Is a bare derriere really that offensive?
Let's talk about that.
Good mythical morning.
Today we are bringing down the movie ratings board.
Ooh, controversy.
Well, okay, there is a longstanding controversy
around why movies get the ratings they do.
Some really scary, pretty violent movies
like "Jurassic Park" or "True Grit,"
where you see a man literally get his fingers chopped off
with a hatchet and then stabbed through the heart.
Oh, stabbed through the heart with the fingers?
No, with a sharp object, get a PG-13 rating,
while seemingly innocuous movies like "The King's Speech"
are rated R just because they say a few swear words,
or as the LA Times once put it,
"to the MPAA ratings board, 'The King's Speech'
is just as bad as 'Saw 3D.'"
It's a bit strange to lump those two together.
Right, now do you remember like the first time
you saw a movie that wasn't rated R that scared you,
that maybe you thought should be rated R?
Well, as you know, as a kid,
apparently I didn't watch any movies.
Apparently, decidedly.
But Lily recently told me that she was scarred
as a child from watching "Home Alone."
I was like, "why?"
And she said, "because of that scene where he like sits down
and he's made the mac and cheese
and then he doesn't get to eat it."
And I don't think she was completely joking
because she's that much into mac and cheese.
Well, she makes great mac and cheese.
I recently had it.
Yeah.
Okay, the MPAA, which is
the Motion Picture Association of America,
has been around in one form or another since 1922.
And the identities of the board members are shrouded
in secrecy. They're scared.
But we do know that there are eight to 13 members
at any given time.
They're all parents, and statistically speaking,
they seem to have more issues with nudity and profanity
than with violence.
It seems like the whole thing is just a mess.
And today we're gonna expose it
by putting Link on the hot seat.
It's time for some movie ratings are iffy at best.
Is it worth an R rating if Elmo shows his left breast,
the game show.
That's right, it's the game show that puts the sin in cinema
because we're not afraid to go there, sister.
Please welcome our first and only contestant,
a man who hasn't seen many movies
but only because his mommy wouldn't let him.
It's Link Neal!
Hey, so glad to be here.
And reprising her starring role,
she's not the queen of the MPAA board,
but she is the queen of the GMM board.
It's Stevie!
Look at that t-shirt.
Hello gentlemen.
Get where we can see you, Stevie.
Right here.
Check it out. Right there.
Okay. Here's how this is gonna go.
I'm gonna ask you, Link, a series of questions.
Female nudity!
Female nudity, most scandalous, titillating,
and head scratching moments and decisions
in movie rating history,
and Stevie AKA the woman with a lovely voice
and the great t-shirt will show you our or your options.
And as always, if you guess three or more correctly,
you're gonna get a choice between this crisp $1 bill
or what's inside the mystery box,
which the mystery box has--
Gotten larger.
It looks better now, you know?
There could be a full head in here.
You ready to play, Mr. Neal?
Yes, I am.
First question, while butts and breasts
can maintain a PG-13 rating,
one of the easiest ways for a film to earn
the saucy NC-17 rating is full frontal nudity,
AKA showing them genitals. Nice.
But the MPAA has been known to change an NC-17 rating
to an R rating if the filmmakers go back and add
a little clever editing and subtlety, whatever that means.
Which of these freaky films from the '90s
originally had enough nudity to earn an NC-17 rating
before changes were made during it,
during post-production to bring it down to an R rating?
Was it A, "Showgirls" or B, "Basic Instinct?"
Okay, I've never seen "Showgirls,"
but I have seen "Basic Instinct."
I swear it was at your house.
I swear you were like "man, I got to show you something."
Probably, probably.
'Cause I remember the scene, but I mean--
The scene, huh?
The focal point was just darkness.
Was that a re-edit?
Was that NC-17 first?
That is the question. Might it be?
I think, but I think you're tempting me with this one.
I'm gonna go with "Basic Instinct."
You're right, Link!
"Basic Instinct," most known for the infamous
Sharon Stone leg crossing scene that you're talking about
was originally rated NC-17.
The director of the film has never specifically said
what he had to cut to attain the R rating,
though he did say that he replaced things
from different angles, which gives us a pretty good clue.
Interestingly, the original rating of GMM
was NC-17 until we got a desk.
Right, you would love to look,
get a load of what's behind this desk.
Not a lot of space right there, but it's--
Tell them about it.
Yeah, it's NC-17 from this angle, let me tell you.
There was an ice pick. She had an ice pick.
