the kids get them to look scary anyway and tattooed folks are the last group you'll find up in arms about anything.

            Think about the "one percenters" from 21 Jump Street as a good example of making up your own gang and their chosen markings.(1% on the neck) Or in the new Dredd with the "Judged" having Dredd helmets tattooed on their skulls.

            It's silly but it gets the point across.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: tattooed - still OK to use in a generic menacing sense?

              Well, in this case, whether the tattoos are mentioned in the description or not, the dude you see on screen is going to have tattoos if he's supposed to be a gang member...
              "You have idea 1, you're excited. It flops. You have idea 99, you're excited. It flops.
              Only a fool is excited by the 100th idea. Fools keep trying. God rewards fools." --Martin Hellman, paraphrased

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: tattooed - still OK to use in a generic menacing sense?

                Originally posted by Manchester View Post
                (I don't mean simply saying, "JOE, 29, in a T-shirt, his tattooed-covered arms on display, drinks his beer" - and that that, alone, means he's menacing. Though some years ago, I think it would have worked that way.)
                Okay, see, that's a place where you'd need specific description of the nature of the tattoos, because they send a message. Joe with the Grim Reaper and Co. on full display isn't going to be the same character as Joe with butterflies and daisies.
                "You have idea 1, you're excited. It flops. You have idea 99, you're excited. It flops.
                Only a fool is excited by the 100th idea. Fools keep trying. God rewards fools." --Martin Hellman, paraphrased

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Tattooed - still OK to use in a generic menacing sense?

                  There's a very clear difference between just happenign to have a tattoo, and someone who's ink represents a very menacing aspect of their personality.

                  Remember "Red Dragon" or "Manhunter"? The full body tattoos helped illustrate the truly evil nature of this murderer.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Tattooed - still OK to use in a generic menacing sense?

                    Just the mention of "tattoos" is not enough. You have to do something more to make it menacing. Mentioning "a facial tattoo that would make Mike Tyson question the man's sanity" would give the reader a more clear image of the character.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: tattooed - still OK to use in a generic menacing sense?

                      Thanks, all. That helps a lot.

                      Maybe not, but my impression is that, let's say, 25 years ago, if you just said, "He has a tattoo," that alone suggested he's a tough guy. Then again, I once read that George Shultz has a Princeton Tiger tattoo on his butt. Though, he is tough in his way. (Though, quite personable.)

                      Originally posted by emily blake View Post
                      Gang bangers do have tattoos. In fact, if they don't have tats, it's extremely unlikely that they're actually in a gang.
                      That might explain the dearth of Hasidic gang bangers.*
                      Of Payos or Tats
                      On the eve of his 13th birthday, when a boy reveals his dreams of becoming a Hells Angel, his father
                      tells him, "Moishe, before you ascend the bimah, you must choose - Yaweh or the Highway?"

                      ____________
                      * - Tattoos are a violation of Judaic law/tradition.
                      Last edited by Manchester; 02-15-2013, 01:08 PM.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Tattooed - still OK to use in a generic menacing sense?

                        Break the forth wall, Shane black style...

                        "...when i say he was tattooed this wasn't a sexy little tramp stamp or life affirming Asian glyph, fully a third of his skin was inked in crude prison tats making him a walking hate crime, and no, nowhere did they indicate that he loved his mom."

                        A few of those should get you from 90 to 120 pages.
                        I heard the starting gun


                        sigpic

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Tattooed - still OK to use in a generic menacing sense?

                          I think tattoos of kittens would be cool.

                          - Bill
                          Free Script Tips:
                          http://www.scriptsecrets.net

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Tattooed - still OK to use in a generic menacing sense?

                            Lead character of my latest script has a tattoo of James Woods on her bicep.

                            It's not the fact of the tat that's telling, it's what it's a tat OF.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Tattooed - still OK to use in a generic menacing sense?

                              Originally posted by wcmartell View Post
                              I think tattoos of kittens would be cool.

                              - Bill
                              What about flaming kitten skulls? I wouldn't mess with that dude.
                              Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X