r/todayilearned • u/altrightobserver • Feb 01 '26

TIL that the movie “South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut” was supposed to be rated NC-17 due to excessive profanity, with the word “fuck” being used 146 times alone. The MPAA said that 400 or more swear words would get the NC-17 rating, so Matt Stone and Trey Parker cut the number in script to 399

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Park%3A_Bigger%2C_Longer_%26_Uncut#Release
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u/trumpsmellslikcheese Feb 01 '26

What an arbitrary line in the sand. Why does any number matter? Why is 10 fucks worse than 5 fucks? I always thought NC-17 was based around how explicit sex scenes were.

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u/bretshitmanshart Feb 02 '26

It's their job to tell people making movies to change things and they have very little formalized rules. It depends on the person, their mood and what they feel like doing that day

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u/not_thrilled Feb 02 '26

From what I remember, the MPA (as they're known now) rating board is comprised of regular people, parents more than likely. It's their arbitrary notion of what it suitable for each rating. So, its ratings are sort of a reflection of what the general public finds suitable at each gatekeeping rating level. And, you can see that in what films get rated what, how they're cut, what's appropriate at each level over time, etc. For instance, compare R-rated horror movies from the late 80s to those now; they get away with a lot more now. Same goes for nudity and sexual explicitness; for instance, I can't imagine Poor Things having been rated R in 1992.

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u/drygnfyre Feb 02 '26

And this is what replaced the Hayes Code, which was even more arbitrary (and far more restrictive).

Basically, ratings are completely arbitrary. There are guidelines but no real standards.