'Miral' director Julian Schnabel gets Film's R-rating Overturned

Mar 10 2011

by Kate Ward

Image Credit: Jose Haro

The MPAA has overturned their R-rating of Julian Schnabel’s March 25 film, Miral. The feature, which stars Freida Pinto and follows the real-life story of a Palestinian girl coping with war while growing up in East Jerusalem, was slapped with an R-rating for “violent content, including a sexual assault.”

Schnabel and producer Jon Kilik argued that younger generations should be able to see such a film about a teenager, particularly one dealing with such a serious issue.

The MPAA listened by changing the rating to PG-13.

“I understand the MPAA is by nature a protective organization, but I felt very strongly that they didn’t need to protect teenagers from my film,” Schnabel said in a press release obtained by EW. “Quite the contrary, teenagers are the intended audience for Miral’s story. I am very happy the MPAA proved to be open minded and ultimately agreed.”

Miral is based on Rula Jebreal’s semi-autobiographical novel, also named Miral.

Mickey D's and Peace

Supply chains and peace

• No two countries that both had McDonald’s had ever fought a war against each other since each got its McDonald’s. In a country with a middle class large enough to support a network of McDonald’s people would rather wait in line for burgers than fight a war.

• This also implies that no two countries who are part of the same global supply chain are likely to engage in war. They have too much to lose.

For more go to DrDougGreen.com

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Nothing is Wrong with SEEKING PLEASURE and ENTERTAINMENTS

"Although some say otherwise; there is NOTHING WRONG with SEEKING PLEASURE and ENTERTAINMENTS that bring true satisfaction and joys which hurt no one.

"In fact, they PUT YOU IN A GREAT AND LOVELY MOOD, which is great for everyone!

"And, really, SEEKING SADNESS instead of SEEKING JOY is truly a sad business to be about, and a more suspicious activity than pleasure and joy seeking.

"Joy is a SMILE, a GREAT FEELING, and ECSTASY without limits.

"It's as seamless as an egg.

"I recall when my busstop, ironically, was at the seminary, and it became odd, or inevitable, that while being at school all the CONFLICTS of STRIVING and MONEY and COMPETITION came to be ... tiresome.

"THERE IS MORE TO LIFE than work and bills and, well, more bills. And more work.

"There is the SENSUAL, as well as, the SPIRITUAL--and these two DO NOT HAVE TO COMPETE OR CONFLICT OR WAR AGAINST EACH OTHER.

"So, don't you make them do so.

"There is language, both SENSUAL AND SPIRITUAL, language constructed of words and gestures and tones and more layers of WHAT YOU FEEL AND ARE, which can lead us in and out and into so many PLEASURES and JOYS.

"PERPETUAL, AROUSING JOY!"

--Neale Sourna

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300 Spartans and Isn't It Interesting...

Isn’t it interesting that no one or very few someone’s who’ve viewed the film have complained or even mentioned the coercive rape (male on female, politician on queen) in “300” added to “beef up” the female/domestic storyline, which was not kept in the frame of the time and culture period?

The film’s rapist called it “adultery,” which, writing-wise, is historically neither an acceptable nor feasible concept in ancient Sparta, only for other places and times, like our own. I understand and don’t totally hate how this was inserted and worked out in the film but something more culture-centric and inventive could have been profound.

At least Queen Gorgo (a documented real person, which is a rare thing for a woman in man’s history—to be mentioned and have her name given as well), anyway, film Gorgo did have the violent privilege of getting her own saving country, face, and honor point across in the end; a rarity for women still in much fiction/historical fiction beyond TV movies.

But her activity overall in “300,” besides wonderfully expressing feminine concerns at wartime, was to expose the traitor; or in other words, to serve the man’s story of glory and manly stuff. Yes, I love the abs, yes, I love sword movies, good or amusingly done sword films.

But, really, if you want to add sex or violent sex [and both concepts in our 21st century implicitly imply man on woman activity, not man on man—which is ultimately manly] to a film about ancient Greeks this is how it’s done now, I guess, see “Troy” and Brad Pitt’s Achilles’ “cousin” who has been known for thousands of years as no cousin but as lover.

Perhaps, he was a cuz, since Gorgo was Leonidas’ blood half niece. But I guess storylines incorporating the real divergent, messy, pederasty views and bisexuality and hard violence for babies, mothers, wives, and warriors of the time still prove too interesting, topical, and problematic for Hollywood and New York graphic comic storytellers’ fun about gory glory or the tender Persian/Iranian and Greek present day psyche; Google Greek complaints of gay fears around the “Troy” film.

Neale Sourna
Remember—PIE because Perception Is Everything
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