The US film censor has been accused of homophobia after a film about two older gay men which features no sex, nudity or violence was handed a restrictive “R” rating, meaning people under the age of 17 cannot view it without a parent or guardian. 
 
 Love is Strange, which opens in the US this weekend, stars John Lithgow and Alfred Molina as long-term partners forced to stay separately with friends when Molina loses his job after the couple marry. 
 
 While the film is unlikely to be catmint for children, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has noted a number of uses of bad language in its decision to hand down an “R” rating. However, critics have pointed out that two other new movies that feature far more obviously adult themes – but which do not focus on a gay relationship – have received the same grading. 
 
 Comic-book sequel Sin City: A Dame to Kill For features scenes of prostitution, extreme violence, nudity and drug use. Horror film Jersey Shore Massacre includes scenes of graphic gore and violence towards women, with one victim being disembowelled and another having her breasts sliced open. Both open on the same weekend as Love is Strange. 
 
 “If there’s an equivalence among these three films, and their equal unsuitability for anyone under 17, it’s lost on me — and, I suspect, on anyone but the censors at the MPAA,” wrote Stephen Whitty of the New Jersey Star-Ledger. “Not only is there nothing violent in Love Is Strange, there’s not even anything explicit. It is about as mild and mainstream a portrayal of gay life as you can imagine ... And it is very hard to imagine that – if it starred, say, Robert Duvall and Jane Fonda as a similar long-time couple suddenly facing homelessness – it would be lumped in with movies crammed full of queasily stylish sexism and sickening torture porn.” 
 
 J Bryan Lowder of Slate magazine added: “What is the ‘adult material’ in Love is Strange that might require “parental accompaniment” for moviegoers under the age of 17? Well, Lithgow and Molina do snuggle a lot. And they kiss and hug and express four decades’ worth of affection for each other. Ah, and there is some subtle intimation that one of the men’s nephews may be gay, too. Clearly, these offences are just as worthy of parental trepidation as the grotesquerie of watching a woman have her breast sliced open on screen – or at least that’s how the MPAA seems to see it.” 
 
 
 
 The MPAA, a voluntary body set up by Hollywood studios to self-censor movies, has come in for criticism in the past for zeroing in on sexual themes but allegedly turning a blind eye to violence. The critically acclaimed 2006 documentary This Film is Not Yet Rated also alleged that censors viewed movies with homosexual themes more negatively than those with heterosexual ones. 
 
 The MPAA has not yet made any public comment on the accusations of homophobia. Love is Strange has been rated a 15 in the UK, with the British Board of Film Classification also citing “strong language”, but the movie is a PG in Canada. ||||| The MPAA movie ratings are supposed to provide information on a movie's content, so parents can decide whether or not it's suitable for their children. 
 
 But what kind of information are they really providing? And what are they assuming we want to protect our children from? 
 
 On Friday, "Sin City: A Dame to Kill For" will be released in a wide number of theaters. It features nudity, sexual situations and substance abuse. Every woman in it is a stripper, a prostitute or a murderer. There is violence and graphic gore, including one scene of a man having his eye plucked out and another of a man having his fingers broken with a pliers. It is rated R. 
 
 That day, "Jersey Shore Massacre" also reaches theaters. It features nudity, sexual situations, substance abuse and ethnic and racial slurs. There is violence and graphic gore, including one scene of a woman being disemboweled, another of a naked woman getting her breasts sliced open and one of a man having his hands fed into a wood chipper. It is rated R. 
 
 Also opening is "Love Is Strange." There is no nudity. There are no sexual situations. The drug or alcohol material mostly consists of adults having wine with dinner, or cocktails at a bar. There is no violence or gore. There are several scenes of men kissing, and two scenes of a gay couple sleeping together, fully clothed, in bed. It is rated R. 
 
 If there's an equivalence among these three films, and their equal unsuitability for anyone under 17, it's lost on me — and, I suspect, on anyone but the censors at the MPAA. 
 
 Not only is there nothing violent in "Love Is Strange," there's not even anything explicit. It is about as mild and mainstream a portrayal of gay life as you can imagine. Ben, played by John Lithgow, is a 71-year-old retiree. George, played by Alfred Molina, is a music teacher at a Catholic school. In the film, they have been together for nearly 40 years (until, in a unfair and sudden reversal of fortune, they lose their apartment). 
 
 It's a simple human story. And it is very hard to imagine that — if it starred, say, Robert Duvall and Jane Fonda as a similar long-time couple suddenly facing homelessness — it would be lumped in with movies crammed full of queasily stylish sexism and sickening torture porn. 
 
 (Oh, and by the way, that last "Transformers" movie — which memorably featured a man burnt to a crisp — was rated PG-13. So was "The Expendables 3," a film whose body count would require a calculator.) 
 
