Censorship in the movies

[DigiFluid]

http://insidemovies.ew.com/2011/02/2...-speech-pg-13/

'The King's Speech' to get a PG-13 re-release

The MPAA announced today that The King’s Speech will be re-released by the Weinstein Company with a PG-13 rating. The film had famously received an R rating for a scene in which Geoffrey Rush’s character encourages Colin Firth’s King George VI to curse like a commoner in order to help him get over his stutter. “Given The Weinstein Company’s commitment to advertise and promote the new version of The King’s Speech as a differently rated movie and to remove all prints of the earlier version,” says National Association of Theater Owners president and CEO John Fithian, “and given the high-profile of the movie, we believe there is little liklihood of confusion among our patrons [between the R rated and PG-13 rated versions].” Nothing in the release hints at what words were removed to get the new PG-13 rating — the Weinstein Company has yet to release that information — but we have some guesses about that, too. It’s probably the roughly 14 times King George says the word s—, or maybe the dozen or so times he uses the word f—, or else maybe the one time he uses the word t–s. We’ll have to wait for the re-release to know for sure.

You know, because there's just so many teenagers lining up to see an English 30s period piece about a royal with a speech impediment

I'm honestly starting to feel that it's not a lack of creativity that's killing Hollywood, despite 100 remakes coming out a year. I'm starting to feel that what's killing Hollywood is PG-13. More and more films are being creatively stifled by the studios just so they can get that wider audience rating, regardless of what effect that has on the film (see also: Die Hard 4 vs. the other 3 films). Now it seems even an Oscars Best Picture nominee isn't immune anymore

[Ukko]

If swear words are good enough for the king, they're good enough for everyone else.

Gods, can you imagine if they tryed censor Spartacus The whole series would be about 3 minutes long

[chrono trigger]

http://insidemovies.ew.com/2011/02/2...-speech-pg-13/



You know, because there's just so many teenagers lining up to see an English 30s period piece about a royal with a speech impediment

I'm honestly starting to feel that it's not a lack of creativity that's killing Hollywood, despite 100 remakes coming out a year. I'm starting to feel that what's killing Hollywood is PG-13. More and more films are being creatively stifled by the studios just so they can get that wider audience rating, regardless of what effect that has on the film (see also: Die Hard 4 vs. the other 3 films). Now it seems even an Oscars Best Picture nominee isn't immune anymore

agreed i cant stand censorship i refuse to believe children and teenagers are so delicate that if they see a movie with a bit of bad language or violence it's going to effect them in a serious way.

[Cold Fuzz]

http://insidemovies.ew.com/2011/02/2...-speech-pg-13/



You know, because there's just so many teenagers lining up to see an English 30s period piece about a royal with a speech impediment

I'm honestly starting to feel that it's not a lack of creativity that's killing Hollywood, despite 100 remakes coming out a year. I'm starting to feel that what's killing Hollywood is PG-13. More and more films are being creatively stifled by the studios just so they can get that wider audience rating, regardless of what effect that has on the film (see also: Die Hard 4 vs. the other 3 films). Now it seems even an Oscars Best Picture nominee isn't immune anymore

Re-releasing one of the best movies released in the past decade for one scene? Absolute sheer idiocy.

[DigiFluid]

If swear words are good enough for the king, they're good enough for everyone else.

Gods, can you imagine if they tryed censor Spartacus The whole series would be about 3 minutes long

In the past certain networks have aired Cheech & Chong movies with all references to weed edited out. I can't help but wonder if they're intro credits immediately followed me end credits

[DigiFluid]

agreed i cant stand censorship i refuse to believe children and teenagers are so delicate that if they see a movie with a bit of bad language or violence it's going to effect them in a serious way.

Yeah. What really gets me is that the MPAA decides if a movie goes from PG-13 to R based on the number of times curse words are used in a movie. I'm pretty damn sure that if the kids don't die from hearing a word once, they won't after the twelfth time either.

[AlbinoMonkeyC]

What it is, is that we've got a bunch of "family oriented" interest groups screaming "think of the children!!" and threatening to pull funding if they don't get what they want.

[chrono trigger]

Yeah. What really gets me is that the MPAA decides if a movie goes from PG-13 to R based on the number of times curse words are used in a movie. I'm pretty damn sure that if the kids don't die from hearing a word once, they won't after the twelfth time either.

the joke is the kids all know the words they hear them at school so if anything those movie ratings are there for the parents who dont realise their kids are hearing the words anyway.

[Skydiver]

there is a long standing issue iwth the MPAA and its control over the movie industry. Most theaters can only show movies that have been rated by teh MPAA, however there have been multiple accusations that, how a movie is rated, may not always be based on its content, but the mood of the rating panel at the time...up to and including 'i don't like so and so so let's give his movie an R'

for a lot of movies, getting a pg13 means they can tap into the teen crowd, 'easier money' so to say, while getting an R can cost them millions.

