Yes, See NC-17! (Essay)

Now I ask you this simple question: if you had to choose between giving up PG-13 movies and NC-17 (or no MPAA rating) films, what would you choose? My first inclination would be to keep PG-13 movies because there are so many of them and I wouldn’t want to miss out on that many movies. But then, when I think more deeply about it, I realize that PG-13 movies are not the end of the line when it comes to quality films. Far from it. In fact, more often than not, PG-13 movies are the drudgery of the Hollywood system.

PG-13 movies, on the whole, are more marketing than substance. They are designed to give parents the assurance that their kids will not be seeing anything too bad while still giving those kids a taste of the violent, deviant, and sexual worlds that lay beyond in the oft forbidden kingdom of R rated and NC-17 films.

Sometimes when I watch a PG-13 film I feel like I’m drinking Kool-Aid that doesn’t have the right proportion of sugar to water. I’ll drink it, but I’m not happy about it and in the end I often would have just preferred the water. Most modern PG-13 movies give me the distinct impression that this film is a compromised vision. I’m thinking of “Alien vs. Predator” (2004) and countless horror remakes here. In a perfect world where money didn’t matter and parents weren’t as possessive, these films might be able to transcend their enforced mediocrity.

I’m not trying to suggest that in order for a film to be good it must have explicit violence and sex. Not so. But if they are going to have those elements, a film should commit to its subject matter and not water it down so the mysteries of sex or the consequences of violence remain elusive to the young viewers who may actually learn something from the story.

As you may have inferred, I think the right answer is to choose to keep NC-17 movies in your life. Admittedly, I have seen far more PG-13 movies than NC-17 movies, but if we look at the ratios, I would say I have seen more terrible than good PG-13 movies and more good than terrible NC-17 movies.

When I see a film that has an NC-17 rating I immediately have some respect for the film because it tells me it was not made for money. Many theaters across the United States will not show an NC-17 films in their theaters. They are admittedly bad for business. But they’re bad for business not because they’re morally reprehensible or bad films; they’re bad for business because popular consensus says NC-17 is more explicit than R and that must mean porn or exploitation.

While it’s true that the violence and sex is more explicit in NC-17 films, it is also a means to an end. It is not usually gratuitous. These are films that are built to horrify, seduce, and shock you but they are also designed to make you think. If a film polarizes its audience, I believe it has done a good job. Such is the case with Lars Von Trier’s “Anti-Christ” (2009). Some critics have hated it, others have loved it. There seems to be no middle ground. But “Anti-Christ” has done something that very few films actually do – it has inspired intriguing discussion about its merits, flaws, philosophy, and purpose. How many PG-13 films do that?

A good way to measure a work of art’s greatness is to look at the discourse surrounding it, be it from critics, articles, or friends. I have not seen “Avatar” yet, but all the discourse I’ve heard is that the special effects are incredible. I’ve heard nothing about the film being very thought provoking or moving. To say something that means something in a film you need to be audacious and confident. You need to be unflinching with your gaze and never compromise. You can’t rely on the merit of your special effects. Special effects are great, but a great film they do not make.

Give me NC-17 films before PG-13 films any day! I want to be challenged. We should all strive to be challenged with what we watch, at least some of the time. If we are not challenging ourselves, we do not grow. That is my belief. We must always be looking to expand our horizons and perceptions. This is why foreign films are important to see, it is why animated films are important to see, it is why cult films are important to see, and it is why NC-17 films are important to see.

When I consider the NC-17 films I have seen and reviewed recently I must admit they are the films that have been branded in my mind. They opened up new ideas about what can be done and said in a movie. “The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, & Her Lover” is one of the single most shocking films I have ever seen, and yet, also one of the most beautiful. Ferrara’s “Bad Lieutenant” scared the living daylights out of me but was ultimately a true and feeling consideration of redemption’s scope. I actually would go so far to say that I think Jesus would have liked the movie “Bad Lieutenant.”

I even remember the very first NC-17 film I ever saw. It was Bertolucci’s “The Dreamers” (2003). The movie made me uncomfortable the first time I saw it. I had never seen sex like this in a film before. It was startling, erotic, and disturbing all at once. Upon reflection I was happy I had seen it. So many films don’t make me feel anything at all. If a film can make me uncomfortable, it’s at least working on some level. From there, I went on to seek out Bertolucci’s “Last Tango in Paris” (1972) which was rated X at the time of its release but now has been relegated to an R (I consider an X-rating to be the former equivalent to our NC-17) “Last Tango” is a movie that blew my mind. The raw sexuality was just as potent as in “The Dreamers.”

If “Last Tango” does not contain Marlon Brando’s best performance, it certainly has the single best scene in his filmography. And to think, one of the 20th century’s greatest actors has one of his best roles in an X-rated movie! You could say the same thing about Dustin Hoffman in “Midnight Cowboy” (1968).

I suppose what I’m trying to say, in the end, is that NC-17 movies are substantial, important films. They are powerhouses of cinema but are often marginalized and forgotten due to their rating. If you were to give up PG-13 movies, on the whole, you wouldn’t be missing too much. If you gave up on or never chose to watch an NC-17, you are missing a feast.

Just to be fair, here’s a list of great PG-13 movies:

Jurassic Park (1993)
Juno (2007)
Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1986)
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
Million Dollar Baby (2004)
Forrest Gump (1994)
Minority Report (2002)

There are a lot of Steven Spielberg movies on this list. What can I say? The man makes good movies.