Gay/straight movies and MPAA ratings

[AWP82]

I don't know how many of you watch gay-themed movies, but I think I've noticed something weird when I compare them to regular (straight) movies with any form of a love story or romantic/sexual subplot in them.

It seems that most gay-themed indie flicks I've seen tend to have R ratings or no rating at all, no matter how tame they are content-wise. I've never in my life seen or heard of a PG or "family-friendly" movie with gay main characters, and the only two PG-13 gay movies I've seen so far were In & Out and Big Eden. But I've seen many other gay movies with virtually no sex or nudity and relatively tame language you'd find in any PG-13 mainstream movie, yet the MPAA seems to give most of them R ratings by default. This leads me to think the MPAA might a little homophobic, or at least sex-phobic. They'll rate a bloodless but ultra-violent action movie PG-13, or a semi-raunchy teen comedy PG-13, but anytime the main characters are gay, with any hint of a lovelife or sexlife, it's automatically an R.

I don't know if I'm explaining this well, but I'll put it this way... compare any hard PG-13 mainstream romantic comedy with any typical indie gay romantic comedy with the exact same content, and more often than not, the gay one would be a light R. Why is that? It's not like gayness is as taboo as it was 10 or 15 years ago?

Has anyone else noticed what I'm talking about, or am I just hallucinating? And sorry if I sounded repetitive in my post.

PS. Does anyone know what rating the MPAA gave Brokeback Mountain?

[BorderEevilIII]

Originally posted by AWP82


PS. Does anyone know what rating the MPAA gave Brokeback Mountain?


Me thinks that Brokeback is gonna be Rrrrrrrrrr
WHY? cuz of the STRONG themes presented....
Also the skinny dipping scene cuz caps are poppin up left and right on the net! :D
A good gay themed movie usually rely on someone being nekkid to a certain extent. It's not that MPAA is homophobic, the content is tooo hot and heavy for a PG-13 rating.... So to get the rating everything would have to be santized.... So whats left, WHY BOTHER?!?

[Badbird]

Originally posted by AWP82
This leads me to think the MPAA might a little homophobic, or at least sex-phobic. They'll rate a bloodless but ultra-violent action movie PG-13, or a semi-raunchy teen comedy PG-13, but anytime the main characters are gay, with any hint of a lovelife or sexlife, it's automatically an R.

Well, the people who actually rate movies for the MPAA are comprised of a board of PARENTS who ultimately decide what rating the movie should get. Meaning the whole point of the MPAA of for adults to chose what is okay for kids, and apparently gays are not good for kids.

Seriously. I've probably seen more movies than most of these entire boards of parants combined, so I think I would be a pretty good judge on what rating a movie should get, but because I'm not a PARENT, I'm not fit to be a judge.

[SpikeDurden]

The current movie Rent deals with a lot of homosexuals, both gay men and lesbian women, and it is Rated PG-13. I think it's merely the case of when a filmmaker decides to depict a homosexual couple, he tends to go to a more realistic, "profane" route, as opposed to some romantic comedies with straight people that are silly and innocuous.

[The Postmaster General]

Originally posted by SpikeDurden
The current movie Rent deals with a lot of homosexuals, both gay men and lesbian women, and it is Rated PG-13. I think it's merely the case of when a filmmaker decides to depict a homosexual couple, he tends to go to a more realistic, "profane" route, as opposed to some romantic comedies with straight people that are silly and innocuous.


Yeah, what Spike said:

Usually it's more complicated than just: Oh, here's gay people.

There are usually adult themes invovled, like sexual innuendo, or what-have-you.


In addition to RENT, there is also the Frank Oz directed IN & OUT with Kevin Kline:

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/6305127670.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

And there is also the Madonna movie THE NEXT BEST THING:

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0792166736.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

Then you have the PG rated farce ZORRO THE GAY BLADE with George Hamilton in dual roles:

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00005KH2G.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

[AWP82]

Oh yeah, I totally forgot about that Madonna flick. I'm not much into musicals either, so I'll probably wait for Rent on DVD unless some friends drag me out to go see it.

You all make some good points though, especially the "board of parents" thing. That makes sense. I wonder if the political climate right now has any influence on the MPAA. It seems like movies in general are a lot tamer than they were 10+ years ago. I even remember some of the PG stuff back in the late 80's/early 90's getting away with more than they would now (i.e. language, crude humor, even some violence). Then again, movies today just aren't as good as they were back then in my opinion.

[Ki'esha Foxx]

Originally posted by Badbird
Well, the people who actually rate movies for the MPAA are comprised of a board of PARENTS who ultimately decide what rating the movie should get. Meaning the whole point of the MPAA of for adults to chose what is okay for kids, and apparently gays are not good for kids.

Seriously. I've probably seen more movies than most of these entire boards of parants combined, so I think I would be a pretty good judge on what rating a movie should get, but because I'm not a PARENT, I'm not fit to be a judge.

Please, let me be on the board! Along with world commander, Supreme Court Chief Justice, and obscenely rich person, I'd straighten A LOT of things out! Let me at 'em! Grrr! *angrily grumbles about stupid adults and their stupid ideas and their stupid decisions*

[Fisting Ackbar]

I read somewhere that WHERE THE TRUTH LIES got an NC-17 due to a threesome scene (two guys and a girl) containing elements of homosexuality, the writer questioned that rating because of the gay connection.

MYSTERIOUS SKIN and BAD EDUCATON were other "gay" movies which received the same rating. I've only seen the latter film, so I can't say if all those films deserved that rating purely on their sexual content (though with Almodovar's film I'd say it's deserved), but it's some food for thought I felt like bringing up.