Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Vomit-O-Meter!

If you paid close attention to the 2010 statistics that were posted a couple of weeks ago, you may have noticed that monitor a slightly embarrassing statistic called "tearjerker." This is the number of times during the year a movie makes me cry. I have a soft heart when it comes to films and let the water works flow nine times in 2010. That's actually down from 2009's total of 13! In 2011 I'll be keeping track of a new statistic that is more gross than shameful--vomit.

Yes, I will do the dirty work and chart the number of films I watch that has a scene in it of an actor upchucking, spewing, heaving, regurgitating, hurling or any other slang you want to call it. I am sensing the question that is percolating in your brains dear readers: why? Well, I'm always disgusted when I see on-screen puking and every year I'd seem to see it occur a dozen or more times and think to myself why there's so many scenes of someone throwing up in a movie? 2011 will be the year that I actually put a number to it in a random, unscientific study. Aren't you glad that you are getting to read CineRobot for free? I should charge for undertaking these mathematic projects.

I've seen 22 films in 2011 and so far 7 of them have had a vomit scene. That's 31% of movies so far in January. I will keep you all up to date on this topic throughout 2011. Dear readers, is there anything else I should be monitoring that you can think of? I obviously will sink to low depths to satiate my own messed up queries if I'm tracking the vomit scenes I come across.

6 comments:

Eva said...

Hahaha. This reminds me of something I recently read in a biography of Louis B Mayer. He had a thing about quite a lot of stuff (women's hair always perfect please, no sex whatsoever - no hints of it even, no missing body parts etc etc) but he had a huge fight with director King Vidor about a movie called The Crowd. There was a scene that had a bathroom with a toilet in it (not that the toilet played any role, really, or that anyone was even using it) but Mayer wanted it out! "We all have our natural functions, but we don't put them on the screen!" The fought and fought, Vidor saying that this was realism and this was life, and in the end he got his toilet. The movie didn't do well financially, and to Louis B it was more than clear that the toilet was responsible for this!

Maybe you can do a toilet-o-meter, too. I bet that's fewer incidences than vomit, though.

Joshua Blevins Peck said...

This could get out of hand quick if I start keeping track of other weird/gross things that seem to happen in films.

I love THE CROWD! Watched it, gee, 13 years ago whilst studying film at OU. King Vidor was an interesting director--political and intense. We didn't get that toilet story in class Eva so thanks!

hidden staircase said...

funny and grose! 31 is a huge percent! this makes me think of something i really dislike in movies and that there is a lot of: men's bathroom urinal scenes. UGH! i don't ever need or want to go there. puke and pee...TERRIBLE!

and now i just read Eva's comment...very similar!

The Dude said...

I can't wait until they get "smell-o-vision." That should yield some pretty odious statistics.

Joshua Blevins Peck said...

8 out of 25 now as of January 31. Still holding on to that 31% ratio!

Joshua Blevins Peck said...

Slowed down recently. I think the total is around 13 out of 46 films. 28% if my math is right...