 Yes, "Love Is Strange" features some vulgar words, as do all the other R-rated films here. (In fact, the only reason given for the rating assigned "Love Is Strange" is "language.") 
 
 But in other films, on other subjects, the MPAA has sometimes shown considerable leeway on language , depending on context. And even this film's few strong words aren't spoken with violence, nor do they approach the wall-to-wall obscenity of some crime movies. 
 
 This is a gentle, if often heartbreaking story about two loving men in a long-time committed relationship. What on earth is in it that so horrifies the MPAA? 
 
 I'm sorry. I think I just answered my own question. ||||| This weekend, 16-year-olds across the nation will have to ask their parents for help if they want to watch women exploited, tough men murdered, and guts fly across the screen. 
 
 If they want to watch a delicate, realistic story about two men in a long-term relationship, they will have a similar problem. 
 
 Also read: ‘Love is Strange’ Review: John Lithgow and Alfred Molina Play Homeless Husbands in a Classic New York Story 
 
 Once again, the MPAA is coming under fire for its arcane ratings system, which this time around, has given both ultra-violent comic book flick “Sin City: A Dame to Kill For” and Ira Sachs‘ critically acclaimed Sundance drama “Love is Strange” R ratings. 
 
 But unlike Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller‘s stylized neo-noir dystopia, “Love is Strange,” which stars John Lithgow and Alfred Molina, contains zero violence or nudity. Ostensibly, the film was given the rating for “strong language,” as it apparently exceeds the MPAA’s minuscule limit for curse words, though any audience member would be hard-pressed to remember a single instance of one being used in the Sony Pictures Classics release. 
 
 Meanwhile, films like “The Expendables 3” scored a PG-13 rating, despite featuring violence as the one (weak) lure to come see it at all. 
 
 See video: John Lithgow and Alfred Molina Discover ‘Love Is Strange’ in First Trailer 
 
 The rating has drawn outrage from critics and bloggers alike, led in part by Newark Star-Ledger critic Stephen Witty’s excoriation of the industry group’s decision. 
 
 “This is a gentle, if often heartbreaking story about two loving men in a long-time committed relationship. What on earth is in it that so horrifies the MPAA?” he asked, rhetorically. “I’m sorry. I think I just answered my own question.” 
 
 Other writers were less veiled in their anger and accusations. 
 
 “Let’s hope parents are smarter than this,” J. Bryan Lowder wrote at Slate. “There is nothing ‘adult’ or at all worrisome about a movie that quietly and gently portrays a gay couple and their struggles. To think otherwise is to participate in an insidious sort of homophobia that uses child-sized human shields to disguise basic prejudice.” 
 
 See photo: This ‘Sin City’ Eva Green Poster Has Too Much Nipple for the MPAA 
 
 Writers at Queerty, The Guardian and The Independent also voiced their objections; in the UK, the film was rated OK for 15-year-olds, while it’s a PG in Canada. 
 
 The MPAA has a track record for being overly harsh on LGBT-themed films. Last year, Darren Stein, the director of “G.B.F.,” called out the organization in a widely-read Facebook post. 
 
 “I always thought of G.B.F. as a PG-13 movie, but we were given an R ‘For Sexual References’ while not having a single F-bomb, hint of nudity or violence in the film,” he wrote. “Perhaps the ratings box should more accurately read ‘For Homosexual References’ or ‘Too Many Scenes of Gay Teens Kissing.’ I look forward to a world where queer teens can express their humor and desire in a sweet, fun teen film that doesn’t get tagged with a cautionary R.” 
 
 A spokesman for the MPAA told TheWrap: “The descriptor that accompanies the film’s rating notes that it is rated R for language – as is any film that includes the same level of strong language, regardless of subject matter.” 
 
 The MPAA has been challenged before; just last year, The Weinstein Company won a decision in which the R-rating for its Oscar-nominated “Philomena” was converted to a PG-13. 
 
 That movie had one too-many F-bombs, but it only involved child abuse, not a loving, long-term relationship between a gay couple.
– You won't see any sex or violence in the new R-rated film Love Is Strange. What you will see is a love story between two men—which has critics wondering whether homophobia might explain the MPAA's rating decision. The movie is about a couple who must live apart after decades together. Yet critics have observed that it's received the same rating as the new Sin City movie, which contains violence, drugs, and nudity, and Jersey Shore Massacre, which is packed with gore, the Guardian notes. "It is very hard to imagine that if it starred, say, Robert Duvall and Jane Fonda as a similar long-time couple suddenly facing homelessness, it would be lumped in with movies crammed full of queasily stylish sexism and sickening torture porn," writes Stephen Whitty in the Star-Ledger. The MPAA tells the Wrap: "The descriptor that accompanies the film's rating notes that it is rated R for language—as is any film that includes the same level of strong language, regardless of subject matter." But the MPAA has been known to show "considerable leeway on language" in other instances, Whitty notes.