Will my movie get an NC-17 if....?

H

harmonica44

There is a scene where a woman is being tortured, which I was given the idea from the torture scene in Casino Royale. But instead of a man being given extreme pain to his genitals, it's a woman. It's not one of those torture porn movies where it is being done just to show bad taste violence, there is a point to it, and it's part of the plot. Now Casino Royale got a PG-13 for it, but if it is being done to a woman, which means the interrogator would have to go into her womb to cause more pain, would it get an NC-17?

I wouldn't have to show anything down there, but there would be some slight sound effects and she would be screaming in pain, as much as Daniel Craig did. The MPAA has been gender biased on assigning ratings before, so will this be no exemption? I don't want an NC-17 cause that's box office poison. I would like opinions from people who are familiar enough with the rating if that's possible. Thanks.
 
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That sounds a) incredibly distasteful and b) like you don't even have a basic understanding of the female anatomy, but more to the point only the MPAA could accurately answer your question for you. A vague description of a scene wouldn't be enough for them, either - a very violent act seen only in part will have a different effect on the rating than a less violent act played out slowly and graphically, and is something you can only really judge in the context of the film as a whole. Realistically, I think a first-time filmmaker should be more concerned with the film itself than the rating it may or may not receive on the off chance it finds theatrical distribution.
 
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I'm not too concerned by the rating at this point, I was just curious so I would have a better idea what to do with the material. It happened in Casino Royale, which was a smash hit and no one described it as incredibly distasteful. If I do it in good context, I hope it will come across fine.
 
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harmonica44 said:
I'm not too concerned by the rating at this point, I was just curious so I would have a better idea how to film it. And I don't quite get why everyone I have described this scene too think's it's incredibly distasteful, as worded. It happened in Casino Royale, which was a smash hit and no one described it as incredibly distasteful. If I do it in good context, I hope it will come across fine.
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Dudes get kicked in the nads all the time. At least they do on TV, anyway. You wanna hurt a dude, kick him right square in the nuts. It's extremely painful. But it's non-sexual.

What you've described, I believe, most people would view as a combination of rape and torture. By entering the vagina, you've sexualized it, in a really bad way. I think most people would be really appalled by this type of imagery, even if it's off-screen and audio-only. I don't think this is the same as whacking a dude in the nuts.
 
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Cracker Funk said:
Dudes get kicked in the nads all the time. At least they do on TV, anyway. You wanna hurt a dude, kick him right square in the nuts. It's extremely painful. But it's non-sexual.

What you've described, I believe, most people would view as a combination of rape and torture. By entering the vagina, you've sexualized it, in a really bad way. I think most people would be really appalled by this type of imagery, even if it's off-screen and audio-only. I don't think this is the same as whacking a dude in the nuts.
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What gorilla boy said, basically. I think some accomplished directors could get away with it, but only just…
 
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chilipie said:
...you don't even have a basic understanding of the female...
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You do know that you can’t just enter a woman’s womb?

You say this isn’t torture porn, but this kind of thing only has a (very limited) place in horror. If it’s an interrogation scene, use some other form of torture. Do some research into real torture techniques, some of them are far more cringe-inducing than what you’re describing.
 
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I wouldn't bother about MPAA ratings before you've even written the script. It's very expensive to get a rating so most Indie films remain unrated.

In related news: Yer, that's a pretty grizzly idea. I'm not sure where you got the idea that the interrogator would have to enter the womb to cause pain...
 
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harmonica44 said:
I would like opinions from people who are familiar enough with the rating if that's possible. Thanks.
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Here's the way the rating system works:

You will submit your film to the MPAA exactly as you want it seen
in the theaters.
They will give it a rating.
If you want a lower rating you edit it and resubmit.
You do this until you get the rating you want.

So at this point you write the scene exactly as you want, then
you shoot and edit it exactly the way you want.
 
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directorik said:
Here's the way the rating system works:

You will submit your film to the MPAA exactly as you want it seen
in the theaters.
They will give it a rating.
If you want a lower rating you edit it and resubmit.
You do this until you get the rating you want.

So at this point you write the scene exactly as you want, then
you shoot and edit it exactly the way you want.
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I know I just wanted a more clear idea so I could shoot it in a way, so I wouldn't have to send it in again more likely. I kinda need them to go into the womb and do torture, cause something happens in the womb which causes a scandal, which is part of twist that comes later. I don't really see it being any worse than Casino Royale though. Sure you see guys getting hit in the nuts all the time on TV, but just because it's more common does not make it less violent, if it were to happen to a woman.

But I guess the MPAA may not see it that way. There have been much worse things to happen in the saw movies and they all got R ratings, rather than NC-17.
 
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harmonica44 said:
...need them to go into the womb and do torture...
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I'm sure lots of people wouldn't question this, because it's all about suspending disbelief, but it's not as simple as "going into the womb". I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure that the cervix prevents the passage of things from the vagina to the uterus. It would require a medical professional, possibly performing major surgery, to access to the womb.

harmonica44 said:
...you see guys getting hit in the nuts all the time on TV, but just because it's more common does not make it less violent, if it were to happen to a woman...
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I've never seen a woman get hit in the nuts on TV...



;) I'm just messin' with ya ;)
 
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I find myself asking "Who is it suppose to scare?" Men? Women? Both?

Not knowing the plot it's hard to understand it's impact. Men have no idea what its like to receive vaginal pain i.e. child birth. So IMO I'm thinking this scene might back fire for women and men might react that it's sick but "I'm glad I'm not a women". But if it was about something that men and women both have say like finger nails?? or genital electrocution??

In the words of REM... Have I said to much?
 
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Well I don't get why most independent films would not want to spend the money on getting a rating. I watch a lot of indies and everyone I've seen that I can think of has a rating. Which means that in order for indie films to get anywhere in theaters, or dvd sales, they need to be submitted to the MPAA unfortunately.
 
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