‘Wolf of Wall Street’ Cuts Sex Scenes to Secure an R-Rating

After the MPAA threatened to give Martin Scorsese’s Wolf of Wall Street the dreaded NC-17 rating, some of the more graphic sex and nudity was cut for the theatrical release. This cut of Wolf of Wall Street still clocks in at right about three hours making it the longest film Scorsese has made to date. Wolf of Wall Street, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill, is still scheduled to reach theaters on December 25.

The news that the MPAA wanted sexual content trimmed from Wolf of Wall Street came right on the heels of a series of tweets from Evan Rachel Wood regarding Charlie Countryman. Countryman, starring Wood and Shia LeBeouf, underwent a final round of edits after its premiere at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. The final cut of the movie leaves out a scene in which Charlie (LeBeouf) performs oral sex on Gabi (Wood).

Said Evan Rachel Wood on Twitter, “After seeing the new cut of (Charlie Countryman) I would like (to) share my disappointment with the MPAA, who thought it was necessary to censor a woman’s sexuality once again…seeing a man give a woman oral sex made people ‘uncomfortable’ but scenes in which people are murdered by having their heads blown off remained intact and unaltered.”

Wood went on to blame society in general for attitudes that allow violent content to remain in all-ages films but place greater restrictions on sex and nudity. It has been no secret that the MPAA’s ratings have reflected this attitude. Showing a woman’s nipple on screen for any reason practically guarantees an R-rating while most action films, even ones that rack up quite the body count, get a PG-13. Blue is the Warmest Color has already received an NC-17 rating for its explicit sex scenes. Given the overwhelmingly positive response to Blue and the upcoming adaptation of the erotic novel Fifty Shades of Grey, the MPAA may wish to revise its standards in order to remain relevant.