I could understand making a Pg13 version for potential showing in school classes given the historical nature of hte film...but....just silly to edit it out for the given reasons. Too bad the maker wasn't like Spielberg, who refused to edit out the violence and nudity and swear words in Schindler's List....that movie meant to show the brutality of the war, and it can't do that 'edited for tv'

I can always wait for the dvd version to see it as it was meant to be seen

[DigiFluid]

there is a long standing issue iwth the MPAA and its control over the movie industry. Most theaters can only show movies that have been rated by teh MPAA, however there have been multiple accusations that, how a movie is rated, may not always be based on its content, but the mood of the rating panel at the time...up to and including 'i don't like so and so so let's give his movie an R'

Indeed. And if anyone interested in the topic hasn't seen it, I highly recommend checking out the documentary The Film is Not Yet Rated. Brilliant piece on the MPAA.

[Cold Fuzz]

there is a long standing issue iwth the MPAA and its control over the movie industry. Most theaters can only show movies that have been rated by teh MPAA, however there have been multiple accusations that, how a movie is rated, may not always be based on its content, but the mood of the rating panel at the time...up to and including 'i don't like so and so so let's give his movie an R'

for a lot of movies, getting a pg13 means they can tap into the teen crowd, 'easier money' so to say, while getting an R can cost them millions.

I could understand making a Pg13 version for potential showing in school classes given the historical nature of hte film...but....just silly to edit it out for the given reasons. Too bad the maker wasn't like Spielberg, who refused to edit out the violence and nudity and swear words in Schindler's List....that movie meant to show the brutality of the war, and it can't do that 'edited for tv'

I can always wait for the dvd version to see it as it was meant to be seen

Indeed. And if anyone interested in the topic hasn't seen it, I highly recommend checking out the documentary The Film is Not Yet Rated. Brilliant piece on the MPAA.

Profit and politics masquerading under the pretense of morality. If I had a dollar for every time I've seen that in real life...

[Skydiver]

In their effort to keep this going

a couple of years ago they MPAA cracked down on anyone and everyone that used their ratings system....as in fanfic writers got notices telling them that the terms G, PG, PG-13, R, etc were copyrighted and that no one was allowed to use it without the MPAA's permission.

their reason for this....if a term is in common use, then it ceases to be copyrightable - kinda like how 'kleenex' refers to any and every tissue out there, whether they are kleenex or puffs or a store brand.

If those terms were to be, determined by a judge, to be 'in common use' then anyone that made a film could give their own ratings and no longer be subject to the 'all movies in theaters must carry a MPAA rating or it can't be shown' rule.

so their control has been challenged. and, honestly, i think most movie makers are sick and tired of the politics and control...but short of a massive legal battle, they can't do much about it...and if they wage that battle and lose, they know they will be forever blacklisted.

[themeatcleaver]

I agree, I hate censorship too. Lets see how gateworld feels about censorship...

Spoiler:

**** **** ***** *******

Well... I think that says it all folks.

[SF_and_Coffee]

I would quote for truth, but it would basically be the whole f'n thread.

For f***'s* sake. Teenagers have heard the language, and most of them use it more times on a daily basis than any film does.


* Irony intentional. Think of it as just another free service I provide.

[DigiFluid]

For the record, I'm very unhappy with whomever edited my thread title to include "in the movies." I meant it in general--I despise all censorship--though the thread itself is only about movies.

[SF_and_Coffee]

For the record, I'm very unhappy with whomever edited my thread title to include "in the movies." I meant it in general--I despise all censorship--though the thread itself is only about movies.

I'm right there with ya.

[DigiFluid]

I hope that the irony of editing my title/content (which wasn't offensive in any way) to change its meaning certainly isn't lost on whomever was responsible.

[SaberBlade]

In the past certain networks have aired Cheech & Chong movies with all references to weed edited out. I can't help but wonder if they're intro credits immediately followed me end credits

I noticed this when I was in the US a few years back. I was there for three months, and got the chance to watch TV often and I'd be thinking "awesome, they are showing 18 rated movies at 2pm" only to see that all the cool stuff was cut out. I know middle of the day is often crap for TV but if you end up showing having to butcher a movie, it's not worth the effort.

As for The Kings Speech, I am not surprised they'd want to whore the picture for all it's worth as I understand it's been nominated for 12 Oscars. Take the scene out, lower the rating and see how much more money it can make because I'm sure Digi is right about 13 year old kids just lining up for this one. The stupid thing is, the film in the UK has a 12A rating, (meaning anyone over 12 can watch it without an adult and anyone under 12 must be accompanied by an adult) yet all the swearing was left intact (although the director did lobby to get it's rating dropped from 15, using why he's swearing as context).

[Captain Lazlo]

We released a movie about 4 years ago that we went out of our way to get a PG rating. We paid our money to get the censorship board review film and it came back with an M rating for mature audiences....I questioned their decision and they said it was because an F word was used in the director's commentary. They gave the location as well. We listened to it several times and couldn't hear it. At massive volume, an actor in the background could be heard saying F*** after he dropped his drink. We deleted the almost inaudible bit, but were told we would have to pay the full fee ($1200) again to have it reviewed. Due to the time they take, we had the premiere and left it with an M rating. We still sold out the premiere and all DVDs of the movie despite the rating.

[SaberBlade]

We, as in you? If so, what movie?