The Motion Picture Association of America is once again finding itself in the center of controversy, this time for giving gay drama Love is Strange an R-rating.
The U.S. film board is drawing accusations of homophobia for giving Ira Sachs' film about a gay couple an R-rating, despite not having any sex or violence and minimal language, TheWrap reports.
The MPAA looks pretty bad for giving Love is Strange the restrictive rating despite the film getting a PG rating in Canada and a 15 rating in the U.K.
Steven Witty of the Newark Star-Ledger slammed the decision by the MPAA. "This is a gentle, if often heartbreaking story about two loving men in a long-time committed relationship. What on earth is in it that so horrifies the MPAA?" He added, "I'm sorry. I think I just answered my own question."
According to The Guardian, the film, which stars John Lithgow and Alfred Molina as a couple who must live apart with friends after Molina's character loses his job, was rated R due to instances of bad language.
The rating looks ridiculous when put beside two recent films, The Expendables 3 and Sin City: A Dame to Kill For. The former is all about violence and toned itself down enough to, failingly, draw a larger audience at a PG-13 rating, while the latter is heavy with adult themes, such as nudity, violence, prostitution, drug use and more.
The MPAA tried to defend itself, with a spokesman telling TheWrap, "The descriptor that accompanies the film's rating notes that it is rated R for language - as is any film that includes the same level of strong language, regardless of subject matter."
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