Naked men have got the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) into trouble. Hollywood's ratings watchdog has begun specifically warning filmgoers that a movie contains male nudity — even though female nudity is simply flagged as "nudity." This year, the MPAA has stamped Grown Ups, Eat Pray Love and Jackass 3D with a "male nudity" warning, leading some to accuse the MPAA of a sexist double standard. The organization says parents demanded the qualified warning after discovering that some of the "graphic nudity" in Sacha Baron Cohen's gay-themed comedy Bruno was phallic. Is the MPAA being discriminatory, or just family-friendly?
Such cautions should be equal-opportunity: Hey MPAA, says Jacob Hall at Cinematical. "Women are people, too." If you're going to "warn timid parents that their impressionable children will soon see what a man looks like with his pants off," then you'd better do the same when a female character disrobes. "We're all created equal." Better still, "drop the specifics." If parents don't understand that "graphic nudity" might include men, it's their own fault.
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