For whatever reason, characters in movies of whatever slant or character rarely say the word “grotesque.” It’s hardly ever used in regular daily conversation, now that I think of it. Too judgmental, too assertive, too baroque. Perhaps because of this exotic usage, I always feel a certain arousal when a character pops it out. Only people of exceptional confidence and mental acuity seem to do so. And when they do, a little voice inside me goes “yes…perfect.”
George C. Scott says it in The Hospital (“And you don’t find something a little grotesque about all this?”); ditto Robert Duvall in Network (“…this grotesque incident…”). I’m especially pleased with Oscar Werner‘s use of the word in The Spy Who Came in From the Cold because he’s referring only to what he feels is an inappropriate logical conclusion or inference.
I am waiting patiently for the right moment to say “grotesque” in my own life. I will never say it just to say it. The moment and the circumstances have to be exactly right. The stars need to be aligned.