Batman: The Killing Joke animated movie from Bruce Timm
- Thread starter Turtletrekker
- Start date
That's very interesting. Its the first DC Direct to DVD movie to get that rating, but based on the people making it it I'm sure they're going to use the rating well.
Why are ratings so newsworthy lately? The only time I ever cared was when I was young enough that it prevented me from seeing a movie in a theatre. Adults really shouldn't care, save for saying "sorry, son, this Batman is for daddy only".
Although I watched the animated series as a kid, I wouldn't çall myself a Batman fan. Even so, when news of this R rating came out, I went and watched the Killing Joke motion comic. Unless that was edited, there's nothing in that story that wàrrants an R ràting by today's standards. It's mature, but not R in my opinion, unless they plan to show animated nudity or significantly added material to increase the violence.
The thing about violence and movie ratings is that it's not really about what the specific acts of violence are as it is about how intensely and disturbingly they're portrayed. Showing a hero gunning down dozens of faceless mooks without any blood or suffering being shown can get a PG rating, but showing the extended torture and psychological torment of just one person can be harrowing enough to get an R. Wikipedia says that "violence that is both intense and persistent will generally require at least an R rating." The violence in The Killing Joke may not be visually graphic, but its psychological impact is heavily emphasized, so it could be called "intense and persistent." As for nudity, it can get an R rating if it's sexually themed, and there is a sexual implication to the Joker stripping and photographing Barbara. And the MPAA seems to be more inclined to give an R rating to male nudity than female, and Commissioner Gordon is naked for much of the story, including one panel of full rear nudity. It could well be that partial nudity in combination with violence and torture would be considered graphic and disturbing enough to garner an R, even if either in isolation would not.
Also, these days, depictions of tobacco smoking can earn a film a more restrictive rating, and if the movie adapts the comic exactly enough, there would be a couple of characters who smoke (including Bullock).
Well, perhaps the motion comic I watched was edited, but that stuff happens "offscreen," so to speak. It's mentioned later, and the photos are shown to Commisioner Gordon at the carnival (with no nudity shown for Batgirl, and "007-in-Casino-Royale" nudity for Gordon), but it's something that is implied and not shown. But I haven't read the comic...I just saw the hourlong audio/visual comic on YouTube, so I don't know. I assumed it included all the pages and panels.
My point is THAT, to me anyway, would be pretty much PG-13 today. Since it's mostly left to the imagination and not shown explicitly. The producers did mention in the featurette that by the standards of today, they might sneak by with a PG-13. But maybe it's framed or interpreted differently in the actual film that makes it hit harder psychologically, enough for the MPAA to deem an R rating was warranted.
My point is THAT, to me anyway, would be pretty much PG-13 today. Since it's mostly left to the imagination and not shown explicitly. The producers did mention in the featurette that by the standards of today, they might sneak by with a PG-13. But maybe it's framed or interpreted differently in the actual film that makes it hit harder psychologically, enough for the MPAA to deem an R rating was warranted.
Movie ratings aren't an exact science. They're a judgment call on the part of the MPAA board members. So it can be hard to say what warrants an R for one movie and a PG-13 for another.
Oh yeah, I blame the people who decide where the stuff is shelved at the store.
I just like to know what I'm getting myself into. I'm not always in the mood for something really sexual or violent, so if there is a PG-13 or PG movie and a R rated movie that I want to see I'll probably go for the PG-13 or PG one.
The thing is, the standards keep shifting. Because PG-13 is the most desirable rating, filmmakers will make films that would otherwise be R and make just enough tiny cuts to drop down, while makers of films that should be PG will add just enough cuss words or whatever to nudge it up one. So PG-13 has become too inclusive to really be informative. And the ratings today mean totally different things than they meant decades ago. Many G-rated films from the '70s would be PG today, and a lot of older PG or maybe R-rated films would be PG-13. So I'm not sure the letter ratings are really all that useful for assessing content.
He just moved on from his gig as the regular producer of the DC Universe Animated Original Movies line, ceding it to James Tucker. Tucker's the one who changed the format from all-standalone (or nearly all) to an annual cycle of two in-continuity movies based on the New 52 universe and one standalone movie in a different continuity. And Timm has come back to produce the past two standalones, Justice League: Gods and Monsters and The Killing Joke. But Tucker's still producing the in-continuity series.