She grabbed an ice pick, if I remember correctly.
You remember all the good parts.
I haven't seen many movies,
so I remember the ones I've seen.
All right, speaking of NC-17,
the X rating was originally an official rating
used by the MPAA until they decided to replace it
with a brand new NC-17 rating
in order to distance legitimate films
from being associated with pornography.
What year did the MPAA's X rating get changed to NC-17?
Was it 1980 or 1990?
Definitely, I don't remember any talk of this
in our '80s experience.
It would be the type of thing that we would,
we would have talked about NC-17, NC-17.
I remember seeing it.
We talked about X, XXX.
I remember seeing it, but I didn't know that it, you know,
I wasn't like "oh, this is a new thing."
I think it, I think it was the early '90s.
He's on a roll, ladies and gentlemen.
Two for two, female nudity.
Now fun fact.
Which is the word I use to celebrate now.
Female nudity.
"Boogie Nights" got away with an R rating
despite showing full frontal male genitalia
because Dirk Diggler's wiggler was a prosthetic.
And that's why we use a prosthetic desk,
because we could never get away with showing real wood
on this show, I mean, come on now.
Who do you think we are?
A prosthetic wiggler.
That got a sigh from the lady with the lovely voice.
So that's, they're reusable that way.
It's kind of like bait when you're fishing.
Like if you use it. Oh god.
You use a use a rubber worm, you can reuse it.
And then somebody else can use it.
Right.
The next guy.
Just yank it out of the fish's mouth and reuse it.
Okay, you're on a roll, but briefly we want to,
you know, move into talking about the podcast "Ronstadt"
that's dropping on Tuesday.
Yeah it is.
We want to share some other podcasts news.
There's a new chat show
you should check out called "Distractible,"
hosted by our friend Markiplier.
Now both of these podcasts are coming to you
from a brand new studio called Wood Elf
that we and Markiplier, Mark Implier,
that's what I call him, we've gotten real close, Markiplier.
He splits and two, Mark and Plier.
Right, we've put together a studio called Wood Elf,
and we've got some other really cool shows coming to you
from amazing creators that we know you'll enjoy.
Yeah, a little bit more information
about Wood Elf real quick.
It's a new label from Q Code, which is famous
for immersive scripted shows like "Ronstadt,"
and now they've got unscripted podcasts,
including "Distractible" from Markiplier too.
So if you're a fan of his,
download "Distractible" on Apple, Spotify,
wherever you get your podcasts, and watch out
for all the new shows coming from Wood Elf as well.
Now, moving away from sex and onto violence.
One particular Indiana Jones film includes a violent scene
that upon its release upset parents so much.
Parrots? Oh my gosh.
Yeah, the parrots.
Don't scare the parrots.
Yeah, they're very sensitive.
And parents so much they bombarded,
bombarded the MPAA with complaints.
The MPAA concluded that because the PG rated film
wasn't graphic enough to warrant an R rating,
a new middle ground rating should exist.
Thus came the PG-13 rating.
So which graphic Indiana Jones moment--
"Temple of Doom," I know this one.
Spawned the creation of the PG-13 rating?
It's 'Temple of Doom."
And this is the first movie I remember
seeing in the theater.
My dad took me and I was just petrified.
I mean, it's not every day you see a man's heart
get ripped out of his chest.
Okay, well that is one of the options.
But the other option is, from "Raiders of the Lost Ark,"
which is when the people's faces melted
off when the Ark of the covenant was opened.
I know it, I know it's 'Temple of Doom."
So I'm going with A, ripping a man's heart out.
This game's too easy for the Linkster,
even though he's never seen movies.
I've seen that one.
The PG-13 rating came to thanks to that particular scene,
when the priest, Mola Rom, ripped out the man's heart.
Now interestingly, "Temple of Doom" retained its PG rating
until this day, but the first PG-13 rating went to
"Red Dawn" a few months later.
So it instigated it, but it didn't get it.
And for what it's worth,
"Indiana Jones and the Temple of Boobs"
has always been rated XXX.
They stack so high.
Maybe I can get the crisp dollar and this.
That's not how it works.
Okay. You know what?
If you get a queen sweep, you get both.
Sticking with movie violence,
the 2009 movie "Taken" alarmed parents everywhere
with its depiction of kidnapping
and intense dad on bad guy violence.
It boasts a kill count of over 30 people,
but it's still somehow rated PG-13.
Which of these gratuitous acts of violence
did not happen in "Taken?"
