Fifty Shades of Grey may be OK for audiences in the U.S. and the U.K., but Universal had to be aware that the film wasn’t going to fly everywhere. Malaysia has already moved to become the first country to ban it.
Malaysian Film Censorship Board chairman Datuk Abdul Halim Abdul Hamid told The Star that Fifty Shades is more like “pornography than a movie.”
“The board made a decision in view of the film containing scenes that are not of natural sexual content,” he further explained. “The content is more sadistic, featuring scenes of a woman being tied to a bed and whipped.”
The movie, based on E.L. James erotic novel of the same name, was supposed to open in Malaysia the same day it opens in the U.S. and U.K. However, United International Pictures, which was the film’s distributor in Malaysia, said that they won’t show it.
Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan star in the film, which earned an R-rating from the MPAA in the U.S. and an 18 rating from the British Board of Film Classification in the U.K. The MPAA rating for the film lists “strong sexual content including dialogue, some unusual behavior and graphic nudity” as the reasons for the rating.
It was obvious that the film would have some trouble playing in other countries, especially now that the Sunday Times is reporting that the film features 20 minutes of sex scenes.
Fifty Shades, directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson, hits theaters on Feb. 13, just in time for Valentine’s Day.
image courtesy of Peter West/ACE/INFphoto.com
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