This Film is Not Yet Rated because of Female Desire

By: Hayley Turner 

Recently I watch the documentary “This Film is Not Yet Rated”, which is about the Motion Pictures of America’s film rating system and its effects on American culture. A bulk of the movie discussed the disparities filmmakers see in ratings and feedback between independent films and Hollywood. The major topics of discussion are homosexual and heterosexual sexual situations, male and female sexual depictions, and violence and sexual content. The topic that I found most interesting was the discussion of female desire and how the rating system attempts to censor it more severely than other types of pleasure. 

The interview of Kimberly Peirce, the director of Boys Don’t Cry is powerful in understanding the censorship of female desire in the film industry. Peirce’s original edit of Boys Don’t Cry, which is the true life story of Brandon Teena a transgender who was brutally raped and murdered after his double life was exposed, was given an NC-17 rating.  In order for the movie to get an R rating and national showings the rating system stated two areas that needed to be edited/censored. The first is the brutality depicted in the rape scenes and the murder scenes. The second was the lesbian love scene between the characters Brandon and girlfriend Lena.

The knowledge that the violence in the movie was a bit harsh for audience was understandable to Peirce but the problem with the lesbian love scene was less understandable to Peirce. Once feedback was received from the rating system Peirce better understood the film board decision but did not agree with it. The rating system wanted to love scene to be cut completely because it was to graphic, however the scene shows little nudity and is largely based on the facial expressions and voices. To conclude Peirce stated that the scene needed to be cut, according to the rating system because of its depiction of uninhibited female desire and the homosexual nature. In the scene Brandon goes down on Lena and the camera is focused on the face of Lena, and her enjoyment of the situation, finally the scene concludes with Brandon wiping the cum off his mouth as he asks Lena how it was.

The documentary uses other movies to show the rating systems distaste for female desire, the films include The Cooler, Coming Home and But I’m a Cheerleader.