Kevin Smith Vs. The MPAA (Again)

The last battle that director Kevin Smith had with the MPAA was "Jersey Girl," when a scene between Ben Affleck and Liv Tyler talking about sex and masturbation was almost excised in order to get a PG-13 rating. They were expecting a battle over "Clerks II," but amazingly the board let it pass.

So is he having a similar battle with the MPAA over his new film "Zack and Miri Make A Porno?"

MTV is reporting (but Smith has not confirmed) that the film is indeed raising the ire of the MPAA at the moment. No details are known yet about what exactly in the film is causing a stir, but actor Seth Rogan, who plays Zack in the film, did say the movie is having problems getting the R rating.

"The MPAA is gunning for us, I think," sighed Rogen, discussing the current difficulties he and director Kevin Smith are encountering during the rating process of their highly anticipated October comedy "Zack and Miri Make a Porno." "It's a really filthy movie. I hear they are having some problems getting an R rating from an NC-17 rating, which is never good."

It shouldn't surprise anyone that they would have problems based on the title alone. But it seems the MPAA is really gunning for this film. The Internet-only trailer for the film was forced down by the board, and reports are the movie has already been sent back to them once for cuts. But any film dealing with porn as a topic often gets the MPAA's hackles up.

But the MPAA also seems to have a double standard when it comes to films that deal with the topic. Let me take you back to 1997 and 1998. In October 1997, a film called "Boogie Nights" was released. The film, which was a drama about the people within the porn industry that featured drug use, nudity (male and female), violence -- you name it. It was able to get by with an R rating with only 40 seconds of cuts. A year later, another film about the porn industry comes out -- "Orgazmo." This one was played for laughs -- it was a comedy about a Mormon who does porn movies in order to raise money for his wedding. Despite the fact that the film was much tamer than "Boogie Nights" was the previous year, the MPAA would not relent on allowing it to get an R rating regardless of the cuts, forcing it to keep the NC-17 rating when it was released in the theaters.

If a movie's a drama -- it gets to keep its R rating. If it's a comedy -- NC-17.

But there could be another factor in play -- "Boogie Nights" was made by a major studio at the time, New Line Cinemas. "Orgazmo" was an independent film. The MPAA has been known to be harsher on independent films than on studio films. That may also be playing a factor in why "Zack and Miri" may be having issues -- it's produced by the Weinstein Company, the new company started by the Weinstein Brothers that is still pretty independent from the mainstream.

In the MTV interview, Rogan pointed out the double standard with the MPAA in regards to violence versus sex.

"A guy f---ing a donkey, they ain't got no problem with," he continued. "But a man and a woman having sex they seem to have real issues with, for some weird reason. It's insane. It's completely insane."

It might be a bit out of character to hear such comments from a comedian beloved for his hearty laugh and easygoing attitude, both of which were most recently glimpsed when he smoked "weed" with James Franco at the MTV Movie Awards. But the fact remains that the MPAA has a long history of censoring love scenes in films like "The Cooler" or "Team America: World Police," while permitting graphic violence in R-rated films like the "Saw" or "Hostel" series.

"They [fight against] sex stuff. Isn't that weird? It's really crazy to me that 'Hostel' is fine, with people gouging their eyes out and sh-- like that," Rogen shrugged. "But you can't show two people having sex — that's too much."

I agree with him. There are very few standards as to how films are rated. There shouldn't be a double standard when it comes to sex and violence in films.

I would be happier with the MPAA if they had set standards on how they rate films. They have few guidelines as to how their decisions are made, which forces me, as a parent, to review all the movies so that I know what is appropriate for the stepkids and my own children. In the documentary "This Film Has Not Yet Been Rated," it was pointed out that major studios are told what should be cut in order to get the rating they wanted, but independents have to guess what needs to be cut. The system is broken, and seriously needs to be fixed.