What would August: Osage County be rated if it were a movie?

[BwayTday]

Posted: 9/22/09 at 12:18am

I am just using the rating thing as an example. I am going with my mom soon and need to be aware of when I am going to wish she wasn't there. Those kinda moments.

Am I making any sense?

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 9/22/09 at 9:43am

Probably R or PG-13. I would actually rate it PG-15 or something similar.

[hpeabody930]

Posted: 9/22/09 at 10:26am

R.
Absolutely One Hundred percent R.

[Sondheim_Geek]

Posted: 9/22/09 at 10:54am

R.

It would require significant toning down to get a PG-13 rating, which would be detrimental to the piece.

[trombonist]

Posted: 9/22/09 at 11:02am

Definitely agree with R. There aren't any scenes like say Spring Awakening has but there are some tough themes dealt with. I would have considered taking my parents to see it on their last visit if we hadn't had such an emotionally tough schedule of theatre already set. (I would not have taken them to see Spring Awakening or possibly even Rent...well, I would have taken my dad to Rent but not my mom.)

[Calvin]

Posted: 9/22/09 at 11:06am

Language alone would get it an R.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 9/22/09 at 11:08am

Perhaps they'll tone it done, though. If ReNt had transferred to the screen as is it would have been an R.

[Hest882]

Posted: 9/22/09 at 11:17am

Yep, R. But totally due to language and "adult themes." Overt sex is the thing that gets me squeamish when I take my mom to things, and August doesn't have that.

[ljay889]

Posted: 9/22/09 at 11:19am

It doesn't have overt sex, but the show deals with adultery, incest, and pedophilia. Not the the lightest of themes.
Updated On: 9/22/09 at 11:19 AM

[CapnHook]

Posted: 9/22/09 at 11:33am

I argue PG-13. Unless they plan on adding nudity, sex scenes, or bloody violence...the language and subject matter alone is not enough to earn an R rating, in my opinion.

The MPAA would see that it is a pulitzer prize winner and would forgive language.

The MPAA is a f*cked up organization whose only goal is to pretend they are protecting the children of America from seeing filth. They abuse their power to modify films to make someone else's piece of art "family-friendly." They tell studios that in order to get a PG-13 rating, you must remove this scene and that shot and this word, etc. etc. etc. so the studios order the director to make the alterations because an R rating earns the studio less money.

OMG I can go on and on about the MPAA. Anyway, back on topic...

Again, I argue the MPAA would allow a PG-13 rating.

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 9/22/09 at 11:38am

if it was made 40 years ago, maybe it'd be rated X, as Midnight Cowboy was. unsuitable for anyone to watch, apparently.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 9/22/09 at 11:44am

Will, the original X (the one that Midnight Cowboy got) just meant adults only and was the equivalent of today's NC-17. The MPAA didn't copyright the X, which is why porn theaters started using it.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 9/22/09 at 11:47am

How many times is the F word used? I'm serious. Apparently, with the MPAA, if the word is used more than once, it's an automatic R rating.

[luvbrdway]

Posted: 9/22/09 at 11:48am

CapnHook - I'm not opposed to removing a sex scene or taking out the "f" bomb to get a PG 13 movie. I don't need to see the sex - hot kiss, fade to black, I get the picture. And I'm really sick of the "f" word being used constantly. Yesterday in the grocery store I heard a kid, maybe 9 or 10 say, "Mom, let's get some f-ing Bagel Bites." Mom just tells him to go find them in the freezer section. Speculating he hears that word quite often at home.

[Calvin]

Posted: 9/22/09 at 11:49am

My reasoning exactly, adamgreer, and one particular sentence in the play alone would jet it past that tally.

[saveusmike]

Posted: 9/22/09 at 11:53am

You have to say "F**k" I think 3 times (Or deffinetly 2) to achieve R rating.

AOC would 1000% be rated R. And if it isint that means that the plot of and dialouge would be watered down and I would be pretty nervous.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 9/22/09 at 11:55am

Thanks, saveusmike. I knew there was a definite number.

I'm usually not a fan of excessive cursing, because most times, it's just lazy writing, and means the author couldn't find anything more clever to say (cough:avid Mamet::Cough). However, with AOC, each and every bit of bad language worked for the moment. You felt as though that was exactly how those characters would be speaking.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 9/22/09 at 11:59am

I don't think that's a hard and fast rule (the _ number of F words equals R). I think it's more a case by case basis. I think F used as verb runs the risk of an R more than when used just as an expletive, but like I said (and this is just a layman's observation), I don't think there's an arbitrary number. If there is, then there are many exceptions to the rule.

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 9/22/09 at 12:19pm

"Eat the f***ing fish."
"Eat it, you f***er."
"You don't wanna break s**t with me, motherf***er!"
"These are my best f***ing friends and they never let me down!"
"The little f***er croaked after just three days."
"We f***ed the Indians for this?"
"I'm the subject, you narcissistic motherf***er!"

