[NSFW] What subject matter do you think the MPAA has more disdain for, gratuitous violence, graphic cussing, or a close up of a woman having an orgasm?

Someone just watched “This Film Is Not Yet Rated” ;-)

The close of up of the female orgasm is the most offensive thing to the MPAA, followed by the brief glimpse of pubic hair.

I wouldn’t say that any of those would merit an NC-17 rating by today’s standards.
“When Harry Met Sally” covers the orgasm, that’s only rated R.
“War of the Worlds” has a lot of innocent people getting massacred, and that’s only PG-13.
An R movie with a lot of “mother fuckers” shouldn’t be hard to find.
I can’t come up with an R movie of the top of my head with pubic hair in it, but I’m fairly sure that it’s happened. However, I would say that this is probably the safest bet.

To be honest, not a lot of movies come out with an NC-17 rating. This is particularly interesting when you compare today’s movie standards with those from even 30 years ago.

@satyagraha I seem to recall a brief full frontal nude shot in Bachelor Party but that was not rated NC-17 or X.

Black Swan has a female/female oral sex and orgasm scene. It is rated R.

Interview With the Vampire has a flash of pubic hair and was rated R. Thought I’d throw that out as an example. Hell, Strip Tease managed an R rating…

The point is valid, though. I’m much more offended by violence than bush… and I honestly don’t understand people who are offended by cursing.

You all should really check out the documentary – the focus on the female orgasm and the glimpse of female (note, female) pubic hair helped earn two films an initial NC-17 rating (one being “Boys Don’t Cry”).

Wait a second… I don’t think it’s fair to act like theirs sexism involved in that decision. I mean… how often do you see male pubic hair in a movie that isn’t NC-17?

@crazyivan – that fact alone isn’t the basis of the implication. The documentary fleshes out the idea more. The problem is more the privileging of violence over sexuality in the ratings system – but within that the sexism becomes a little more clear and suspicious.

@satyagraha: an R movie of the top of my head with pubic hair in it,

I would rate that image PG-13 but remind you of the importance of proof- reading and checking dangling modifiers.

I think we can all agree that violence is not #1 on the MPAA’s list. Pulp Fiction was only “R” incredibly, though it involved a guy being shot point blank in the face, multiple other murders, and on screen anal-rape.

This is the same rating that “The King’s Speech” received, for literally one scene of multiple uses of “shit” and “fuck” used in a completely harmless and non-aggressive form. I can’t speak to how heavy the MPAA comes down on sex and nudity, but Kyle’s mom from the South Park movie has it right. “Horrific deplorable violence is OK, as long as no one says any naughty words!”

It is a sad truth that sexuality is considered so taboo in the United States, otherwise known as “The Land of the Free”. And given the rampant teenage pregnancies in The United States, it is Ironic, to say the least, that so many of our nation’s people actually FEAR sexuality to the extent that they choose to deny it’s very existence rather than to understand it’s realities, normalize it’s very nature, and embrace it for all of it’s beauty and it’s potential implications!. C’mon, “Home of the Brave”!

The only things the MPAA disdains are copyright infringement and bad press. A close up of a woman having an orgasm is more likely to generate bad press—and, come to think of it, would probably be widely distributed on the internet—so it is more likely to result in a restricted rating. By voluntarily rating films, the MPAA is trying to avoid censorship and maximize profits. If you don’t like it, yell at all the prudish mothers out there. Because I imagine the MPAA would have no problem showing a close up of a woman having an orgasm to paying 12-year-olds if they thought they could get away with it.

@SavoirFaire – Did you happen to see the documentary?

Nope. Just speaking based on what people I know in the film industry have said about what they wish they could do. They feel restricted by the MPAA’s desire to avoid certain kinds of controversy.

@crazyivan Male pubic hair may be just as scarce in movies, but male orgasms are fairly common.

@SavoirFaire – Check this site out – the movie is available on Netflix streaming as well (I believe it’s still there).

The ratings board is used (or at least has been used) by major studies as a sword as well as a shield – indy filmmakers often find themselves saddled with NC-17 ratings.

The problem with the rating is not that it limits the audiences, but that many theaters refuse to show NC-17 films – so many that the film finds itself without an advertising budget as the distribution isn’t worth it.

And the entire system is so arbitrary and secretive that filmmakers don’t speak about the problems – because they have to go back to the board eventually. It’s odd – there’s no legal representation, the filmmakers have no real appeal rights – and yet an NC-17 rating is essentially either (1) an indirect taking of property value, and/or (2) a censorship mechanism.

I would like to note that I am not defending the MPAA or its criteria. I’m merely suggesting that its members probably don’t have any personal objections to female orgasm. Moreover, I am suggesting that we can change how they rate films by changing what people complain about.

@SavoirFaire – I don’t mean to suggest that the members have any personal objection unique to them myself – just one that is generalized. ;-)

I want to see this movie. :) Female pubic hair and orgasms….sounds great.

They always seem to get highly offended at any hint of the sight of pussy. But oh, not if there’s prick showing.

I don’t know… it seems in my experience that Hollywood is far more likely to show female gentalia than male. Can’t find any stats on it (while I’m at work) but I have to feel like there’s an overwhelming favoritism to female naughty parts. Of course, I’m a really big fan of female naughty parts so maybe that’s just what I tend to notice.

I have to assume that people on this thread have yet to see Black Swan. That movie (and it’s R rating) might change the tone here. There is no nudity in the film, but there is a pretty darned graphic scene of a female orgasm. I can’t think of any popular film that has as dramatic an interpretation of a male orgasm.

@SavoirFaire They feel restricted by the MPAA’s desire to avoid certain kinds of controversy. The controversy is that you can have two films of similar action etc, and one gets a rated R and the other get an NC-17. There is no set standard that says baby in a sroller gets killed, family gets wasted by shotgun welding assasin, and 3 guys get their domes blew off and their brains splattered, NC-17, but film with none of that type of violence but there is a lesbian love scene where one bites the nipple of the other and appears to finger her to a rocking orgasm, NC-17!!. If it was like ice skating for each act of certain types of violence, sex, and cussing you got a deduction and when you dropped below a certain lever _then you got a NC-17 the system woulb be more credible.

@Hypocrisy_Central Again, I am not defending the MPAA or its criteria. I’m merely suggesting that its members probably don’t have any personal objections to female orgasm. Do you disagree?

@SavoirFaire I’m merely suggesting that its members probably don’t have any personal objections to female orgasm. I believe in general since there is no set criteria for how movies are ranked, I believe personal peevs do come into play. I would not put it pass them ranking certain film makers they don’t like different from ones they favor or if the content is same sex or opposite sex. There is just no way of telling.

@Hypocrisy_Central I’ll grant you the point about liking or disliking particular filmmakers. Jealousy and spite must be at least two-fifths of whatever mixture fuels Hollywood.