Did you know Steven Spielberg inadvertently created the PG-13 film rating? Apparently "Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom" was so violent it led to the creation of PG-13. That's important because most superhero movies are PG-13, well, they used to be. Today we're going to talk about the film industries desire to make your Friendly Neighborhood Superheroes a little grittier.
Deadpool. A character who's live action film has taken the country by storm and reminded comic book fans that 20th Century Fox is at their best when they have nothing to do with their movies. Yellow costumes, expressive white eyes, all the makings of a loyal comic book movie. But among all the other things people talk about when it comes to "Deadpool", there is one detail people have come to admire, it's rating. When "Deadpool" was announced to be Rating R there was a lot of cheer from fans and a lot of dispute from parents. For a while, there was even a petition to have a PG-13 version of the film released. Lets be perfectly honest, parents only wanted the film rating knocked down because most superhero movies are PG-13 and if a parent takes their child to a PG-13 film nobody really cares. You know, because Nazi-punching steroid men and alcoholic perverts in war-progressing armors are totally for children. However, if you're the kind of parent who takes their kid to a Rated R movie you'll be judged by society. And here we all thought that peer pressure ended after high school. As expected the petition failed and we got the Rated R Deadpool we all wanted. And after seeing that the rating of the film didn't effect the box office success, many film studios were quick to jump on the Rated R bandwagon. Fox announces "Wolverine 3" to be Rated R, Todd McFarlane tosses a Rated R film script for "Spawn" into the wind, even Sony Pictures claims a Rated R "Venom" movie to be in development. What makes the last announcement interesting is that Sony's comic book movie career hinges on Marvel Studios. After the infamous Sony Email Leak and the flop that was "Amazing Spider-Man 2", Sony and Marvel Studios decided to work together and share Spider-Man. That's why you saw him in the "Captain America: Civil War" trailer and why there will be no "Amazing Spider-Man 3". Thank Rao for that. Marvel Studios seems to be the only player with dignity because they claimed they wouldn't make any Rated R films. Did Sony obey? No. They bit the hand that fed them and said this Rated R Venom film would be separate from The Marvel Cinematic Universe, but would have it's own Spider-Man. Sony apparently has issues with commitment. Marvel Studios' refusal to make Rated R films is mostly there because everything dark and adult about the MCU is on Netflix right now. There you go Sony, Rated R Venom on Netflix.
But Marvel Comics characters aren't the only ones feeling the wave of "Deadpool". Sadly, Warner Brothers Studios is feeling the "aster" too. Zack Snyder announced that the blu-ray edition of "Batman v. Superman: Dumb of Justice" will be Rated R and feature more violence. Before you have any thought on this, I want you to say this out loud: Superman in a Rated R movie. Think about that. Think about every Superman you have ever seen. Movies, video games, cartoons, television. No matter how dark, or how light, when you think of Superman can you rationalize a Rated R take on the character. Maybe you can, but should you? Should Superman be Rated R? Batman can be Rated R, sure. He fights murderers and psychopaths, his films could be like "Clockwork Orange" or "Se7en" and there would still be more believability to it. But Superman? The American icon? The father of all superheroes? The reason we have all the Deadpools and Batmans and Avengers we have today? Should the very first superhero be Rated R? What does that say about society? Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Mary Poppins, Popeye, Scooby Doo, Luke Skywalker, Dorthy Gale, Homer Simpson, these are a few of America's most well-known and beloved fictional characters and they shouldn't be Rated R. They all represent good and wonder and purity. No matter what the subject matter is, at the end of the day these are icons. Superman is an icon!
Clearly, Snyder and everyone else in the film industry just wants that "Deadpool" money, but none of them care how they get it. It doesn't matter how historical these characters are because to these film makers they're just names that draw attention, and attention draws money, and if something makes money they will do it again and again and again without any concern to the character's reputation. People who don't read comics and only see the movies think Superman is destructive, boring, and a cold killer. He is not. People think Batman is an aggressive, lonely, cry baby. He is not. And if this Rated R craze grows successful it will bury any creditability Warner Bros has. Remember when everyone was afraid superhero movies would die off? This is the thing that will kill them. The obsession over violence and negativity that Warner is pushing into their films will be the death of DC Comic's films. Warner Bros' competitor will become their superior.
"Deadpool" was not the first Rated R comic book movie, but because people see Deadpool as a costumed superhero more than "Blade", "The Punisher", "Kingsman: Secret Service", "Watchmen", "V for Vendetta" or "300", everybody thinks he's the trend setter. I don't want to see Superman in a Rated R setting, I don't want Venom to get a film simply on the merits of a rating system. Films should be made for their effect, not for their subject matter or label. It's bad enough our society is so focused on racial and sexual labels already. If Zack Snyder wants to make a Rated R superhero movie he should just invent one. Same goes for Sony and Fox and whoever else who thinks a rating will sell tickets. Better they fail at that then drag the potential of real comic book characters down with them. That's the real crime behind Rated R comic book films, for characters who aren't meant to be Rated R all it does is ruin their potential. "Batman v. Superman: Death of Justice" could have been the film to save The DC Comics Film Industry, but as the rumors continue we're more likely to see Zack Snyder turn The Justice League into the new Watchemen. And in that case, nobody will watch The Watchmen.
Thank you for reading.
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