How did TMP get a G rating?

[Christopher]

They actually showed Zeffirelli's R&J in one of my high-school English classes, 9th grade, I think. I had something of a crush on Olivia Hussey after that. I would've even if the nude scene hadn't been there, but I was awfully glad it was.

[Greg Cox]

Therin of Andor wrote:

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Later that night, my French teacher took a group of us to see a French film, "Cousin, Cousine" (later remade with Ted Danson, IIRC), in the same cinema complex and that also turned out to be less than memorable.

Even with the nude body-painting scene?

Believe it or not, my high school French teacher took us to "Cousin, Cousine," too. Around the same time I saw "Logan's Run."

Apparently, some rites of passage were universal back in the mid-seventies . . . .

(Although I somehow missed that nude Juliet in my teens. Clearly, I took the wrong English class!)

[middyseafort]

Therin of Andor wrote:

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As for Zefferelli's "Romeo & Juiet". A "G" rated school excursion because we were studying the play... and yeah, one scene was very memorable for the boys in my class.

But(t) I'm left to wonder what scene that could've have been?

[Therin of Andor]

Greg Cox wrote:

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Even with the nude body-painting scene?

Hahaha, well it might explain the course I took in bodypainting when I was in my 30s.

[Greg Cox]

Therin of Andor wrote:

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Hahaha, well it might explain the course I took in bodypainting when I was in my 30s.

I remember that scene made an impression on me and my fellow classmates. God bless racy foreign films and open-minded French teachers. (Anybody else remember that dress in "The Tall Blond Man with Black Shoe"?)

Have to wonder if today's teachers could still get away with that kind of thing today . . . .

[Therin of Andor]

Greg Cox wrote:

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Have to wonder if today's teachers could still get away with that kind of thing today...

In 1976, I had to study "Jeu de Massacre" for the Higher School Certificate exam in French, the first year they allowed film study to switch with the novel study option.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061841/

Not sure of its Australian rating and, at the time, we didn't realise it was such an "old" film.

We also went with the same teacher to see "L'Histoire d'Adèle H." (aka "The Story of Adele H."), which worried my Dad at first because it was released in the same movie season as the highly publicised, raunchy, "R"-rated, "The Story of O".

[Greg Cox]

We read "L'Etranger" (aka "The Stranger" by Camus) in third-year French.

Alas, I can see some modern-day "family values"-type parent group getting upset about public schools exposing their kids to Existentialism . . . .

[chardman]

As far as I'm concerned... The transporter malfunction in ST:TMP is good clean fun for kids of all ages when compared to the sound of Maximillian's rotating claws drilling into the chest of Tony Perkins, in "The Black Hole", which came out the same year, was also G-rated, and was a freakin' Disney film to boot!

[Greg Cox]

chardman wrote:

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As far as I'm concerned... The transporter malfunction in ST:TMP is good clean fun for kids of all ages when compared to the sound of Maximillian's rotating claws drilling into the chest of Tony Perkins, in "The Black Hole", which came out the same year, was also G-rated, and was a freakin' Disney film to boot!

Plus, you can never tell what will freak kids out at what age. My little sister sat through the original "Star Wars" without a peep, Darth Vader and all, but was so terrified by the scary lady in "The Rescuers" that we had to leave the theater . . . .

[Christopher]

chardman wrote:

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As far as I'm concerned... The transporter malfunction in ST:TMP is good clean fun for kids of all ages when compared to the sound of Maximillian's rotating claws drilling into the chest of Tony Perkins, in "The Black Hole", which came out the same year, was also G-rated, and was a freakin' Disney film to boot!

Actually The Black Hole was the first PG-rated film produced by Disney -- the beginning of their attempt to diversify into more adult-oriented films, followed by others like The Devil and Max Devlin, Tron, Never Cry Wolf, and Something Wicked This Way Comes. I distinctly remember that when TBH came out, it was seen as kind of a big deal that Disney was doing a PG-rated film.

But preconceptions about the Disney name made it hard for them to market their PG-rated films effectively, so they created the Touchstone imprint to distribute those films under, beginning with Splash. And evidently they were wise to do so, because even to this day, the Disney name on The Black Hole leads to the perception that it was G-rated or directed at children.

[CorporalCaptain]

chardman wrote:

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As far as I'm concerned... The transporter malfunction in ST:TMP is good clean fun for kids of all ages when compared to the sound of Maximillian's rotating claws drilling into the chest of Tony Perkins, in "The Black Hole", which came out the same year, was also G-rated, and was a freakin' Disney film to boot!

The Black Hole was rated PG. It was Disney's first PG production (second released) [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Black_Hole#Production]. I remember that it was a big deal at the time.

[Greg Cox]

Oh yeah, I remember people being scandalized because Disney made a PG-rated movie, which was clearly the end of civilization . . . .

People wrote angry letters to newspapers, etc.

[CorporalCaptain]

Well, chardman does have a point that they didn't just dip into the shallow end of PG, they went straight off the high dive into the 12-foot section of it.

Of course, Perkins had it coming, given what he did to Jamie Lee Curtis's mom.

[Greg Cox]

CorporalCaptain wrote:

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Well, chardman does have a point that they didn't just dip into the shallow end of PG, they went straight off the high dive into the 12-foot section of it.

Of course, Perkins had it coming, given what he did to Jamie Lee Curtis's mom.

Before or after he was framed by Tuesday Weld?

[CorporalCaptain]

Greg Cox wrote:

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Before or after he was framed by Tuesday Weld?

I'm going to have to go with after.