Howl

"Homosexuality is a condition, and because it alienated me or set me apart from the beginning, it served as a catalyst for self-examination or detailed realization of my environment and the reasons why everyone else is different and why I'm different." 1:14

At this point in the movie, Allen Ginsberg (James Franco) is explaining his reasons for writing the poem the way that he did. Right before he says this, he explains that the poem is not a promotion of homosexuality, it is actually a promotion of frankness. He then goes on to explain how his homosexuality is what caused his frankness. Homosexuality is what set him apart from others, it is what made him examine himself and the society he was living in. After hearing this explanation, I felt like I understood why he wrote the way that he did. I understood why he used some of the words and phrases that were considered vulgar to get his point across. Watching this movie made me understand and appreciate this poem much more than I did before. I see the reasoning behind what he is trying to say and the way that he is saying it. Some of the things that he says may seen inappropriate at first, but if you understand why he is saying what he is, it seems a little bit more acceptable.

Do you think that without Ginsberg's use of "vulgar" language the poem would have had the same effect? Is this language necessary?