Why was this great movie given an R rating? - The Joy Luck Club (1993) Discussion

[–] Austinrules24 15 years ago

Well according to the Classification and Rating Administration, the film was given an R rating due to a "strong depiction of thematic material." In other words, just the messages that the movie sets forth deserve the R rating, nothing that is actually depicted (no nudity, gruesome violence). I still don't see why the film didn't only get a PG-13, but that's all any website has to offer. I suppose maybe the drowning of the baby and the cruelty of some of the characters are the reasoning.

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[–] 15 years ago

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[–] crazyhellboy 15 years ago

BTW An-Mei's mother doesn't chop her arm off, she kinda stabs it to make the soup. Her arm is still there.

Though that would have been a wickedly funny movie if she did LOL.

I shall call him Squishy and he shall be mine and he shall be my Squishy.

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[–] 15 years ago

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[–] RCeditor 14 years ago

Some scenes were too much, I know middle schoolers wouldn't understand them
+ Ying making out
+ Ying drowning the baby boy
+ Watermelon thing
+ An-Mei's mother chops her arm off to make a magical soup

.... there's also the rape scene.

SEE "THE RAP CRITIC":
http://www.youtube.com/user/AndreJaxon

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[–] xoangel2789xo 14 years ago

We saw this in 10th grade. I'm trying to remember if we had to get permission slips signed first.

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[–] takashi_kupo 13 years ago

Don't forget sex between minors. Auntie Lindo was forced to have a baby with her little chubby husband in the first thirty minutes of the movie.

Not above cutting a b*tch, since 1988

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[–] itchyfriend9 12 years ago

Except she DOESN'T have a baby with her little chubby husband, or even has sex with him. That was the whole point.

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[–] Molly-31 14 years ago

According to Amy Tan, the men on the writing staff wanted the film to have an R rating. So they wrote that stand-up sex scene for Ying-ying and her future husband. Amy didn't want it and made snippy wisecracks about it, but ended up liking the way it actually came out. This is in Amy's book The Opposite of Fate.

Let's just say that God doesn't believe in me.

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[–] preppy-3 13 years ago

I agree it doesn't really deserve the R rating (it deserves a PG-13 at the most) but I'm glad it has it. This film would probably bore teenagers to tears and young kids wouldn't get it. The R rating is (in theory) supposed to keep them out of the theatre. This is a film only adults could understand and appreciate. Anyways, even with the R rating, it WAS a hit:)

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[–] 13 years ago

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[–] preppy-3 11 years ago

"Age only means that you had more time to think."

Oh really? How old are you exactly? All people go through life experiences and changes well into their adulthood. There is no way that some teenager is going to know or understand how an adult feels. It has nothing to with being smart or stupid.

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[–] 11 years ago

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[–] orcalover120 11 years ago

I beg to differ; I've loved this movie since my early teens. I do agree that most younger people wouldn't appreciate this movie, especially these days when every movie has to have explosions every five minutes to get attention, but you can't really generalize and say that nobody who isn't an adult would enjoy it. Hell, I liked it so much I read the book when I was probably 16, and my Mom, an avid reader, couldn't even get through it because the jumping around in time was a little too much for her.

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[–] itchyfriend9 12 years ago

It does have two f-bombs. That's enough for an R rating right there.

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[–] 12 years ago

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[–] thenicotinefairy 11 years ago

Are you guys forgetting there's a rape scene? Surely that's enough for an R rating.

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