Controversy over 'R'? It's complicated

A bit of a brouhaha is brewing in Hollywood over the R rating for "It's Complicated," the late-in-life romantic comedy starring Meryl Streep, Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin. And the controversy swirls around the reason for the rating as much as the rating itself.

Not that anyone knows for sure what the reason is, since the Motion Picture Association of America never reveals anything about rating decisions beyond a terse description. But then, Hollywood never did let facts get in the way of a good story.

In the case of "It's Complicated," the R rating is for "some drug content and sexuality." Terse enough for you?

The "drug content" that is primarily responsible for the rating is easy enough to figure out since the only drug use in the film is a comic sequence in which Streep and Martin's characters indulge in a marijuana cigarette on their way to a party, where their inhibitions fall away and predictable comic hijinks ensue.

The "sexuality," a secondary reason, would have to be Streep and Baldwin's post-coital heavy breathing and some dialogue, along with a shot of Baldwin's backside. There's no other sex or nudity in the film.

The controversy revolves around whether "It's Complicated" deserves its R rating. And the discussion, led by the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times — along with that old devil the blogosphere — is indeed complicated.

Again, the ratings board never extrapolates on its one-line explanations. But according to the aforementioned newspapers, the MPAA's off-the-record excuse for the R rating has nothing to do with sexuality and everything to do with the lack of consequences for smoking reefer.

Which is surprising since an illegal high is hardly unprecedented in PG-13 movies. As for the sexual content, "It's Complicated" is a lot less raunchy than most PG-13 sex comedies, many of which involve teens.

Are we reverting to the movie censorship of the 1930s, when crimes without consequences could not be depicted?

If so, we should no longer see PG-13 movies that depict underage drinking or teen sex or marijuana smoking or prescription-drug abuse or any other crime or act of violence … unless the offender is duly punished.

The complaints are valid — there does seem to be a double standard and the R rating for "It's Complicated" is certainly not fair. So the argument is sound … as far as it goes.

But instead of all those complaints about "It's Complicated" being rated R, the ire should be directed at all those other movies being rated PG-13.