Two movies with very similar sex scenes have earned two very different ratings from Hollywood’s secret cabal of shadowy masterminds—sorry, that was supposed to read the MPAA. Damn you, autocomplete!

Recent releases Blue Valentine and Black Swan both have scenes depicting oral sex that are of roughly the same length and shot in similar ways, and neither include any nudity. Still, for some reason, the MPAA has slapped Blue Valentine with the NC-17 “commercial kiss of death” rating, while Black Swan got away with an R. The rating system has historically fallen under fire for frowning on sex and sensuality while not batting an eye at depictions of violence.

Harvey Weinstein, co-chair of the Weinstein Co. that produced Blue Valentine, said, “While we respect the MPAA, I think we can all agree that we are living with an outdated ratings system that gives torture porn, horror and ultraviolent films the same rating as films with so-called inappropriate language.” The Weinstein Co. is in the process of appealing the rating.

Below, we bring you the trailer for Blue Valentine, which is approved for “appropriate audiences.” Whatever that means. We can’t see any reason for the NC-17 rating here unless it’s for bad ukulele playing.



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