Strange MPAA rating *SPOILERS*
Okay, before the film started they had the MPAA screen, showing that the film was rated R for "Language and a scene of sexuality". So, keeping this in mind, 3 things occurred to me buy the time the film ended.
1) I **HATE** the way the MPAA does that - give away spoilers. Anytime they do that - "one scene of violence"; "one murder committed by a family member"; "a scene of sexuality"; etc. I'm the type of person who's favorite way to watch a film is to get a recommendation from a friend or trusted online source that the movie MUST be watched, even though I've never heard of it. I go to the theatre/ video store and get the movie without so much as a glance at the cover, and get pleasently surprised by EVERYTHING.
2) "A [meaning one] scene of sexuality". Anybody know what they were referring to?
3) Language and sex. *NO* mention of the violence. If that doesn't prove the "Kiss a breast, get an NC-17; cut off a breast, get a PG-13" POV of the MPAA, I don't know what would.
Anyways, to break these 3 points down. 1) I've seen the future of the MPAA's "this is what's bad in the film" spoilers-intended-to-be-warnings (or rating explanations), and it's ugly. At Rogers Video in Canada, we do this "breakdown" of objectionable material for some of the major new releases. So we get a dirty word count; a mention of everytime someone drinks, smokes, or does ANY drug, legal or otherwise; every time there's a violent or sexual act, of course (right down to the "justifications" the MPAA uses - you know "Sex between married people" vs "sex between virtual strangers in a public place", or "cartoon, comedy violence" vs "graphic, brutal violence"...because somehow it's better to show kids that getting shot results in a death similar to passing away in your sleep rather than showing true consequences of violence...sorry, off the soapbox); and there's a final category called "other objectionable material". Lord. Anybody remember when trailers used to INTICE you to come and see the movie? Casablanca, IMHO, is a PERFECT example of this. If you've never seen the movie, the trailer makes you want to - but you don't come away knowing every plot twist, good joke (comedy trailers are the WORST), and the ending. Anybody got an example or vote for Worst Spoiler-Trailer?
2) Like I said, WHAT scene of sexuality? There's only a few times I can remember anything even INVOLVING a woman. Ray Liotta kisses Michelle Rodriguez a couple of times; Willem Dafoe kisses his wife and his asistant; there's that scene where WD and assistant are fooling around when the phone rings, but their not naked, thrusting or moaning...so HOW did sex figure into the R Rating?
3) And, of course, in a film ABOUT violence (it causes, cures, etc, etc), with more than enough graphic examples of it, violence doesn't even get mentioned as a reason for the R rating. All the "Sex", though, and words that every 4th grader has heard a million times - well, that's DEFINITLY a reason to keep it out of little Jimmy's hands!
I'm sorry for rambling, I just HATE the hypocrisy of the rating system. Especially this "let's reveal plot twists to everybody" BS. OK, I get it, parents want to know if the violence is Batman or Scarface. But why ruin it for the rest of us? Why can't parents do what they had to do for decades - watch the movie first or talk to someone who's seen it. For christ's sake, you can't tell me that kind of thing is even DIFFICULT anymore with the advent of the internet! Nobody said being a parent was easy. My parents used to rent two movies - one for the family and one for them. My brother and I went to bed after the first one and my parents watched the other movie. If it was acceptable, they left it out for us to watch in the morning before they returned them. If not, we knew.
STOP SPOILING MY MOVIES!!