A "Rosebud" By Any Other Name Would Smell/Look/Taste So Sweet?

Rating: 5/10 (23 June 2013)

It was screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz's loathing and hatred of both William Randolph Hearst and Marion Davies (fuelled by Orson Welles) that brought Citizen Kane to the silver screen.
Though it was a very thinly disguised story about Hearst and Davies, this film's underlying viciousness hit so far below the belt that, not only did it portray Hearst as being a pathetic, lonely, ego-centric hoarder and Davies as a nagging, gold-digging, no-talent singer/actress, but it also revealed to the whole world the word "Rosebud".
"Rosebud", which was the final word uttered by Charles Foster Kane, on his death-bed, wasn't (in reality) the name of a wooden sleigh that he had cherished so much as a child. No. "Rosebud" was actually, in reality, Hearst's pet-name for his mistress's (Marion Davies) clitoris. (It's true. Look it up)
And, of course, the biggest problem with Citizen Kane was that its whole story was literally based on this one, single word "Rosebud".
With most people (back in 1941, and even now) not knowing the real meaning behind this word (it was a Hollywood in-joke), the viewer is forced to have to endure hearing it being spoken umpteen times throughout the course of this 2-hour picture.
Since I am hip (and, so now, you are, too) that "Rosebud" really meant Davies' clitoris, I can't begin to tell you how tired I got of hearing that word being spoken by actors who were obviously doing a very good job of concealing their smirks whenever they were required to repeat it.
Knowing the truth about the meaning behind "Rosebud", I think that this truly renders Citizen Kane as being one of the nastiest, most vile "revenge-movies" ever made against 2 very real people (who were both still living at the time) that I've ever seen.
I can't think of another movie out there that goes so out of its way to make such a sneering mockery of 2 people (in this case Hearst and Davies). Its 2 screenwriters (Welles and Mankiewicz) and its director (Welles again) clearly showed how much deep-rooted contempt that they held for these 2 people, whom they only slightly knew.
And what really surprises me about Citizen Kane is that so many people have fallen all over themselves, claiming it to be one of the very best movies ever made.
I know that this is one of those movies that one's not allowed to dislike. But, hey, there's nothing wrong with someone just because they say that they don't like it.
I'll honestly tell you that, aside from some interesting camera shots, and some massive sets, and its big-budget production values, I found Citizen Kane to be really something of a bore and, nope, it actually doesn't hold up very well, 72 years later.
*A brief note about screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz* - For most of his adult life he was a miserable drunk (of the mouthy, belligerent kind). During his years in Hollywood (beginning in 1926) he managed to make a lot of enemies and alienate scores of celebrities with his drunken antagonism, including the likes of William Hearst and Marion Davies.
Mankiewicz died in 1953 at the age of 55 from cirrhosis of the liver (a disease caused by alcoholism).