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The MPAA Being a ‘Bully’: 10 Films That Appealed Their Ratings

The MPAA Being a 'Bully': 10 Films That Appealed Their Ratings
The MPAA Being 'Bully': 10 Films That Appealed Their Ratings

Anti-bullying documentary “Bully” has drummed up the type of controversy most indies only dream of, thanks to Harvey Weinstein’s much-publicized efforts to fight the film’s R-rating in favor of a more teen-friendly PG-13. Despite Weinstein’s best efforts and the rallying cries of his celeb pals, the MPAA didn’t change their tune, leaving Weinstein to release the film unrated this Friday.

Now, this doesn’t mark Weinstein’s first battle with the MPAA (in 2010 he snagged an R rating for “Blue Valentine,” after appealing the film’s initial NC-17 slap). In fact, many distributors have stood up to the MPAA over the years, in the hope of earning their film a rating that could give it a chance at the box-office.

In honor of Weinstein’s efforts on behalf of “Bully,” we’ve weeded through the best MPAA vs. distributor battles to bring you our list of 10 films that made an effort to change the board’s minds (in alphabetical order).

“American Psycho” (2000)

Anyone who has read the novel “American Psycho” can you tell you that Bret Easton Ellis’ extremely graphic and controversial satire of 1980s Wall Street culture makes director Mary Harron’s 2000 film adaptation look positively quaint in comparison. A faithful adaptation of the novel would have made the film completely unwatchable, so Harron toned down the novel’s violent and sexual content. Nonetheless, the MPAA ratings board still gave the film an NC-17 upon their initial viewing. Harron initially assumed that the reason for the rating was the violence in the film (axes in the face, chainsaws, etc.). However, the reason for the rating was actually a three-way sex scene between Christian Bale’s character and two prostitutes. The ratings board’s decision in this case highlights their frequent tendency to let violence in films slide, while cracking down on sexual content. Harron acquiesced to the ratings board’s request and cut out several seconds from the sex scene in order to secure an R rating. For the film’s home video release, the full three-way scene was restored to its original length. [Aaron Bogert]

“Blue Valentine” (2010)

Before losing to the MPAA with “Bully,” Weinstein won in getting an R for “Blue Valentine,” after appealing their NC-17 slap for an oral sex scene between the two leads, Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams. The best part? No changes had to be made to the film to secure the R. Of course, despite Weinstein’s victory, he chose to highlight what the MPAA found so racy by releasing a provocative poster that shows Gosling and Williams locked in a steamy outdoors embrace. Hey, sex sells. [Nigel M. Smith]


“Boys Don’t Cry” (1999)

Kimberly Peirce’s Academy Award-winning depiction of the inspiring life and brutal death of transgendered boy Brandon Teena was indeed initially dealt an NC-17. In the MPAA-critical doc “This Film Is Not Yet Rated,” Peirce recalls that she was initially rather amused by the rating as she’s a big fan of many other films dealt the rating. But then when distributor Fox Searchlight said they wouldn’t release it with that rating, Peirce was forced to make some cuts. The NC-17 classification was in part due to the brutal rape scene in the film, but also due to a tender love scene between Brandon and his girlfriend, Lana. The MPAA deemed it was problematic in that Brandon wiped his mouth after performing oral sex on Lana and that Lana’s orgasm was “too long.” In “Not Yet Rated,” Peirce said that when she asked the MPAA what the issue was within this particular scene, they said, “well, we don’t really know but that’s offensive.” Peirce went on to explain that she felt the problem for the MPAA was the idea of sexual pleasure without a male experience. “I think female pleasure is scary, in the narrative setting,” she said.  “I think unfamiliarity is what breeds these NC-17s.”  In the end, Peirce’s “Boys” was rated ‘R’ for “an intense brutal rape scene, sexuality, language and drug use.” It also continues to stand as an example of the sexism and homophobia that is clearly present in MPAA decisions. [Peter Knegt]


“Eyes Wide Shut” (1999)

Under contractual obligations to deliver an R-rating on Stanley Kubrick’s last film “Eyes Wide Shut,” Warner Bros. digitally inserted cloaked figures into the infamous orgy sequence that serves as the centerpiece to Kubrick’s sexual odyssey starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. This move on Warner Bros.’ part angered many a Kubrick fan, including Roger Ebert who slammed their move in his review, stating, “it’s symbolic of the moral hypocrisy of the rating system that it would force a great director to compromise his vision, while by the same process making his adult film more accessible to young viewers.” This was after all the director who released “A Clockwork Orange” with an X-rating. We’re pretty sure Kubrick wouldn’t have minded an NC-17. [Nigel M. Smith]

“Killer Joe” (2012)

