COMMENTARY | Actress Carey Mulligan’s newest film role in “Shame” may end up being her most controversial to date. In it, she plays the lead character’s sister whose unannounced visit to her brother puts a cramp in his sexual addiction. The film also stars Michael Fassbender of “X-Men: First Class” as Mulligan’s brother. The Oscar buzz on this film is quite strong, but thanks to its sexually potent material that includes full frontal male and female nudity and graphic sex, the Motion Picture Association of America has given “Shame” its most strict rating, the dreaded NC-17.
Surely, the film is now doomed…or is it? While there haven’t been any NC-17 rated films to really break through into the mainstream, there have been plenty of films that nearly got the rating but were given last-minute reprieves from the MPAA. For instance, last year’s critically acclaimed “Blue Valentine” which starred Michelle Williams and garnered her a Best Actress Oscar nod, was rated NC-17 for quite a while until the MPAA finally relented and gave it an “R” rating instead.
It’s long since been believed that a rating of NC-17 will spell instant commercial death for your film project because no one under 17 is admitted into the theater at all. Films such as “Bram Stoker’s Dracula,” “Basic Instinct” and even Oliver Stone’s biopic “The Doors” was at one point threatened with an NC-17 rating. In all cases though, edits were made that satisfied the ratings board and all of the films were changed to R ratings. When you have movies like “Showgirls” to point to, it’s not hard to see some validity in that assertion.
However, by all accounts, “Shame” is a film with absolutely riveting performances. The artistic merit or social relevance of a film will also greatly impact its success. “Deep Throat,” for instance, was a pornographic film that broke through into the mainstream, with clandestine showings of the film getting visits from housewives to Hollywood big-shots. Then there’s “Midnight Cowboy,” which was rated X, NC-17’s predecessor, and it won three Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director, and this was over 40 years ago!
Ultimately, it will come down to whether the American public is ready for another “Midnight Cowboy” or if they’re still stuck on “Showgirls.” If you believe that good art has a value, then maybe it’s time for an NC-17 film to move boldly forward and advance the discussion of whether or not the rating should mean instant box office death. One has to believe that if the substance of director Steve McQueen’s film is powerful and creative enough, the movie going public will be able to look past the rating and enjoy the film as a story geared towards mature audiences.
Of course, if it’s just a bunch of gratuitous nudity and sex, it won’t matter what the film is rated; it’ll just die on the vine.
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