Did Whiplash (2014) have to be R rated?

The movie does have a lot of profanity in, as well as a lot of language in the context of homosexual insults, but I feel that it worked legitimately for the story and for the characters, the way it was handled.

I felt the movie could have been PG-13, because 13 year olds have all heard these words before, and it's nothing new to them at all, they are not going to be traumatized by it.

What do you think?

Film ratings are supposed to reflect what content is in the film regardless of whether or not it "works legitimately" for the film. Even if you cut out most/all of the coarse language, it's still a very intense film that deals in some mature themes as it's about the prolonged psychological abuse that a music teacher inflicts on a student. You also can't assume that every single 13-year-old knows all the words and concepts that would get used or referenced in the film, nor can you think that that is a good enough reason for it to get a lower rating.

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In all honesty I say no. But that is getting into my issues with the MPAA. A few F bombs and foul language should not lead itself to an R rating, and the themes or other situations of the movie are not R rated IMO. I can see worse stuff on the nightly news (24 hr and network) and even more mature stuff on cable.

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Sure. Ugh, a movie showing bloody sores and cursing??

Lets go back to the wholesomeness of cities being wiped out by lasers and people getting punched across the length of a football field.

If it's ok to confuse young children about there gender then why the hell are we still giving R ratings for a little bit of potty mouth?


Do you want your children to be some god damn Sally street walker?

Could be worse, they could be Rob Schneider fans.

It's rated 15 in Ireland, which I guess is nearly PG-13.

So by your opinion Clerks would get a PG-13? That would be interesting! haha

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Suspect's Reviews

Any movie with adult language is going to get an "R" rating

Well Clerks has a much different tone and context in it's world compared to Whiplash though. Clerks had a lot of naughty sexual humor and that was the highlight of the story. Whiplash is about a musician trying to accomplish his goal. Not really an R rated message or tone in that story really.

I have only one issue with the MPAA, and it's that they are a bunch of morons pushing an antiquated and obsolete ratings system.

We don't need ratings at all. We have the internet. Want to know if a film is appropriate for your children? Do some ******* research

You expect people to be responsible adults. We can't have that.