William Friedkin’s “Killer Joe,” which Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tracy Letts adapted from his own 1993 play, premiered at the 2011 Venice International Film Festival; at the closing ceremony, Italian online critics honored it with the “Golden Mouse” award. It was a promising start for the film, Friedkin’s first since his little-seen 2006 “Bug” starring Ashley Judd and Michael Shannon (which Letts also adapted from his own work). However, the MPAA was less impressed: Deeming the film as containing “graphic aberrant content,” the organization designated the film NC-17, a rating that it upheld on appeal. What’s the problem? [SPOILER ALERT] Well, the story’s about a deeply trashy Texas family that gets involved with drugs, a murder plot and Killer Joe (Matthew McConaughey), a psychopathic member of the Dallas police force who’s not above beating the hell out of one of the family members, Sharla (Gina Gershon), and then forcing her to fellate his Kentucky Fried Chicken drumstick. Now there’s a marketing tie-in. [Dana Harris]

“The King’s Speech” (2010)

Perhaps the tamest film on this list, one might recall that in the midst of the “Blue Valentine” appeal, The Weinstein Company were waging a concurrent battle for their Oscar hungry “King’s Speech.” The MPAA gave the film an ‘R’ rating for profanity (one might recall the scene when Colin Firth utters the f-word over and over). As ‘R’ ratings go, this made it so no one under age of 17 could see the film without an adult. Comparatively, the British ratings board had given the film a much milder ’12A’ rating, allowing anyone over the age of 12 to see “The King’s Speech” adult-free. The Weinsteins appealed the rating, but the MPAA stood film. As a result, they released an alternate version of the film that muted out some of the profanities. Interestingly, that version would go on to gross only $3,344,306, compared to the ‘R’ rated version’s $135,453,143. [Peter Knegt]


“Natural Born Killers” (1994)

Oliver Stone’s 1994 film about Mickey and Mallory Knox (Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis), a serial killer couple on a cross-country murder spree is perhaps the controversial director’s most notorious film (no small feat). The film initially received an NC-17 and had a gruelingly long battle with the MPAA in order to secure an R rating. As the film is about serial killers, it unsurprisingly depicts a large amount of graphic violence, which the ratings board strongly objected to. Mickey and Mallory are given massive press coverage in the film, with Stone’s intention being to lampoon the media circus surrounding then recent violent crimes in America, which may have actually hurt the film during the rating process. The O.J. Simpson murders had occurred just two months before the film’s release and it wouldn’t be surprising if this was one of the factors which made the ratings board crack down so harshly on the film. They were more than likely anxious about seeing similar events parodied in such an extreme fashion. In the end, Stone had to cut out four minutes of footage before the ratings board would give the film an R rating and Warner Bros. would agree to release it. Thankfully, the home video market exists though and Stone’s uncut version of the film was made available for the VHS release and it now easy to find on DVD/Blu-ray. [Aaron Bogert]


“Requiem for a Dream” (2000)

Darren Aronofsky’s harrowing second feature following “Pi,” was given an NC-17-rating by the MPAA for the tough-to-watch sex scene involving Jennifer Connelly that appears near the end of the film. Distributor Artisan refused to make cuts to “Requiem,” maintaining that the MPAA’s rating was “neither correct nor justified.” In a film that graphically depicts drug addiction and all the horrors it entails (Jared Leto’s character gets his arm amputated), it’s notable that the MPAA chose to pinpoint this one sequence in particular. In the end the appeal was denied and Artisan released the film unrated. [Nigel M. Smith]


 

“South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut” (1999)

We hear again and again how difficult it is to sell an R-rated romance, an R-rated fantasy, and yes, an R-rated animated film. But could you imagine an animated NC-17 film?  Well, Paramount and “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone couldn’t imagine that either. Along with Producer Scott Rudin, the “South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut” team released a series of fax memos that showed their humorous back-and-forth negotiation with the MPAA. Among the doozies: “The intent now is that you never see Saddam’s real penis, he in fact is using dildos both times,” and “We took out the only reference to ‘cum-sucking ass’ in the film.” Stone ends his memo with a postscript — “This is my favorite memo ever.” The film-within-the-film, “Asses of Fire,” elucidates some of the very case of censorship the memos deal with and ends up starting the war between the U.S. and Canada which drives most of the film’s narrative. At the end of it all, the film’s rallying cry “Blame Canada” received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song. [Bryce J. Renninger]


 

“The Tillman Story” (2010)

Weeks after the Holocaust documentary “A Film Unfinished” tried to make the claim that the film needed to be given a PG-13 rating so that it could more easily become a part of school curricula, The Weinstein Company tried to do the same with Amir Bar-Lev’s “The Tillman Story,” the story of the NFL-player-turned-soldier who was killed in Afghanistan, in what turned out was friendly fire. The film charts the ways in which the US government and media perpetuated a patriotic story of his heroism, while Tillman’s own complicated relationship to the war machine he was a part of was ignored. As it turned out, it’ll be difficult to get the film in curricula. The R rating stuck. [Bryce J. Renninger]

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