Why nc 17 rating

With the exception of a few breakout hits like Showgirls , NC films rarely gross above 5 million at the box office. And most indies can expect far less than that. Believe it or not, these ratings came about as an answer to the strict censorship of the Hays Code. In , Jack Valenti and the Motion Picture Association of America sailed onto the scene, replacing the antiquated code with their modern day rating system. But their main function revolves around one division called the Classification and Rating Administration.

In fact, many in the film industry feel that an NC rating is a kiss of death. It is an indisputable fact that the large majority of NC films are labeled as such for reasons of sexuality, and not violence. What irked them before is likely to irk them again. Many in the industry have pointed out these misguided principles, especially questioning the negative psychological effect of violence on the under-seventeen demographic. But violence is easy to find in just about any theater in the country.

So if this is your film, not to worry! Gunshots without consequence: PG Open and bleeding wounds on screen: R. The quickest way to take your film into NC territory is with a shot of genitalia, male or female. Behinds and chests are fine for an R-rated film, but anything between the legs is deemed over-the-line.

This is also one of the easier rules to follow. Most stories can be told with the same emotional impact, with or without full frontal. The morality of the MPAA starts getting murky again with their apparent distaste for female pleasure.

The film was considered groundbreaking for its depictions of sexuality in contemporary Hollywood film. This story first appeared in the Feb. The difference between an R rating and an NC often hinges on the amount of in-and-out action, according to those familiar with the ratings process. A very vocal Gosling accused the MPAA of misogyny, saying there are countless R-rated movies in which a male character receives oral sex.

Female breasts are R-friendly, of course, one recent example being Oscar-nominated Reese Witherspoon in Wild. Director Wayne Kramer pleaded his case to the MPAA, but the board held out until he edited the scene — two whole seconds worth of cuts.

An orally fixated sex scene between a clothed Downey and Graham gave the MPAA such pause that Toback submitted close to 10 cuts of the scene before they changed the rating from an NC to an R. This distaff teen sex comedy followed three high school girls keen on having their first orgasm. A scene in which one of the characters uses a Jacuzzi jet stream for happy fun times — a scene shot from the shoulders up, with the girl in question in a bathing suit — initially caused the film to be slapped with an NC rating, and had some wondering if the film's female-centric story line and indie financing earned it more scrutiny than the male-centric shenanigans in the studio-backed American Pie , which hit theaters around the same time.

This time, the problem was sex — specifically, the extended love scene between the male and female protagonist. Apparently, the ratings board drew the line at the golden shower. After all, you couldn't just snip three seconds of full-frontal exposure in this case — the potty mouths permeated the entire film. Snoochie boochies! The adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' controversial novel was loaded with nihilistic violence, like the scene where Christian Bale murdered a rival with an axe.

But the MPAA instead had an issue with his threesome with two prostitutes. Or maybe it was his character's obsession with Phil Collins. Hard to tell. Director Mary Herron snipped a few seconds from the scene, and the board lowered the rating to R. Last year proved that the MPAA is not against oral sex on a woman. They're only against oral sex on a woman by a man. While Black Swan coasted to an R-rating despite an intimate scene between Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling's tale of a fractured marriage was flagged for a much less gratuitous scene.

After public criticism, the board reversed its ruling without forcing the film to make any changes. Save FB Tweet More. Pinterest Email Send Text Message. American Pie Credit: Everett Collection.