Why Hollywood Doesn't Make X-Rated Movies

Sandler_final_book 5/21/07 10:04 AM Page i The Naked Truth 5 Sandler_final_book 5/21/07 10:04 AM Page ii Sandler_final_book 5/21/07 10:04 AM Page iii The Naked Truth 5 Why Hollywood Doesn’t Make X-Rated Movies Kevin S. Sandler rutgers university press new brunswick, new jersey and london Sandler_final_book 5/21/07 10:04 AM Page iv Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Sandler, Kevin S., 1969– The naked truth : why Hollywood doesn’t make X-rated movies / Kevin S. Sandler. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-8135-4088-7 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN-13: 978-0-8135-4089-4 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Motion pictures—Ratings—United States. 2. Sex in motion pictures. I. Title. PN1993.5.U6S23 2007 384.'84—dc22 2006032341 A British Cataloging-in-Publication record for this book is available from the British Library. Copyright © 2007 by Kevin S. Sandler All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, elec- tronic or mechanical, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without writ- ten permission from the publisher. Please contact Rutgers University Press, 100 Joyce Kilmer Avenue, Piscataway, NJ 08854-8099. The only exception to this prohibition is “fair use” as defined by U.S. copyright law. Manufactured in the United States of America Sandler_final_book 5/21/07 10:04 AM Page v Contents Acknowledgments vii Introduction 1 1 Film Regulation before the Rating System 12 2 CARA and the Emergence of Responsible Entertainment 42 3 From X to NC- 83 4 The Incontestable R as a Code of Production 122 5 Showgirls: The Feasibility and Fate of the NC- Rating 170 Conclusion 200 Notes 205 Index 243 v Sandler_final_book 5/21/07 10:04 AM Page vi Sandler_final_book 5/21/07 10:04 AM Page vii Acknowledgments The genesis of this project dates back to 1990, when I attended the opening screening of the first NC-17-rated film, Henry & June, at the Showcase Cine- mas in Ann Arbor. Drawn in and tantalized by the newly decorated X rating, I left the theater largely perplexed, wondering what all the fuss was about. My professors at the University of Michigan, particularly Stuart McDougal and Peter Bauland, had trained me soundly in textual analysis, but I could not for the life of me tell the difference between this NC-17 film and the many R-rated films I had seen in my youth: Fast Times at Ridgemont High, ½ Weeks, and the long gone but not forgotten Hot Dog . The Movie. Fast-forward several Criterion laser discs and a Basic Instinct later. My curiosity about the rating system evolves into graduate work at Sheffield Hal- lam University in Sheffield, England. I am grateful to Richard Maltby and Steve Neale for their enthusiasm and generosity in seeing through the initial stages of this book. Other people played central roles throughout this project’s evolution. Their suggestions and support were invaluable, and I thank them immensely: Aaron Baker, Gregg Barak, Bryan Beckerman, Daniel Ber- nardi, Matthew Bernstein, David Darts, Edward Donnerstein, Tamara Falicov, Tony Grajeda, Philip Hallman, Dotty Hamilton, Lowell Harris, Heather Hen- dershot, Jennifer Holt, Henry Jenkins III, Dale Kunkel, Mark Langer, Peter Lehman, David Lugowski, Charlotte Pagni, Stephen Prince, Judd Ruggill, Eric Schaefer, Stephen Vaughn, Robin Wood, and Justin Wyatt. I especially want to thank my colleagues at the University of Arizona for all their support: Caren Deming, Vickki Dempsey, Mary Beth Haralovich, Nicole Koschmann, Yuri Makino, Michael Mulcahy, Patrick Roddy, Dorothy Roome, Beverly Seck- inger, Barbara Selznick, Beretta Smith-Shomade, Lisanne Skyler, Albert Tucci, and Vicky Westover. vii Sandler_final_book 5/21/07 10:04 AM Page viii viii acknowledgments Two friends and colleagues, in particular, made a huge difference dur- ing the course of this project: Dennis Bingham and Evan Kirchhoff. Their cogent insights, keen eye for detail, and willingness to read entire chapters at a moment’s notice were invaluable and so greatly appreciated. I also want to personally thank three individuals who have supported me throughout my academic career: Robert Eberwein, William Paul, and Gay- lyn Studlar. I am indebted to them for their mentorship, encouragement, and advocacy. My gratitude is matched only by my respect for each of these individuals. Support for this book came from a Fine Arts Research and Professional Development Incentive Grant, a Hanson Film Institute grant, and the Provost’s Author Support Fund at the University of Arizona. Portions appeared at an earlier stage of development as “The Naked Truth: Showgirls and the Fate of the X/NC-17 Rating,” in Cinema Journal 40,no.3 (spring 2001): 69–93; and “Movie Ratings as Genre: The Incontestable R,” in Genre and Contemporary Hollywood: Formulas, Cycles, and Trends since