Thursday, October 07, 2004
The guardians of public morality protect us from sex among marionettes.
The makers of "Team America: World Police," an action spoof starring marionettes, are battling the movie rating board's plans to slap it with an NC-17 rating because of a scene showing simulated sex between puppets.These guys have to be really good -- I mean how "graphic" can sex between marionettes be?The Motion Picture Association of America's rating board has viewed nine progressively less graphic versions, said producer Scott Rudin — but hasn't yet budged from the NC-17, which would bar admission to anyone younger than 17 and is considered a commercial kiss of death.
"We blow [a puppet of] Janeane Garofalo's head clean off, [but for the MPAA], it's all about the positions of the dolls having sex," said Trey Parker, who wrote and directed the film with "South Park" co-creator Matt Stone....
"There's nothing we're asking for that hasn't appeared in other R-rated movies, and our characters are made of wood and have no genitalia," said Rudin. "If the puppets did to each other what we show them doing, all they'd get is splinters." (NY Post)
What do you suppose the odds are that those nine scenes that are too dirty for theaters will wind up in a half-hour promotional show for the movie on Comedy Central?
