More studio censorship - Bertolucci's "The Dreamers" (1 Viewer)

[Jay E]

More depressing news out of Hollywood. Fox is asking that cuts be made in Bernardo Bertolucci's newest film The Dreamers which Bertolucci says will amputate & mutilate his film. I'm really getting tired of how Hollywood allows all kinds of mindless violence in films but when it comes to sex in a mature, adult film, it's a real no-no:

http://www.imdb.com/StudioBrief/#1

 

[Peter Kim]

Odd, since this will fall under their Fox Searchlight banner, supposedly their arthouse studio catering to an adult, mature taste. Nevertheless, sad to see that a director of Bertolucci's stature not get the freedom he deserves.

I hope the studio exec(s) calling this shot falls back from this move as a result of Bertolucci's outcry. I'm also tired of big-name (and even not so big-name), mainstream directors get carte blanche when it comes to blow-em up violence while the beauty of human sexuality gets neutered by infantile sensibilities.

 

[Jack Briggs]

I was reading about this in yesterday's Los Angeles Times (a fairly lengthy story). Sad, depressing. And, seemingly, "only in America."

 

[Dan Rudolph]

It was bad enough when Miramax was doing it. Who wants to watch Italian movies without all the nudity?

 

[Ted Todorov]

Thank God for R2 DVDs! I don't understand why studios buy films they don't like and then mutilate them. Why not just pass, and let someone else release it uncut?

Ted

 

[ThomasC]

Why not just pass, and let someone else release it uncut?

Because the studio heads think they know better, and in the words of Harvey Scissorhands (IIRC), "I cut the shit to make the shit work."

 

[Adam_S]

What the hell happened in the eighties to make sex so damn taboo and violence so okay? Nintendo/Reagan combination? (I just had visions of children locking themselves in closets playing Nintendo while listening to nonstop loops of Reagan speeches... this could very well be the scariest thing I've ever thought of)

Airplane has nudity and would probably be rated R for that today (or just cut out). THX 1138 has VERY sexual nudity in some scenes, and rather innocuous nudity in others. Both of these films are PG. Ridiculous, in my opinion.

 

[Dan Rudolph]

What happened is the PG-13 was created, makign nudity pretty much out for PGs.

 

[Adam_S]

Well yes there is that, but I'm thinking more of a general trend towards: any sexuality = more evil than satan himself that wasn't present (or at least not as in-your-face prevalent) in seventies mindsets.

I'm sure it's a lot of factors, some of them entertainment related (PG13, premium cable channels like HBO), and probably even more sociological factors.

What about aging hipsters that finally stopped 'rebelling against the man, man' and started being a constructive part of society? or perhaps the more conservative elements tried to entrench their indoctrinated beliefs more deeply in order to offset the percieved wrongs of the free love generation? Or any of a variety of factors that have catapulted sex and sexuality as offensive and (potentially) damaging issue number one.

Hell look at the rise of smut with the onset of homevideo, that had to factor in as availability to youngsters increased (and would later skyrocket to ludicrous ease with the advent of the internet). That and the softcore porn on late night pay cable--I've always wondered, does anyone other than 13y.o. boys watch programs like Real Sex?

I'm sure there are many more forces at work here, thoughts anyone?

Adam