Movie Ratings Confusion

Roger Ebert answers many interesting movie-related questions every other Sunday as "Movie Answer Man" but this week, his second question-and-answer is particularly revealing: A reader asks if ultra–gory Kill Bill is rated R, why is Lost in Translation R also and why Whale Rider is one level lower than Kill Bill with a PG–13. Ebert starts his explanation with "The MPAA rating system is guided by the greed of the movie industry and its fear of the religious right."

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By Jen Chung in Arts and Events on November 16, 2003 6:58 PM

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jen h.

This is also why youth sex comedies where guys are the protagonists (e.g., "American Pie") can get a PG-13 or R rating, and the very few youth comedies where the girls are the protagonists get an X rating (e.g., "Coming Soon"). Apparently female sexual desire and orgasms are too shocking for the general public to handle, but male orgasms are just good clean fun. Which makes it harder for non-sappy romance films with female protagonists to get made.