Rebel Wilson says she and other The Hustle castmates fought to secure the PG-13 rating.
Wilson and her co-star Anne Hathaway fought last year to have their movie rating changed from the first R it was classified in. And it appears that the stars were successful because the film will be released Friday and young people aged 13 years and above may now watch it without any parental supervision.
Wilson contended that the original rating was given with a sexist view that women could not do certain jokes in movies that men are quite accepted doing. The actress and producer made her insinuation that she and Hathaway had made such jokes in their recent work which would otherwise have been okay had they been men.
So, last year, Wilson made it her mission to address the "unfair" hand that their Dirty Rotten Scoundrels remake The Hustle was dealt. The appeal won and so the PG-13 release this Friday may now be appreciated by a wider audience.
Regarding the original rating, Wilson felt that it was not fair how male-driven films that had much "ruder" content than what she and Hathaway spouted in their present film were easily classified PG-13. She said she had argued that earlier films such as Anchorman and Jumanji (2018) had decidedly more of such content than their present The Hustle.
Hathaway agreed with this point, saying further that the films "culture" was more significant than casting female artists in starring roles. She pointed out it was not enough even to cast women in the lead roles for such films and then limit what they can do in terms of what can be funny.
Hathaway pointed out that there seems to be this "norm" which is in place that says it is appropriate for teenagers (to watch the shows) when its men doing or spouting such content, but it is treated as "too different" and "unexpected" when it is the female sex who say it.
The Australian actress expressed that the "idea" she fought for is "really justified" right now in the light of the Me Too movement. She went further to say that it was not just about gender-flipping Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. The movie put forth issues that women have been facing for a long time.
Wilson pointed out that the movie presented the "case" of women who have been trying to "get back" at "dirty rotten men" who were "conning" women for a long time.
This was about the issue which Hathaway herself presented during an interview in The View where women in the entertainment industry, in fact, receive lesser pay for lead roles than do men in the same capacity.
Despite dealing with like issues on the film, it is still considered a broad comedy.
As Hathaway herself put it, films may have "serious messages," and The Hustle sure does have a "few subtle" messages empowering women. However, it is all "within" what she refers to as the "world of fun."
