Red, White & Royal Blue director discusses the film’s R rating: “I was a little surprised”
The director of Red, White & Royal Blue has opened up about the film’s R rating. Back in May, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) announced that the LGBTQ+ rom-com would be Rated-R due to “language, some sexual content, and partial nudity.” Because the two central characters – in the words of one Twitter user – “f**k every time they see each other in the book”, fans celebrated the news on social media.
With the premiere of Red, White & Royal Blue set for 11 August, director Matthew López broke his silence on the film’s rating in a recent interview with People. “I think I was a little surprised at the R rating just because, while I never was encouraged to limit what we were showing or limit what I was depicting, the scene is what I intended to show.
It plays exactly how I wanted to play,” he explained. “But, I do question whether or not if it had been a man and a woman, if we’d still gotten an R rating.” López then explained his theory regarding the MPA rating system and its preference for violence over sexuality. “I think if there had been a scene of violence between them, I could have kept a PG-13 rating, but because they’re having sex and they’re two men, we got an R,” he added.
While the award-winning playwright was shocked over the R rating, he admitted that he didn’t go into the project to fill the mould of a PG-13 film. “Contractually, I had the ability to deliver an R rating.
