By Lee Pfeiffer
The whole purpose of the NC-17 rating was to remedy a situation in which the X rating had been appropriated by the porn industry. Quality "X" films were lumped in with sleaze movies. Squeamish TV stations and newspapers eventually refused to carry ads for any X rated film. Thus a film like Last Tango in Paris was treated identically to Deep Throat. Critics Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel used their considerable influence to help the MPAA create a brand-new rating, the NC-17 that was supposed to specifically be used for quality adult movies with strong sexual content. However, studios never fully supported the concept. MGM/UA released Showgirls with the new rating and attributed its failure to alienation of audiences instead of the fact it was a bad movie. Since then there have been a handful of arthouse releases and the occasional studio film with the NC-17 rating, but in essence, its suffered the same fate as the old "X" rating: TV stations and newspapers still refuse to carry ads. Writer Scott Mendelson bemoans this situation and traces it back to 1999 when Warner Brothers punted on the release of Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut and digitally altered scenes in order to get an "R" rating. Mendelson says the studio should have stuck to its guns and shamed newspapers and TV stations into accepting advertising for such a prestigious film.They didn't and American audiences- who are being subjected to a constant tidal wave of sex on TV shows- still get treated like children when it comes to the content of the theatrical releases they are "allowed" to see. For more click here