The Movie and Television Review Classification Board (MTRCB) has recently been questioned for giving an X-rating to three movie trailers for the CineFilipino Film Festival 2016. In the March 13th InterAksyon article, they have that the trailers of three feature-length films have been ‘deemed unfit; for public exhibition in theaters and television. The two CineFilipino Film Festival entries include Jason Paul Laxamana’s “Ang Taba Ko Kasi,” Frank David Fabros’ “Straight to the Heart”.
Here is the ‘ang Taba Ko Kasi’ trailer only available online that got slapped with X-rating or unfit to be shown on television and theaters.
https://www.facebook.com/angtabakokasi/videos/768379883296061/
‘Ang Taba Ko Kasi’ main star Cai Cortez (real life daughter of veteran actor Rez Cortez) has brought her grievances about the MTRCB’s X-rating in her Instagram account:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BC1UEBFoWpz/?taken-by=caicortez&hl=en
The screenshot of the MTRCB letter posted by Laxamana and Cortez states the film was given an “X” rating due to strong offensive language/insult on the appearance of a person. Cai’s caption to the screenshot reads as follows…
“Pwede pong paki explain, MTRCB? Taba is a description. It is not an insult. Same as Payat, tankad, liit, may mas malalala pa ngang trailer galing sa ibang bansa o sikat na pelikula dito na paulit ulit na inaadvertise sa theaters eh. What is so offensive with ours that you label it “x rated”?? Would you have done the same if our title was “Ang Payat Ko Kasi?”
(“Can you please explain, MTRCB. Fat is a description. It is not an insult. Same as thin, tall, small; there is even a much offensive trailer that came from another country or a popular film that has been continuously running on theaters. What is so offensive with our movie that you labeled it as “x rated?” Would you have done the same if our title was “Ang Payat Ko Kasi?“)
Her statement implies that there seems to be a double standard on the part of the MTRCB. The film director’s Jun Laxamana cited that the theatrical trailer for the rated R-16 Hollywood blockbuster “Deadpool” didn’t get the ‘X’ which reads as follows:
“And then you have the Deadpool trailer, which did not get X. ‘Wow, you are hard to look at. You look like the topographical map of Utah. You look like an old avocado that had sex with an older avocado’.”