In the days leading up to the premiere of Taylor Swift's eagerly awaited The Eras Tour Movie, fans have been offered a glimpse of what's in store, including something rather unexpected. The concert film, set to hit theaters on October 13, has garnered a PG-13 rating for "strong language and suggestive materials."
The PG-13 stamp, while ensuring the film's accessibility to a broader audience, has raised eyebrows and questions, considering several songs featured in the Eras Tour setlist are known for their explicit lyrics, which fans are concerned might be censored for the movie.
Tracks like 'champagne problems', 'betty', and the uncut 10-minute version of 'All Too Well' each incorporate the expletive "f*ck" at least once. Meanwhile, songs such as 'Vigilante Shit' and 'Tolerate It' are peppered with multiple instances of the word "shit".
Fortunately, fans can breathe a sigh of relief as the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) guidelines allow for a PG-13 rating even for films with more than one expletive, provided a two-thirds majority of the Rating Board finds it appropriate due to the context or manner in which the words are used.
For example, Rian Johnson's mystery film Knives Out and Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk both contained several expletives despite being awarded a PG-13 rating. Given that most expletives in Swift's tracks are neither sexually explicit nor depict sexual activity, The Eras Tour Movie might just neatly fit within these parameters.