Deadpool movie receives milder 14A rating in Alberta

Alberta's movie rating team has given the movie Deadpool a 14A ratingdespite the violence, obscenityand sexually-explicit content that got the film an R rating in the U.S. and an18A rating in Ontario.

CBC'sCalgaryEyeopener host David GrayinterviewedPaul Pearson, manager of Alberta's four-personfilm classification team, to ask how theydecidedDeadpoolwas rated appropriate for 14-year-olds without parental guidance.

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So what would it have taken for Deadpool to garner a stricter rating?

"Deadpoolis by no means an easy 14A," Pearson said.

"It's gotthreeadvisorieson it.It's got a number ofcontentelements that we list on ourwebsite,no one thinks it's for smaller children, this is for kids in junior high."

AsPearson explained his team's decision, it was partly a matter ofwhat wasn't in the movie.

"The sexual contextis not explicitinfrequent portrayals of sexual activity, but there's no nudity during sexual activity and there's very little detail," he said.

As for the nudity, Pearson said it's mild relative toan 18A-rated film.

"There's very infrequent nudity.There is some, and we note this, both male and female, but it's very brief, it's not dwelled upon, and it's not overly gratuitous, it's not cruel . this is a superhero comedy."

What 14A rating means in Alberta

Pearson said a 14A movie is generally "finefor your average high school student," but that "your average junior high student is going to need somemitigation, is going to have some questions, and it's not something that they should go andseeon theirown."

For comparison, Pearson listed other recentmovies that were rated 14A in Alberta: Trainwreck, Kingsman, andGet Hard.

Pearsonsaid the way other jurisdictions rate movies does not influence Alberta's ratings, but that his teampart of Alberta Culture andTourismrates movies and trailers"based on our current understanding ofcommunitystandards."

For every movie they rate, the ratings team posts a report on their website including a spoiler-free plot synopsis explaining its choice of rating.