Just a taste. R rating. Easy.

[luvbrdway]

Posted: 9/22/09 at 12:21pm

I think sometimes they thrown the F word in just to get a PG13 instead of a PG. "Julie and Julia" comes to mind. Was it really necessary?

[Pgenre]

Posted: 9/22/09 at 12:36pm

The MPAA is 100% hypocritical on the F word issue... and everything else.

PRS is right that if it is used as a verb it is supposed to be an automatic R. You are allowed 3 if not. But there are literally hundreds of exceptions to this rule.

I find it fascinating that the first film the MPAA rated was WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF (well, there was a lobby card intoning FOR MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY, BONNIE & CLYDE came out around the same time and was also "rated" as such, films after that had actual RATINGS, but I digress) and even though Lehman cut all the "f"s and "mfs" from the play, the MPAA still was up in arms. If you watch the film (AND PLEASE DO) pay particular attention to Miss Taylor's lips right when the guests arrive and she actually says "Screw you!" but the post-sound edit was changed to "God*amn you" (in the play it's "F*** you"). Also, I find it interesting "Screw you" is not ok, but "Hump the hostess" is. Just goes to show that in 40 years the MPAA is still as hypocritical and foolish as ever.

See the documentary THIS FILM IS NOT YET RATED. You will NEVER look at movies, and ratings, the same way again. May Valenti burn.

P

P.S. "I'm usually not a fan of excessive cursing, because most times, it's just lazy writing, and means the author couldn't find anything more clever to say (cough:avid Mamet::Cough)." Adamgreer, from this writer: if you really believe this, you are a fool. Kisses. Updated On: 9/22/09 at 12:36 PM

[CapnHook]

Posted: 9/22/09 at 1:12pm

Pgenre -- exactly. THIS FILM IS NOT YET RATED is just a simple beginning examination into the issue of the MPAA's hypocrisy.

If you don't have an issue with a simple cut of one word, or one scene, or one edit of a sex scene -- then I think there is something wrong with your take on artistry. EVERYTHING in art is intentional. This is also to say that everything in art is NOT 100% formulated in advance. Still, the director's cut is intentional. After that, it is up to the producers/studios/MPAA to take the director's work and alter it for audiences.

In my opinion, the director's cut is how all films should be presented. If an organization wants to pre-screen films and list what type of "inappropriate content" is included, be my guest. But they should NOT have the power to alter it. For example, Julie Taymor had issues in the editing process with ACROSS THE UNIVERSE which caused the film to be delayed for MONTHS (if not YEARS!). The film almost never saw the light of day. The film almost lost Julie Taymor a director's credit as she threatened to withdraw after the studios forced her to make some cuts. Apparently, Taymor's version of the film includes 20-40 more minutes' worth of footage which were cut from the film. Now, in MY opinion, the film we all know is already long and I think "The Benefit of Mr. Kite" should have been cut. But that's my opinion. It SHOULDN'T be cut because Taymor believes it is essential to the film, and who am I to alter her creation?? I am an AUDIENCE. I choose whether to like or dislike her creation. If I wanted to create art, I would do so on my own.

Ugh... I'm running off on tangents and not saying what I truly want to say.

People say all the time "is that language really necessary? MUST they drop an f-bomb? MUST they show that penis? MUST they show a leg getting blown off and blood pouring out?" I say YES! YES! YES!...IF it is purposeful.

That 12-year old mentioned previously in this thread dropping an F-bomb in the grocery store -- that's how he really talks. That's the way many people talk. So in film/theatre/television/radio...they feature real characters who talk like real people.

People are so uptight about language and nudity. If we just stop associating these things as something negative, it won't be such a big deal. Get over it. "Fcuk you!" and "Screw you!" mean the same thing, why does it matter which word you say?

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 9/22/09 at 1:16pm

You can have one non-sexual use of the "F" word for a PG-13 rating. The rule is, anymore than that or if it is a sexual use of the word it's "R".

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 9/22/09 at 1:19pm

That may be the rule, but I've seen plenty of sexual uses of the f word in PG-13 movies. Is it really a rule, or is it a meme that got spread and now everyone THINKS its an actual rule?

[Pgenre]

Posted: 9/22/09 at 1:24pm

Jordan, RENT has 3. But what you said is generally the rule.

I think Columbus got them to be more lenient, as they tend to be with Pulitzer Prize winners, but its there for all to see.

Also, does DREAMGIRLS just have the one in the Hollywood Beyonce/Lithgow/Krasinski scene or does Curtis say it as well?

Just sayin'.

And CapNHook: I, too, get very passionate about this issue and its nice to see I'm not alone in wanting art to exist for art's sake.

As someone who has rewritten a script down from an R to a PG13 at the studio's behest (and that's just a shooting script, not the finished film) - censorship is the death of art.

Alas, I'm one of those Romantic fools who believe art AND commerce can co-exist! Ha!

P