“I had a very tame and mild love scene with Jon Hamm. It was like heavy breathing and making out. It was hardly a sex scene…I think that it’s great for this young girl to actually take control of her own sexuality. Well, the MPAA doesn’t like that. They don’t think a girl should ever be in control of her own sexuality because they’re from the Stone Age. I don’t know what the f**k is going on and I will openly criticize it, happily. So essentially, they got Zack to edit the scene and make it look less like she’s into it. And Zack said he edited it down to the point where it looked like he was taking advantage of her. That’s the only way he could get a PG-13 (rating) and he said, ‘I don’t want to send that message.’ So they cut the scene!”

—Emily Browning (Baby Doll) on her and Jon Hamm in Sucker Punch

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So, America, these are the people keeping your children “safe” from adult material.  They think it’s OK for a woman to be taken advantage of, but it’s not OK for a woman to be in control of her sexuality.  And if you think this just about thinking of the children, think again.  The excellent documentary This Film Is Not Yet Rated shows how much major studios influence the MPAA, and the threat of an “R” rating is often used as a weapon to ensure profitability…and future employment for the filmmakers.  The MPAA also rates anything GLBT-related as instantly more adult than its heterosexual counterpart.

Yeah, the MPAA is just ridiculous. They really don’t have a set of rules- it’s more just on a whim that a film gets a certain rating.

I really do get annoyed when critics claim that male-male is somehow more sexual than male-female, I see that a lot in online comments. Seeing gay people kiss “sexualizes” children, yet apparently seeing Snow White and Prince Charming kiss doesn’t.

Or I guess seeing Prince Charming after her is fine but not the other way around, judging from Emily’s case.

Meanwhile you can chop Jango Fett’s head off and you’re only PG. :p

In This Film Is Not Yet Rated, Kirby Dick finds discarded noted from an MPAA screening of Memoirs Of A Geisha.  The notes they write down are hilarious.  He also points out how much studio influence affects the rating.  I love, though, when you have people like Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who were told that they had to edit the puppet sex scene in Team America.  So they edited about half-a-second out each time and kept resubmitting it until the MPAA had to see hardcore puppet sex 17 times.