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Film censorship

September 10, 2003 Film Industry, QandA

In your opinion, can film censorship be used as a form of publicity to increase
market interest?

–Alex Rimmer

I can only answer in terms of the U.S., where "film censorship" usually
equates with getting an "NC-17" rating, which makes it difficult
to book theaters and advertise.

While there’s some tradition of a distributor milking a ratings fight for
publicity (SHOWGIRLS, DOGMA, CRASH), I’m not convinced the drama puts any more
butts in seats opening weekend. Rather, I suspect that the number of patrons
attracted by the controversy is largely offset by the number turned off. And
it’s important to remember that most of the movies branded NC-17 receive the
rating for sexual content, which is difficult to market beyond a certain level
anyway. The attendant controversy only highlights the sexual aspect of the
picture.

For truly tiny movies that might otherwise get no publicity at all, talk of
censorship might be an effective strategy. But for most movies, trying to generate
controversy this way seems ill-advised in my opinion.

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