the Late s, ed. Steve Neale (London: Routledge, 2002), 201–217. My students, many of whom took my film censorship class at the under- graduate and graduate levels, deserve special thanks for allowing me to test my theories and presumptions on them, sometimes forcefully, sometimes unwittingly, but always with a smile. They continue to be a source of inspira- tion for me. I am especially grateful to Nazanin Bahkshi, Corey Becker, Rachel Boyes, Michael Burk, Jennifer Cady, Lance Christiansen, Josh Eichenstein, Ryan Fagan, Chiara Ferrari, Tana Ganeva, Tyler Gillett, Brett Gray, Robert Gudiño, Ben Herman, Justin Hultman, Henry Jenkins IV,Elisa Koehler, Kath- leen Kuehn, John Laughlin, Ian Markiewicz, David McClafferty, Lanée Melle- gard, Tim Morris, Stephen Parsey, Chelsea Powell, Jordan Rosenberg, Darren Rudy, Michael Schaner, Christine Scheer, Michael Shoel, Rebecca Skeels, Kyle Stine, Kristen Warner, Marissa Watson, and Matthew Witte. A number of people in the industry agreed to share their resources, knowl- edge, and time with me. Among them are Paris Barclay, Wes Craven, Anthony D’Alessandro, Kirby Dick, John Fithian, Timothy Gray, Scott Hettrick, Gabriel Snyder, Michael Speier, Kenneth Turan, Christine Vachon, and John Waters. I especially want to thank Richard Heffner for making himself and his papers available to me for this project. Mary Marshall Clark, Whitney Krahn, Rosemary Newnham, Courtney Smith, and Shalini Tripathi at the Columbia University Oral History Research Office were immensely helpful in assisting me with Heffner’s papers. The staff at the Margaret Herrick Library and the British Film Institute National Library were indispensable for the completion of this book. Sandler_final_book 5/21/07 10:04 AM Page ix acknowledgments ix Leslie Mitchner at Rutgers University Press has been an avid supporter of mine since my days as a master’s student. She has outdone herself this time. I would put her name in caps but it is against press policy. Sincere thanks also go to Matthew Bernstein, who helped prepare this manuscript for press. Throughout the process of researching and writing this book, my parents and siblings have stood by me. I deeply appreciate their commitment to my scholarship over the years even though I know they secretly worried about how I could build an academic career out of Bugs Bunny, Titanic, and X-rated movies. Finally, this book would not have been possible without the undying support and extraordinary patience of my wife, Nadine. This is for her. Now it is time to clean the house and wash the dishes. I promise. Sandler_final_book 5/21/07 10:04 AM Page x Sandler_final_book 5/21/07 10:04 AM Page xi The Naked Truth 5 Sandler_final_book 5/21/07 10:04 AM Page xii Sandler_final_book 5/21/07 10:04 AM Page 1 5 Introduction Our characters are made of wood and have no genitalia. If the puppets did to each other what we show them doing, all they’d get is splinters. —Scott Rudin, producer of Team America: World Police People get shot in the head and bashed to a bloody pulp in movies all the time, but we get an NC- for a glimpse of pubic hair. Why is that, do you think? —Wayne Kramer, director of The Cooler TAKE ONE: Puppet sex. Two naked marionettes “making love.” This explicit two-minute sequence from Team America: World Police was given an NC-17 (no one seventeen and under admitted) in September 2004 by the Rating Board of the Classification and Rating Administration (CARA), the movie rating system operated by the Motion Picture Association of Amer- ica (MPAA). Contractually obligated to deliver an R-rated product (under seventeen requires accompanying parent or adult guardian) to Paramount, the filmmakers Trey Parker and Matt Stone—who four years earlier had a similar ratings ruckus over South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)— resubmitted the scene nine times with various alterations before the Rating Board agreed to change the NC-17 to an R.1 “They said you can’t do any- thing but missionary position,” remarked Parker, as his production team eventually whittled down the first cut of the scene from two minutes to forty-five seconds for theatrical release.2 The final cut of the edited puppet- passion sequence expunged many shots of nontraditional lovemaking prac- tices, including moments of defecation and urination, while scenes featuring gory bullet-ridden bodies, gruesome dismemberments, and other forms of marionette-on-marionette violence remained untouched. For Parker this incongruity represented CARA’s hypocritical treatment of simulated sex and simulated violence. “We blow [a puppet of actress] Janeane 1 Sandler_final_book 5/21/07 10:04 AM Page 2 2 the naked truth Garofalo’s head right off. But the MPAA is more concerned with the puppets being naked.”3 TAKE TWO: One and a half seconds of pubic hair.

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