This is art.

No this is comedy, Garfunkel is Art.

And for Stephanie...

And for all of use here at Salon doomed to eternal hell...

And especially for me, because I'm definitely gonna check out this film when it is released!

See, I feel much more comfortable committing the sin of...umm...watching a rom-com, knowing that you will pray for my filthy soul.

So get on your knees already, dude....

(No innuendo intended.;-)

No point in praying for those without souls.

It's just sad when poop jokes are the funniest thing out there.

"Jay and Silent Bob star in their first and thankfully last snuff film."

This sort of deranged nonsense lay at the heart of my hatred for the fucking MPAA, my loathing for them burns within my soul with the heat of thousand suns.

Not because they dick around Kevin Smith. Frankly, I couldn't care less what happens to him.

It's the whole utter subjectivity of the enterprise. 6 seconds of thrusting makes or breaks a sex scene? Something called the "shit shot" is made more palatable by bringing the sound down a bit?

This whole "oh, you're so close" thing is absurd? Close to what? Do they have a specific decible level in mind for flatulence noises? Is there a number of pelvic thrusts that marks the line between racy mainstream cinema and full-blown porno?

Why does the opinion of these power-tripping sociopaths determine whether or not a film has a snowball's chance in hell of major distribution or not?

Let me remind you that it costs some serious money and time to get a film before these fascists. If Smith had this kind of trouble on Clerks, he wouldn't have the luxury of all these resubmits before he was out of money.

Fuck these people.

To me, it's the height of hypocrisy that a moviegoer can see knives entering a human body, but not a penis entering a vagina in a loving way.

Violence - and hey, tits - are fine, but penises? Oh noes!

Without the shit shot.

So brutal murders and torture scenes (Hostel) where peoples organs are eviscerated and dragged across the screen is ok? But the natural flesh of man and woman is vile.

Wow, we're not backwards at all are we?

Oh wait, the MPAA probably doesn’t want everyone running out and starting their own porno's...that’s it right?

The MPAA first came out to HELP us, i.e., don't want to accidentally take little Tommy out to a movie that's titled one thing, but ends up as another.

Actually they first came out because of a bunch of sticky minded "moralist" (same people who use the constitution for toilet paper.)

-Peril

"Oh wait, the MPAA probably doesn’t want everyone running out and starting their own porno's...that’s it right?"

Yeah, but they're OK with us making our own films featuring rape and murder. Don't worry - you'll get an 'R' as long as you don't even mention pubic hair.

"The MPAA first came out to HELP us, i.e., don't want to accidentally take little Tommy out to a movie that's titled one thing, but ends up as another."

Actually, I have yet to see an instance where the MPAA actually HELPED anyone. OK, maybe they HELP directors censor their own movie. They HELP us remain misinformed and ignorant of how real life works (everyone knows rape is far more common than consentual, loving sex, right?).

In fact, can anyone remember a movie that was advertised as one thing but was actually another? That they may have accidently taken their kids to? Gee, here I thought "The Hostel" was about broke, stoned college kids in Prague... No, I didn't see the trailer, but anything named "The Hostel" must be pretty tame, right?

This is just that much more neo-puritanical BS... because a bunch of soccer moms in the midwest can't be bothered to keep track of the media that their kids are being exposed to, we're all subject to having movies censored, TV stations fined, etc. Heaven forbid that little Billy sees someone's naughty bits, but it's just fine for him to watch Vin Diesel kill thirty or forty people in the space of 90 minutes. Those are seriously misplaced priorities and we need to pull our collective heads out and stop pandering to the religious conservatives at the center of all of these complaints.

Also, I find it pretty amazing that the MPAA is suddenly exercising some supposed power to control the content of the advertising for films. When were they granted that power and by whom? I'm looking forward to seeing that "power" tested in court... what a crock.

So which exactly entails "growing up" the most for our society?

A)Simply less violence

B)Less violence and MORE sex

C)More violence, more sex

D)Less violence, less sex

I wonder if the MPAA has seen it. It would totally put his sh*t shot into perspective.

What indicates we've 'grown up'? ...Let people who make music, books, films do whatever makes them happy. Let adults do whatever the hell they want with their entertainment dollars and let them decide if their kids can see the movie/hear the music/read the book. Let people offended by images look away from them. If there's an audiance, the "art" will be successfull, if there isn't it won't.

What indicates we've 'grown up'? ...Let people who make music, books, films do whatever makes them happy. Let adults do whatever the hell they want with their entertainment dollars and let them decide if their kids can see the movie/hear the music/read the book. Let people offended by images look away from them. If there's an audiance, the "art" will be successfull, if there isn't it won't.

I wasn't asking you, but I'll respond anyways.

Except for kiddie porn, bestiality and possibly terrorist training manuals , everything you stated above is already true.

Nobody is trying to ban Kevin Smith's movies, just trying to put an NC-17 rating on it. As far as I know, NC-17 movies are still available for adults.