Warning to parents: These soldiers cuss like sailors
Nicole Sperling, Chicago Sun-Times
March 4, 2005
In an unprecedented move, representatives of movie theaters and studios have issued a warning to parents about an upcoming documentary about U.S. soldiers in Baghdad.
"Gunner Palace," which depicts soldiers living in a bombed-out palace that had been owned by one of Saddam Hussein's sons -- opens today in select cities and March 11 at Chicago's Landmark Century Centre Cinema.
Because of its strong language, the film originally received an R rating, which would have made it off limits to people younger than 17 unless accompanied by a parent or guardian.
But after an emotional appeal by the film's directors, an appeals board overturned the ruling last week in favor of the less restrictive PG-13.
The rating board, made up entirely by parents, is jointly controlled by the National Association of Theatre Owners and the Motion Picture Association of America.
Former MPAA president Jack Valenti, who supervises the ratings system, and NATO president John Fithian issued an unusual statement this week on the PG-13 rating.
It said, in part: ''Because 'Gunner Palace's' realistic portrayal of soldiers in combat presents frequent use of strong language not heard in previous PG-13-rated films, including multiple use of sexually derived expletives, we want parents to take note of this important cautionary warning so they can better guide their children's movie viewing.''
The groups decided to issue the statement because the PG-13 rating does not reflect the usual guidelines set forth by the ratings system.
''The content of this picture deviates so far from any previous PG-13-rated film that we believed it was important to give America's parents more information about the picture,'' Fithian said. ''The language in the picture exceeds that contained in any PG-13-rated film in history.''
The appeals board, made up of industry professionals, overturned the original rating based on an argument from the film's distributor, Palm Pictures, that children old enough to be recruited by the military have a right to see what life as a soldier is like.
''I believe we won the appeal on the basis of the fact that in the context of war, the language isn't profane but heard with anxiety and emotion behind it," said Palm Pictures head of theatrical marketing Andy Robbins. "If the military has unfettered access to our youth, shouldn't our youth have unfettered access to our military?''
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Nicole Sperling, Chicago Sun-Times
