MPAA chief Jack Valenti has defended the motion picture rating board's decision to rate the critically praised Billy Elliot R instead of PG-13. Valenti told the online entertainment magazine Inside: "Thirty to 40 times, the f-word is used in that (film).'Thirty to 40 times! We folks who live in Washington, New York and California think everybody talks like we do. (But) I get more letters about language than I do about violence."

(Much of the film was shot in Durham, England.) But Universal marketing chief Mark Schmuger disagreed. "It's such a wonderful, inspirational story for teenagers to be exposed to and unfortunately, this one-size-fits-all rating... ends up creating some restrictions for us," he told Inside, adding that the studio is considering advertising the film before 9:00 p.m. on TV and targeting shows with a teen audience.

Source: Studio Briefing