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You can’t say that!
Smith’s fight to make ‘P----’
By Melissa Campbell
The struggle is far from over. Networks and cable TV stations refuse to air trailers with the “P word,” and there have been objections to billboards and signs placed near public locales like bus stops, where children might see them.
Despite the fact that R-rated raunch films like “Eurotrip” and “American Pie” are commonplace these days, director Kevin Smith, the brainchild behind “Mallrats,” “Clerks,” and “Chasing Amy,” faced overwhelming obstacles when it came time to release his latest flick, “Zach and Miri Make a Porno.” From a banned poster to an NC-17 kiss of death to the forbidden P-word, getting the movie to the screen was a daunting task.
The film follows two friends, Zach (Seth Rogen) and Miri (Elizabeth Banks), who turn to amateur porn as a way out of debt, and end up falling in love along the way—completely topical in today’s economic market. But even its social relevance couldn’t save it from controversy.
The Weinstein Company, the film’s distributor, designed a seemingly innocent poster that has caused adverse reactions. The design featured a split photograph. On the right stood Banks, completely clothed, and on the left stood Rogen, also fully dressed. At the bottom of each frame you could see the top of a head, easily identifiable as the head of the other. While the subtext is pretty clear, there’s nothing overtly graphic or offensive. Or at least, that’s what the Weinsteins thought. The MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) banned the poster. Notes popped up online comparing the “Zach and Miri” poster to a similar, more graphic yet allowed poster for last year’s “Good Luck Chuck.” The “Chuck” ad had the same layout, though star Dane Cook appeared sans duds in his poster and had a suspicious look on his face).
As a result of the U.S. ban (the original was allowed in Canada), the Weinsteins designed a clever alternative: a simple white poster with two stick figures, and the text: “Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks made a movie so titillating we can only show you these stick figures.” Obviously the MPAA’s intentions to make the movie appear less provocative had the opposite effect. And it became brilliant PR—once you tell someone they can’t see something, you might as well have sold them a ticket.
But the MPAA wasn’t done with Smith yet; they slapped “Zach and Miri” with a NC-17 rating for the film. This time, however, Smith didn’t bow down—instead he appealed the ruling. "We didn't set out to make a NC-17 movie," Smith told the Associated Press. "That's commercial suicide."
And for the third time, Smith sweet-talked his way into a golden R. Smith previously fought an NC-17 rating for "Clerks" and an R rating for "Jersey Girl."
The struggle is far from over. Networks and cable TV stations refuse to air trailers with the “P word,” and their have been objections to billboards and signs placed near public locales like bus stops, where children might see them. Nevermind that any sensible pornographic film would never put the word “porno” in its title. Parents still don’t want to have to explain what a “porno” is, and they feel that the movie sends the message that “making porn is okay.” (Don’t tell that to all the sex industry workers in this country.)
While many subscribe to the view that any publicity is good publicity, even all the hullabaloo didn’t help “Zach and Miri” rise above teen-anthem “High School Musical 3,” which bested the slacker comedy by $5 million. And it only made a few hundred thousand more than “Saw V” in its second week. Smith has also received lukewarm reception from critics.
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