Kevin Smith to appeal 'Zack and Miri's NC-17 rating

Posted Thursday, July 24, 2008 at 5:00 PM Central

by John Couture

News is breaking on Kevin Smith's podcast (SModcast) and NewsAskew that the director/writer is going through the MPAA's appeal process for his latest movie Zack and Miri Make a Porno. You may have noticed last week that the MPAA officially handed the movie the dreaded NC-17 rating.

According to the podcast, which gives a rare look into the process that is the MPAA rating system, the movie was cut down and resubmitted three times before Kevin stuck his foot down and refused to make any more cuts. As it stands, the film will be screened with the ratings board and the filmmaker will make a verbal appeal for an R rating. Kev is no stranger to the "appeal screening" as he's previously been through the process with Clerks and Jersey Girl.

Not to jinx him, but Kev is a perfect 2-0 in this process, successfully getting the R for Clerks and the PG-13 Jersey Girl without having to make a single further cut.

What's different this time? Well, you might remember a review of This Film Is Not Yet Rated that we did back in January. Perhaps we were touched with some eerie prescience when we made the following remark:

A point the film hit upon, one that I wish it dealt more with, was the chilling effect the movie could have for the filmmakers who criticize the MPAA. I mean, Waters, Stone and Smith could easily be marked men in the eyes of the MPAA and receive even further scrutiny for their future films.

So, is this current flack for Zack and Miri Make a Porno simply the MPAA doing its job or is Smith the first to feel the "This Film Is Not Yet Rated effect"? You know we love a good conspiracy and we believe in the First Amendment all those inalienable rights our forefathers fought for.

To that end, why not send an email to Joan Graves, the head of the Classification and Rating Administration for the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA)? I'm sure a few thousand emails in support of Kevin Smith and Zack and Miri Make a Porno would go a long way in getting the point across that we shouldn't stymie a filmmaker's creative vision to fit into a particular rating.

Remember, if you do email, please keep it cordial and civil. A well articulated argument goes a lot further than one hastily put together.