When The King’s Speech came out last year, I was so excited to see it. Anything with Captain Barbosa, that crazy lady, and Dad from Nanny McPhee sounds like a ripping good yarn.
As we watched the preview I could tell it was something special. Then came the dreaded green screen with the R-rating. “Grrrr.” said I. “What a rip!” (This happens to me all the time at the movies.) You see, my EC and I made a commitment some years back that we weren’t going to see any more R-rated movies – no matter how skilled we had become at self-justification. It has been really hard. No, I’m not trying to be self-righteous. Just righteous. (For more encouragement/guilt on the subject, click here)
So, we didn’t see The King’s Speech. A really, really smart friend of mine said it was the best thing she had seen in 10 years. Fine. Twist the knife. I was still happy to see that it won a bunch of awards last night for two reasons: 1) It wasn’t based on a comic book, and 2) Ben Stiller wasn’t in it.
Nevertheless, we never saw it… but we are going to!
Turns out that the producers are releasing a PG-13 version to reach a wider audience (code for more $$$). Apparently there is a scene where the King utters the dreaded “F” word 15 times, thus earning a well-deserved R-rating. By cutting out some of that scene, they achieved the new rating. I am thrilled – but the director and actors who made the movie are mad enough to cuss. (Of course they are all British, and are required by law to use the F-word at least once per sentence.)
They claim that the edits compromise the artistic integrity of the film. What a crock! A year from now, when a hacked-up version is on my Delta flight to Atlanta, nobody will be screaming about artistic integrity. And when TNT wants to pay them a sack of money to show it on cable, suddenly those “F” words won’t be so essential to the artistic integrity of the film. Those Hollywood-types are a little irritating – even those who are valiantly trying to overcome speech impediments.
Anyway, I’m glad that I get to see it, and still feel like I’m being obedient. Not often you get to have your cake and eat it too – with integrity (not the artistic kind).
Haha! The funniest comment of the whole article: required by law because they are British. Very perceptible. But that’s OK because I consider myself English. 😉
But are all of the F-bombs cut out or just enough to get it the lower rating? IMO *any* time that word is said it’s enough to turn me off of the movie.
I just don’t understand how saying the F word 15 times can be considered artistic.
They can get the same anger or frustration or whatever emotion they are conveying by saying nothing or little if they can show the emotion. Less is more.
My 97-year-old great uncle tried to convince me to go see The King’s Speech and I refused. So I’m excited to hear the news of a PG-13 version!
They are going to pull the R-rated versions out of the theaters and replace them all with the PG-13. Apparently you can’t have 2 different versions out at the same time.
Here’s what I don’t get: Top Grossing Movies 2010
Toy Story 3
Alice in Wonderland
Iron Man 2
Twilight: Eclipse
Harry Potter Deathly Hallows Part 1
Inception
Despicable Me
Shrek Forever After
How to Train Your Dragon
Tangled
NONE of them are rated R. R-rated movies don’t make nearly the money that lesser-rated movies do. Yet some movies purposely add words or scenes to force the rating to an R. They are idiots.
I don’t see how the f word can be artistic at all but that’s me. I am excited it’ll be PG-13!! Will it be in the theater or when it comes on DVD? We do the no R’s thing, too (although I have caved a couple times) It seems like all the movies that look the best end up being R and I find it irritating!
I struggle with this too. I am a big time movie fan and since Cleanflicks and all of the other edited movie companies got shut down, I have been missing out on many movies I would usually be able to see.
Don’t they realize that when they show the movie trailer it messes with the artistic integrity of the movie by jamming two hours of film into 1 minute?
Wow, this is a great bit of news for me because my husband and I have the same rule as your EC and you do. It is hard, but we have managed to stand by our commitment. We haven’t seen an R rated movie in over 20 years. I would love to see the new and improved King’s Speech, even if it is lacking in artistic integrity.
Maybe 13-year-old Canadians are more mature than American teens. Nah.
You should plan vacations to Canada around what movies you would like to see. It’s already PG-13 here!