Do Two FBombs in a Movie Automatically Earn It an R Rating

Do Two F-Bombs in a Movie Automatically Earn It an R Rating?

In the latest Movie Legends Revealed, find out whether PG-13 films can really only have a single ‘F-Bomb’ in them before becoming R-rated instead.

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Do Two FBombs in a Movie Automatically Earn It an R Rating

MOVIE URBAN LEGEND: Two “F-Bombs” in a film automatically moves it from PG-13 to R.

When the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) instituted the film rating system in 1968, the approach was a good deal different than it is now. There were four ratings, G (for general audiences), M (for mature audiences, which became PG in 1972), R (restricted) and X (adults only, which became NC-17 in 1990). The only ratings that required age restrictions were R (no one admitted under 16 without a guardian – later changed to no one under 17) and X (no one admitted under 18 period – later changed to no one under 17). The G rating at the time was not intended to mean fare for children, it was meant that the film was simply suitable for a “general audience.” As a result, a number of films in the late 1960s and early 1970s were released with G ratings that would seem surprising today, such as True Grit, Planet of the Apes, The Odd Couple and Airport. Over a third of the films released in 1968 were rated G. These films were likely rated the way they were due to confusion over the M rating, the middle ground between “open to general audiences” and “restricted.” “Mature” gave off the wrong connotation, as M-rated films held no age restrictions, but it seemed like “mature” was suggesting more adult fare while it was just meant to let parents know that the film might be particularly unsuitable for small children. The PG rating was introduced in 1972 and soon became the most popular rating for non-R films. However, as you might imagine, since PG was just for all films that didn’t meet the standard for an R, the content in PG films varied dramatically.

This eventually became an issue when filmmakers and parents felt that some of the PG films in the 1980s, with two films that Steven Spielberg was involved in, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Poltergeist, being singled out as especially egregious uses of the PG rating. They were a good deal edgier than “standard” fare, but they were both clearly not R-rated material, either.

Do Two FBombs in a Movie Automatically Earn It an R Rating

So the MPAA came up with the PG-13 rating to denote films that were more adult than a standard PG film, but were not quite at the level of an R-rated film. The first film to be rated PG-13 was the Cold War historical fiction film, Red Dawn, about a Communist armed invasion of the United States. Eventually, PG-13 became the most popular rating in the entire film industry, with filmmakers specifically aiming their films at that rating. This is because they want to see as adult as possible, but without getting the age restriction that comes with an R-rating. It is important, again, to note that there is no age restriction for PG-13 movies. The success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe made this apparent, as everyone is used to seeing little kids at those films, right? And yet every single film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been rated PG-13 (Marvel tends not to use the profanity allowed in the films, but in the X-Men film universe, Wolverine tends to use a “F-Bomb” every once in a while). Thus, over the years, more and more films are specifically cutting down on their violence to get into the PG-13 rating to widen their prospective audience.

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I’ve done a few other legends about the MPAA guidelines, like how Star Wars was moved from G to PG and how Scarface moved from X to R.

One of the areas where films have to adjust themselves to get a PG-13 rating is profanity. There is a famous belief that every PG-13 film is allowed one “F-bomb.” It was even part of a popular meme that played along with the idea that every PG-13 film is allowed a single “F-Bomb” and since the Lord of the Rings films were all PG-13, the challenge then becomes “Where in each of those films would use an F-Bomb?”

Do Two FBombs in a Movie Automatically Earn It an R Rating

Is that actually true, though? Generally speaking, there’s a lot of truth to it. From the MPAA rating guidelines, it reads, “”A motion picture’s single use of one of the harsher sexually-derived words, though only as an expletive, initially requires at least a PG-13 rating. More than one such expletive requires an R rating, as must even one of those words used in a sexual context.”

Yep, if you use an “F-Bomb” to refer to having sex, then that’s an AUTOMATIC R-Rating. Isn’t that fascinating? However, the guideline sure does seem to suggest that it does limit PG-13 films to just one. However, we know that is not the case, since the film, The Martian, had two “F-Bombs” in it. The first one occurred when the stranded astronaut lets loose after doing some surgery on himself…

Do Two FBombs in a Movie Automatically Earn It an R Rating

Drew Goddard, the writer of the film, explained, “We only thought we’d have one, ’cause that’s usually what the rule is. When I first wrote the script, the storm is in the middle the way it is in the book. I wanted to start with Mark waking up on Mars, and I wanted the first word of the movie to be ‘f—.’ It’s sort of the spirit of the first sentence of the book — “I’m pretty much f—ed.” I love the comedy of it. In a weird way those four words represent the movie: “I’m pretty much f—ed.” It’s not “I’m f—ed.” “I’m not giving up hope” is really what it’s implying. And I like that. I wanted that first “f—” to convey that. You can’t say “I’m pretty much f—ed” ’cause it’s sort of past tense, and movies are much more about present tense, if that makes sense. So I wanted to sort of visually get that, which is why we put such an intense sort of self-surgery scene right there. And then to balance it, have him just go “F—.” It just felt right.

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And then there was another one later where Matt says “F— you, Mars,” and it was very much an ad-lib, and we just liked it so much that we fought to keep it.”

So how did that happen? As it turns out, later in the guidelines, they note, “The Rating Board nevertheless may rate such a motion picture PG-13 if, based on a special vote by a two-third majority, the Raters feel that most American parents would believe that a PG-13 rating is appropriate because of the context or manner in which the words are used or because the use of those words in the motion picture is inconspicuous.”

In other words, enough members of the MPAA were convinced that, even with the two “F-Bombs” in it, The Martian still FELT like a PG-13 movie and not an R, so that’s what they rated it. Fascinating, right?

The legend is…

STATUS: False

Thanks to Ben Kuchera for discovering that little loophole and writing about it a few years back.

Be sure to check out my archive of Movie Legends Revealed for more urban legends about the world of film.

Feel free (heck, I implore you!) to write in with your suggestions for future installments! My e-mail address is [email protected].

Link Source : https://www.cbr.com/mpaa-ratings-pg-3-profanity-two-f-bombs-rated-r/

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