{"id":31069,"date":"2022-09-02T01:49:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-02T01:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=31069"},"modified":"2022-09-03T13:18:27","modified_gmt":"2022-09-03T13:18:27","slug":"why-is-blonde-netflixs-marilyn-monroe-biopic-rated-nc-17-instead-of-tv-ma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/why-is-blonde-netflixs-marilyn-monroe-biopic-rated-nc-17-instead-of-tv-ma\/","title":{"rendered":"Why is \u2018Blonde\u2019 \u2013 Netflix\u2019s Marilyn Monroe biopic \u2013 rated NC-17 instead of TV-MA?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Kevin Sandler<\/a>, Arizona State University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NC-17 rating has historically<\/a> been a film certification that\u2019s bad for business due to its adults-only label and pornographic stigma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet Netflix\u2019s Marilyn Monroe biopic, \u201cBlonde<\/a>,\u201d will carry the rating \u2013 a first for the company. On Sept. 28, 2022, it will debut on its streaming platform, following a Venice Film Festival premiere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Based on Joyce Carol Oates\u2019s 2000 book<\/a> and starring Ana de Armas<\/a>, the film reportedly includes a graphic rape scene<\/a> and a vaginal point-of-view shot<\/a> in its treatment of the Hollywood icon\u2019s life and career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I study the rating system<\/a> and am the author of \u201cThe Naked Truth: Why Hollywood Doesn\u2019t Make X-Rated Movies<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Movies carrying the NC-17 rating were often difficult to screen and promote, as they were locked out of some movie theater chains and traditional advertising. The critically acclaimed, sexually graphic \u201cBlue is the Warmest Color<\/a>\u201d in 2013 was the last serious film released with the rating. Despite making over $2.2 million on 142 screens, its relative success as an NC-17 film didn\u2019t fuel the production of any more movies like it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So why would Netflix resurrect a rarely used, contentious, and restrictive NC-17 for \u201cBlonde\u201d? Netflix\u2019s 2020 film \u201cCuties<\/a>,\u201d which caused a PR crisis<\/a> over the perceived hypersexualization of young girls, now has a \u201cTV-MA\u201d rating on the streaming service. Why wouldn\u2019t the company simply use the same rating for \u201cBlonde\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From \u2018X\u2019 to \u2018NC-17\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The NC-17 is one of five ratings \u2013 the others are G, PG, PG-13 and R \u2013 that the Classification and Rating Administration<\/a>, a division of the Motion Picture Association<\/a>, assigns to films submitted for certification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NC-17 means \u201cNo one 17 and under admitted.\u201d This classification prevents children from purchasing a ticket or entering a theater, even if accompanied by an adult. It replaced the X rating in 1990<\/a>, which had been the adults-only marker since Motion Picture Association of America President Jack Valenti created the rating system in 1968<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Yellow<\/a>
Even though the \u2018X\u2019 rating could simply acknowledge excessive violence or drug use, it came to be largely associated with pornographic films. Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

However, Valenti\u2019s failure to copyright the X made it possible for any film to carry the adults-only rating without its distributor having to officially pay the Classification and Rating Administration for certification. This allowed filmmakers to slap it on pornographic films like \u201cDeep Throat<\/a>\u201d to attract viewers and to gain access to the legitimate marketplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the X rating could be also assigned for representations of nudity, violence, language, drug use or overall \u201ctone,\u201d this association with hardcore sexual content stigmatized the category\u2019s use by serious filmmakers for years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Valenti hoped renaming the X rating as NC-17 would spur the adults-only rating\u2019s use by the film industry. For the most part, it didn\u2019t, with a few notable exceptions like \u201cShowgirls<\/a>\u201d (1995), \u201cBad Education<\/a>\u201d (2004) and \u201cShame<\/a>\u201d (2011).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, practically all distributors whose films were initially awarded an NC-17 by the Classification and Rating Administration chose one of three options: to re-edit their films down to an R rating, to release an R-rated and unrated version for home video or DVD, or simply to surrender the rating altogether and release the film theatrically without one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was commonly believed that an unrated film would encounter fewer barriers<\/a> to exhibition in the U.S. marketplace than an NC-17 one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An eye toward awards season<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Netflix, though, is not a movie theater. It is a streaming service that requires no admittance in the traditional sense, has no employees patrolling its screenings for underage viewers, and shifts the responsibility of denying access to its content to subscribers themselves. Netflix offers parental controls<\/a> so users can restrict access to certain content for each profile in their accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Significantly, many Netflix films with mature content carry a \u201cTV-MA\u201d rating. The TV Parental Guidelines Monitoring Board<\/a> developed the designation, meaning \u201cFor mature audiences. May not be suitable for ages 17 and under.