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Today:
Your first Rated R movie?
Posted: Jan 01, 2008 in Movies
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Were movies with R ratings taboo when you were a kid? Do you remember the first one you saw?
When I was in the 6th grade there was huge talk of Bo Derek in the movie Ten. I was forbidden to see it. But, I did, anyway...with a friend of mine and a BOY!! Double disapproval. Unfortunately, I was so worried that my mom was going to walk into the theater that I couldn't even enjoy it. To this day, the only thing I remember about it is Bo Derek's braids and Dudley Moore falling down a huge hill.
The funny thing is I saw many movies that were more graphic and more deserving of their R-ratings WITH my parents at the drive-in before I was 7!
I think it was Backdraft for me.
This will date me, but so what? In the summer of '72 (that's the 20th century, not the 19th), I was a teenager away from home and on his own for the first time in life. I was in upstate New York attending a conference for nerdy teens and went to see Hitchcock's "Frenzy" at the local Bijou. I remember being stunned. You have to remember that nudity and graphic violence were still novelties back them. So were prudish FCC standards, and there was no cable TV. I remember being stunned by what I saw (not only by the R-rated stuff) but by the sheer power of storytelling that persuaded me as a moviegoer to identify with the serial killer.
The first one I remember seeing in the theater is probably "Jaws 3D," which is even better to see now (along with Friday the 13th Part 3) because the 3D effects don't transfer and you get all of these cheesy shots that completely don't look right when not in 3D. I also saw the first "Nightmare on Elm St." at the drive-in as a kid.
I was never kept from seeing R-rated films, though my cousins, who I've always been close to, were. We'd sneak and watch them sometimes, which probably had a lot to do with my obsession with telling people about movies. I remember my grandparents for some reason had "Humanoids from the Deep" recorded on VHS and we used to watch that all the time too.
The first one I really remember being at without an adult was Purple Rain. I think I was 12. My girlfriend and I walked in the theater and everyone was sitting in the back so we sat in the middle, but I took the aisle seat. Some guy came and sat one seat away from Terri. Before the movie was over the perv had his pants around his ankles. I didn't notice because I was into the movie and not sitting next to the guy, but Terri informed me, I looked over and we ran out of there, in fact, we ran all the way home. I don't think I've seen the end of that movie to this day haha. Sickos!
My mom took me to see Kramer Vs Kramer, I was maybe 10 or 11, and I just remember thinking why did she take me to this boring movie, I later found out she was going thru a divorce with my dad at the time.
She also took me to see Animal House, I thought that was pretty cool of her.
I remember trying to get in to see "Chevy Van" in like 1977 when I was in junior high but they wouldn't let us in. I don't think I remember the first one I actually got in to see.
I don't remember the 70's!
Beverly Hills Cop, I saw that in the theater when I was 11... my mom took me.. later the same year, since I was a big Prince fan, my parents rented me "Purple Rain" for my sleepover birthday party... I don't know if I saw more than a few minutes of that movie, my friends and I weren't very interested... plus I think there was sort of storm that cut the power in my neighborhood. I recall my parents saying that it was probably a good thing that we didn't watch it. I still haven't seen it.