Tim Robbins puppet is set afire and a Susan Sarandon puppet is dropped off a 20-story building
2 for the price of 1!
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| Home Front: Culture Wars |
| Puppet Sex Leads to Rating Rift |
| 2004-10-06 |
| EFL.I blame Ashcroft. Or Bush. Or Chaney. The filmmakers behind 'Team America' want to get an NC-17 cut to an R, but the MPAA objects to an explicit scene. They call it puppet love. But the folks who determine film ratings call it NC-17. The filmmakers behind "Team America: World Police," an action-genre satire featuring a team of muscular marionettes that save the world, are butting heads with the Motion Picture Assn. of America over the film's proposed rare rating, which would bar admission to anyone younger than 17. At the heart of the dispute is a scene in the film that shows simulated sex between the puppets. Thus far, the production team has submitted the scene nine times — each progressively less graphic — to the MPAA board, said Scott Rudin, the film's producer. Each time, the MPAA insisted that the NC-17 rating would remain unless further cuts were made, the filmmakers said. The MPAA did not return phone calls late Monday. Before you know it, puppets will want to get married and stuff. "It's something we all did as kids with Barbie and Ken dolls," said Trey Parker, the film's director and co-creator of the animated TV show "South Park." "The whole joke of it is that it's just two dolls flopping around on each other. You see the hinges on their legs. [The MPAA] read into it way more than we ever didâŠ. They said you can't do anything but missionary position." Among other things, the offending material includes shots of a male puppet simulating oral sex. The production team has already excised explicit scatological puppet sex acts in its attempt to gain an R rating, allowing entrance to teenagers under 18 when accompanied by an adult. Scatalogical puppet sex acts. Is there a big market for that? "There's nothing we're asking for that hasn't appeared in other R-rated movies, and our characters are made of wood and have no genitalia. If the puppets did to each other what we show them doing, all they'd get is splinters," Rudin said. He may have a point... "Team America" features violent scenes in which a Tim Robbins puppet is set afire and a Susan Sarandon puppet is dropped off a 20-story building — all acts that passed MPAA muster. "We blow Janeane Garofalo's head clean off, [but for the MPAA] it's all about the positions of the dolls having sex," Parker said. "It's not funny — it's tragic." I certainly have no problems with those scenes. |
| Posted by:tu3031 |
| #18 The MPAA is upset that these guys last movie had a subtitle "Bigger, longer and uncut" that is a penis joke and they didn't get it until the film screened. They felt like fools and the petty dictators are now taking it out on a technicality because they can. |
| Posted by: RJSchwarz 2004-10-06 10:51:12 PM |
| #17 nada--(which I presume refers to your brain or, more precisely, the lack thereof)--suck your own balls, twerp. I'm a big Southpark fan, so, STFU. You missed my point, and have now been officially entered into the anti-intellectual poster category at Rantburg University. And so what if you're going to go see the movie--I probably will too. For everyone else: My point about them wanting to make more money with an "R" rating (when they know their film is really an NC-17), even though they're "arguing" that their film is an "R" film, is just them trying to garner more cash because R-rated films can draw a larger audience. THAT'S THE ONLY POINT I WAS MAKING about that. I thought it was pretty much like those guys to try to get what they can get. And I don't really blame them. (You've got to visit Southpark, Colorado, to really understand why that is.) Frank G.--I presume you're telling me to "get a life" because you couldn't follow the points I was making if your life depended on it. (See note to nada, above, and apply to self). |
| Posted by: ex-lib 2004-10-06 10:46:07 PM |
#16 nada quotes ex-lib: Â The makers of the film want an R rating so they can make more money--AND THAT'S THE ONLY REASON. And, then nada adds: Good for them. I'll go pay to see the R rated movie, and then I'll buy the Unrated DVD to see all the graphic, bad puppet sex. Can't wait. Thank God for the Sneak Preview this weekend. As Cartman would say, "Suck my balls."Ah, did I miss something? As I read ex-libâs post, she isnât saying a damn thing about censoring the film. Her only point was that The MPAA is totally correct on this. If we set up organizations like the MPAA, Iâd like to think they work. I donât want to take my kid to a âPG-13â rated movie, only to find out that it should have been rated âNC-17â or âXXX.â I may even want to see a âXXXâ rated movie, but not with my kid. Similarly, just imagine your disappointment going to a âNC-17â movie that should have been rated âPG-13.â That would just suck, now, wouldnât it? IMO, ex-libâs other points go to why movies are rated what they are rated. I donât think she likes the promotion of casual sex and objectification of women. So what? Thatâs got to at least be a valid viewpoint. But, then again, maybe ex-lib's opinions can't be "allowed" if you find yourself feeling threatened by points of view contrary to your own. |
