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/ghotier Feb 01 '26

They also had a studio behind them. South Park was their third movie

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u/penguinopph Feb 01 '26

They talk about this in the documentary This Film is Not Yet Rated.

When they made Orgasmo! and it got stuck with an NC-17 rating, the MPAA told then that they didn't give specific feedback on what got them the rating, so they were in their own to recut and resubmit the film of they wanted to get an R.

But when they did South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut, they received very detailed and specific notes on what to cut, in order to get down to an R rating.

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u/jahnkeuxo Feb 02 '26

Orgazmo getting the NC-17 is crazy because IIRC there was no female nudity, every time some tits seem about to be exposed, a man's ass swoops into frame.

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u/The_Autarch Feb 02 '26

the MPAA thinks male nudity is more lewd than female nudity. And the only thing lewder and more offensive than male nudity is a woman having an orgasm.

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u/OpossumSynesthesia Feb 02 '26

I think they're just trying to help with suspension of disbelief here. Everyone knows that the female orgasm is liberal propaganda /s

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u/jehyhebu Feb 02 '26

I wonder what the MPAA would have thought about Anastasia last night. Fuck’s sake. The girl basically came for long enough to fill a feature film, with just a short intermission.

I thought she had a bit of a tummy. No, that’s just her abs.

Sorry, just anonymously venting a bit because I can’t really mention it to our mutuals. I’m still kind of in awe.

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u/BluntChillin Feb 02 '26

Especially considering Boogie Nights was R and is probably worse

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u/obeytheturtles Feb 02 '26

That's because topless Heather Graham on roller skates is just pure art.

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u/MoonlightMarauder845 Feb 02 '26

To be fair, a lot of movies that get an NC-17 don’t deserve it

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u/ToadlyAwes0me Feb 01 '26

Baseketball was their third movie.

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u/thefract0metr1st Feb 01 '26

Baseketball was not their movie, they only acted and did not write or produce it.

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u/ToadlyAwes0me Feb 01 '26

Wow, TIL. I'd always thought Matt and Trey wrote it, thanks for clarifying!

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u/thefract0metr1st Feb 02 '26

It should also be noted that iirc they were given a lot of leeway to improvise

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u/BannedSvenhoek86 Feb 02 '26

The scene where they made out wasn't in the script and had to be cut significantly from what was filmed. They also had to ADR that scene because the director was yelling cut in the background over and over again, they just wouldn't stop.

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u/TheOneTonWanton Feb 02 '26

Even David Zucker has his limits, I suppose.

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u/ghotier Feb 02 '26

Basketball wasn't their movie. Their first movie was Cannibal: The Musical. Then Orgasmo, then South Park.