Who'd Have Thought: The MPAA Has Issues with 'Zack and Miri Make a Porno'

Kevin Smith's latest, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, is apparently having trouble securing an R rating from the MPAA, sending star Seth Rogen on the obligatory rant about how the MPAA cracks down on sex while giving virtually all violence a pass. You can check out his full comments at MTV if you like, and no prizes for guessing which torture-happy recent horror franchise he cites as an example of what the MPAA should be targeting instead of pestering his movie. The tongue-halfway-in-cheek kicker from Rogen: "The MPAA? It's my mission to sue the MPAA and take them down. I don't know how to go about doing that. But to me, it seems like it's something that has to be taken care of."

I'm in the camp that thinks the problem lies less in the MPAA's attitudes toward "objectionable" content and more in the stigma placed on the NC-17. For a movie whose marketing campaign has consisted of cheerfully courting controversy -- check out the hilarious teaser if you don't believe me -- it's a bit disappointing that Zack and Miri doesn't run with the harsher rating. The asinine restrictions on advertising that accompany the NC-17 stamp would be a bummer, but the blogs and magazines would go nuts, and I think the movie would do pretty well.

Do watch that teaser (which had MPAA issues of its own) if you haven't already. Among other things, it will make you fall in love with Elizabeth Banks. Uh, if you haven't already.