A, Liam Neeson stabs a guy multiple times
with a broken champagne bottle.
B, Neeson tortures a guy with electricity.
C, Neeson stabs a guy in the junk with a kitchen knife.
D, Neeson bludgeons a guy's face with a fire extinguisher.
So do I have a 50/50 chance? Is A and B one?
I'm saying this block or that block?
No, no, you got to get the exact answer right.
We just couldn't reconfigure our whole board for this game.
That would be like the MPAA like coming up
with a new rating, it's too too much trouble.
I kind of like stabbing a guy multiple times
with a broken champagne bottle.
That seems crazy, A.
The queen sweep has died, Link.
In the junk?
He does not stab a man in the penis
with a knife in "Taken."
And you know what, even though he's a deranged
blood-thirsty killer, you know what he hasn't done?
He's never thrown a dart at one of his employees.
Who would do that?
I threw a dart at the board.
Chase just happened to be in between me and it.
In 1970, the MPAA ratings for films
were G, general audiences,
M, mature audiences with parental discretion advised,
R, under 17 requires an accompanying adult, and X,
but prior to 1970, the age requirement
for viewing an R rated movie was different than 17.
What was the age requirement
to see an R rated movie before 1970?
Was it A, 16 or B, 18?
Yeah, I think they were being more restrictive
and then they loosened it.
Now that's hard to do, you know?
Hard to do.
I can't imagine them loosening the restrictions.
I think they could would only go up.
Make it harder to watch these movies
as the movies got crazier, it's like, man,
people getting stabbed in the junk with champagne bottles.
So I'm saying 16.
You're right, Link!
Back on track.
Now we have very little information
why they changed it from 16 to 17,
but from personal experience, I can tell you
a lot of things can happen to you when you're 16
to turn you from a boy to a man.
Or from 16 to 17, like time.
I was just talking about leg hair.
Oh.
And now obscenity.
Yes.
If a film uses the F word in reference to having sex.
And what is that?
The F word? I'll tell you later.
If it's in reference to having sex,
there's an automatic R rating.
And there's a general rule that if the F-word is said
more than once in a film, even with non-sexual connotations,
it will almost always mean an R rating.
However, after an appeal by the filmmakers,
the MPAA made an exception for one particular film
which contains more than one F-bomb.
Is it A, "The Martian" or B, "Anchorman?"
I've seen "The Martian" and I think I've seen "Anchorman."
I think you might have.
I mean, I've definitely seen parts of 'Anchorman."
I remember being surprised
by a couple of things in "The Martian."
Didn't Ben Affleck show up in "The Martian?"
He doesn't have to be in every single Matt Damon movie.
Or was it Matthew McConaughey?
Who was it that showed up out there?
Are you thinking about "Interstellar?"
I think you're thinking about "Interstellar."
Oh yeah, Ben Affleck,
I mean, the guy who's Ben Affleck's friend, Matt Damon,
he showed up in "Interstellar" after "The Martian."
It's like, why are you still here on Mars?
That's all movies are not connected.
"The Martian."
Oh, after all that, you're gonna go with "The Martian."
Multiple F bombs.
Link, you are right.
Yes, in "The Martian," and Matt Damon's character
uses the F-word twice, once when performing
surgery on himself and once more when he says "F you, Mars."
Very comedic.
It was an ad-lib from Damon.
And interestingly, you know, once a year,
Mars gets very, very close to the earth.
They call it Mars close approach day,
and my family and I celebrate by going out
into the front yard and yelling "F you, Mars!"
Join us.
Link, you got five out of six.
I'm so impressed.
You either get the crisp $1 bill.
I can't, I can't accept this,
because I got to go with this box, y'all.
Can I open it now?
Yeah.
Stevie?
Please.
Shall I?
Please.
Oh, oh, there's no head in there.
Oh, it's nasty.
I wish I knew what he said in the movie
so that I could be saying it right now,
but I was too scared to listen as a child.
I think it was "F you, Mars."
Congratulations, Link.
And thanks for subscribing and clicking that bell.
F you, Mars.
You know what time it is.
Hello, my name is Josh from Charlotte, North Carolina
and it is time to spin the Wheel of Mythicality.
Things getting crazy in Charlotte.
Hope he didn't break those cool glasses.
Click the top link to find out which movies
are too uncomfortable to watch with your parents
in "Good Mythical More."
And to find out where
the Wheel of Mythicality is gonna land.
Add some scientific magic
to your mythical mug collection with the GMM
heat-activated mug available now at mythical.com.