Gibson's 'Passion' earns R rating for graphic violence

Published: 2004-02-11

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The Motion Picture Association of America has given actor-director Mel Gibson's film "The Passion of the Christ" an R rating for its sequences of graphic violence. In a rough cut of the movie shown during a November screening in Washington, one five-letter vulgarism for a promiscuous woman was directed at Mary Magdalene by a Roman soldier early in the film. Appearing as an English subtitle, the term was startling because the word -- or anything remotely like it -- does not appear in any biblical account of the Passion. But that word alone would not merit the R rating -- for "restricted, under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian." In fact, a much cruder word can be spouted twice in a film -- albeit in a nonsexual way -- and the film can hang on to a PG-13 rating, which allows anyone of any age to see the movie without parental accompaniment. The violence that did earn "The Passion of the Christ" the R rating is historically based. But how that violence is depicted is another matter. A Feb. 7 Los Angeles Times story said, "Gibson has emphasized that it (his film) is not for young children."

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