Because of one brief scene in which the word “fuck” is repeatedly rattled off like bullets coming out of a machine gun, the Academy Award-winning film The King's Speech earned an R rating from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA).
That was a shame, many parents who caught the flick thought, because the struggles Oscar winner Colin Firth's character goes through would provide a valuable lesson to children, especially those with speech impediments.
Well, movie magic took care of all that.
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Thanks to the Weinstein Co. getting quick approval of a new PG-13 cut of
the film from the MPAA, that version opens in theaters Friday around the country, including the Edwards University in Irvine. The revised flick turns the sound down as the f-bombs fall.
Not everyone is happy with this. CinemaBlend's Josh Tyler is talking about boycotting the new cut. “It is a big deal,” he blogs, “an act of censorship sure to have far-reaching consequences for all sorts of moviegoers.”
It'll be interesting to see how many heed his call and deliver the new King's Speech a rousing “f-f-f-f-f-f-fuck you!”
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.