\u201d It\u2019s recognizable to viewers of television series like AMC\u2019s \u201cBetter Call Saul<\/a>,\u201d FX\u2019s \u201cAmerican Horror Story<\/a>\u201d or even Netflix\u2019s \u201cOzark<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So why wouldn\u2019t Netflix apply a maturity rating from television to \u201cBlonde\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The answer is simple: Netflix likely sees the film as an Oscar contender.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Per the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences\u2019 rules<\/a>, to qualify for the Academy Awards, \u201cBlonde\u201d must have a theatrical run, even if that run is extremely short. In 2019<\/a>, Netflix joined the Motion Picture Association \u2013 the first and only streaming service to do so. So if it decides to release its films theatrically, Netflix must do so with a rating, just like the legacy member companies: Disney, Paramount, Sony, Universal and Warner Bros.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With its TV-MA-rated \u201cIbiza: Love Drunk<\/a>,\u201d \u201cCuties<\/a>\u201d and \u201c365 Days<\/a>,\u201d Netflix never carried a Motion Picture Association rating because these films bypassed theatrical exhibition altogether in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Making the media rounds<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Netflix undoubtedly is also using the NC-17 for \u201cBlonde\u201d as a marketing ploy \u2013 what film scholar Justin Wyatt has called \u201cmarketing controversy<\/a>,\u201d a technique used in the past to sell films that received an X or NC-17.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Netflix has remained mum on the subject. Instead, \u201cBlonde\u201d director Andrew Dominik and star de Armas have dropped hints to the media about the film\u2019s provocative and sensationalist aspects, while, at the same time, expressing incredulity at the film\u2019s NC-17 rating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Man<\/a>
\u2018Blonde\u2019 director Andrew Dominik. Danny Martindale\/FilmMagic via Getty Images<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was surprised,\u201d Dominik told Vulture<\/a>. \u201cI thought we\u2019d colored inside the lines.\u201d De Armas said largely the same in an interview for French fashion magazine L\u2019Officiel<\/a>. \u201cI didn\u2019t understand why [the rating] happened.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nearly in the same proverbial breath, both director and star have also teased the salaciousness of the subject matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an NC-17 movie about Marilyn Monroe, it\u2019s kind of what you want, right?\u201d Dominik told Screen Daily<\/a>. \u201cI want to go and see the NC-17 version of the Marilyn Monroe story.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

De Armas, meanwhile, supports Dominik\u2019s unfiltered look at Monroe\u2019s life, declaring it<\/a> \u201cthe most daring, unapologetic, and feminist take on her story that I had ever seen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018A little steam to keep the stream\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I wonder, though: Is \u201cBlonde\u2019s\u201d NC-17 really much of a selling point, given what viewers are regularly exposed to in their living rooms?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a streaming landscape littered with sexually explicit TV-MA television series like HBO\u2019s \u201cEuphoria<\/a>\u201d and \u201cHouse of the Dragon<\/a>,\u201d Hulu\u2019s \u201cMinx<\/a>\u201d and \u201cPam & Tommy<\/a>,\u201d and even Netflix\u2019s own \u201cSex\/Life<\/a>\u201d and \u201cHow to Build a Sex Room<\/a>,\u201d it shouldn\u2019t be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dominik indirectly, but perhaps correctly, undercut his own film\u2019s luridness, telling Screen Daily<\/a>, \u201cIf I look at an episode of \u2018Euphoria,\u2019 it\u2019s far more graphic than anything going on in \u2018Blonde.\u2019\u201d De Armas echoed the same talking points later in her L\u2019Officiel interview<\/a>: \u201cI can tell you a number of shows or movies that are way more explicit with a lot more sexual content than \u2018Blonde.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This new wave of sexually frank and progressive series, according to Variety television writer Joe Otterson<\/a>, may be one strategy that streaming companies are using to keep subscribers enthralled in an increasingly competitive marketplace. \u201cIt might take a little steam to keep the stream,\u201d Otterson writes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBlonde\u201d \u2013 NC-17, TV-MA or unrated \u2013 is just another provocative addition to this pot. https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/aIsFywuZPoQ?wmode=transparent&start=0 The trailer for \u2018Blonde.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kevin Sandler<\/a>, Associate Professor of Film and Media Studies, Arizona State University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kevin Sandler, Arizona State University The NC-17 rating has historically been a film certification that\u2019s bad for business due to its adults-only label and pornographic stigma. Yet Netflix\u2019s Marilyn Monroe biopic, \u201cBlonde,\u201d will carry the rating \u2013 a first for the company. On Sept. 28, 2022, it will debut on its streaming platform, following a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":31070,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[293,8025],"tags":[2876,1409,11459,12480,2225,652,1742,12481,12479,162,12482,7221,788],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31069"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31069"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31069\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31077,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31069\/revisions\/31077"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}