Children under the age of 17 will not be admitted into a showing of Fifty Shades of Grey unless accompanied by an adult, the MPAA ruled today.
Fifty Shades of Grey has been given a ‘R’ rating by the Motion Picture Association of America due to the film’s “strong sexual content including dialogue, some unusual behavior and graphic nudity.”
Hopefully kids aged 17 and under won’t be asking a parent to take them to see the film, because that would just be awkward.
The high rating won’t shock those who’ve read the book of the same name by E.L. James, which describes S&M sex scenes in graphic detail. If there’s any surprise about the MPAA rating, it’s that the film isn’t receiving a NC-17 rating.
The adults-only rating would have completely prevented any theatergoers under the age of 17 and younger from entering a showing. Universal couldn’t have let this happen because it would have affected the box office potential.
The ‘R’ rating may hurt a bit too.
The studio made a conscious decision to not turn this into an X-rated adult film so that it could appeal to as wide an audience as possible without assaulting their eyes. Reports have suggested that the film cleverly tip-toes around the graphic sex scenes by only showing, for example, the shadows of Ana and Christian having sex.
One could hope presume that an un-rated version of the film will be released on DVD/Blu-ray with more nakedness on screen.
Fifty Shades of Grey hits theaters on Friday, February 13.
What do you make of the ‘Fifty Shades’ MPAA rating?
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