| Posted by: cingold 2004-10-06 10:30:24 PM |
| #15 The makers of the film want an R rating so they can make more money--AND THAT'S THE ONLY REASON. Good for them. I'll go pay to see the R rated movie, and then I'll buy the Unrated DVD to see all the graphic, bad puppet sex. Can't wait. Thank God for the Sneak Preview this weekend. As Cartman would say, "Suck my balls." |
| Posted by: nada 2004-10-06 7:15:40 PM |
| #14 9.4 You had me going. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-10-06 6:17:02 PM |
| #13 ex-lib - get a life |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-10-06 6:08:27 PM |
| #12 The MPAA is totally correct on this. Abstracting sexual acts using puppets carries huge connotations regarding the objectification of sexual relationships in general, and promotes abuse-oriented consequences for women (having to do with the objectification of women) and deconstructs normative cultural taboos regarding sex with children. This claim probably doesn't make sense to very many here , and I don't have time for a dissertation to prove my point, but NC-17 is the right call. The kind of "humor" the director is going for belongs (if it belongs at all) within an ADULT context, because adults (hopefully) possess the cognitive and emotional ability to put it in the proper frame of reference. The makers of the film want an R rating so they can make more money--AND THAT'S THE ONLY REASON. |
| Posted by: ex-lib 2004-10-06 5:31:19 PM |
| #11 Some good sense from Scott and Parker: And they say that if you're persuaded to change your vote because of a puppet movie, there may be something wrong with you. "If anyone walks out of this movie, or a Michael Moore movie, thinking about voting a certain way, then they're [bleeping] stupid and shouldn't be voting," says Stone. "If this movie makes you think that much, then you're too weak-kneed to vote." Refreshing from Hollywood ... |
| Posted by: VAMark 2004-10-06 5:21:52 PM |
| #10 I would like to see Sean Penn getting the life beat out of him by a bunch of photojournalists. But I'd settle for a puppet representation of it. |
| Posted by: BH 2004-10-06 4:13:19 PM |
| #9 Tim Robbins puppet is set afire and a Susan Sarandon puppet is dropped off a 20-story building 2 for the price of 1! |
| Posted by: BigEd 2004-10-06 3:34:26 PM |
| #8 hey! don't go dis janeane! >:( |
| Posted by: muck4doo 2004-10-06 3:32:24 PM |
| #7 We blow Janeane Garofaloâs head clean off {Snicker} Those words remind me... "Ah Ah, I know what you're thinking, punk. You're thinkin', 'Did he fire six shots or only five?' Now, to tell you the truth, I've forgot myself in all this excitement. But being as this is the .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and will blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself a question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya, punk?"  |
| Posted by: BigEd 2004-10-06 3:31:36 PM |
| #6 "Team America" features violent scenes in which a Tim Robbins puppet is set afire and a Susan Sarandon puppet is dropped off a 20-story building â all acts that passed MPAA muster. "We blow Janeane Garofaloâs head clean off, [but for the MPAA] itâs all about the positions of the dolls having sex," Parker said. "Itâs not funny â itâs tragic." I'm gonna see it just for those scenes. But to get past the MPAA, they should do what Mel Brooks did in "Blazing Saddles" -- fade to black and let the soundtrack suggest what's happening. ("It's twue! It's twue!") |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2004-10-06 3:13:24 PM |
| #5 Tim Robbins puppet is set afire , Susan Sarandon puppet is dropped off a 20-story building , "We blow Janeane Garofaloâs head clean off" Now that's what I call entertainment! |
| Posted by: Steve 2004-10-06 3:08:46 PM |
| #4 Never saw director's cut. |
| Posted by: BigEd 2004-10-06 3:06:55 PM |
| #3 BigEd: Are we thinking of the same movie? 'Cuz I don't remember KC getting peed on in Mannequin. Maybe that was the director's cut. I do remember how impressed I was with the special effects; that is, my own wood status was inversely proportional to hers. ;) |
| Posted by: BH 2004-10-06 2:52:10 PM |
| #2 Hmm - Wood puppets having sex? There once was a movie where a mannequin came alive as Kim Cattrall (pre-Sex & the City) and rolled around with the Male lead, only to return to wood status when other people were around... Hmm - Puppet sex without the implements. And MPAA is upset? Odd people to be getting prudish these days... |
| Posted by: BigEd 2004-10-06 1:26:44 PM |
| #1 I'm sure the MPAA would approve it if the puppets were of the same gender.... |
| Posted by: Whumble Sneth6418 2004-10-06 1:20:02 PM |