The first-ever American movie to be given an X rating
Many things can change how a movie will land on the big screen and how, therefore, the box office will treat the release. While making money isn’t always the first port of call for a director, the commodity of commercial success is not something to ever be sniffed at. One such aspect that can have a huge bearing on the release of a feature film is the age rating the Hollywood establishment gives it.
American directors have long lived in fear of the censorship ratings slapped on their films by the Motion Picture Association of America – gaining a higher age rating naturally means that fewer people are likely to see your picture. Although the landscape is changing due to the omnipresence of streaming platforms, it is still interesting to learn more about the evolution of film censorship in Hollywood.
Within this system, the X rating was reserved for films whose contents were deemed to be unsuitable for children due to explicit depictions of sex, violence and other related themes. This rating came into effect when the Motion Picture Association film rating system was introduced in 1968, following the infamous Hays Code. It was a seismic moment in the history of cinema and a change that is still reverberating to this day.
Gaining an X rating was a sure-fire way to restrict access to your movie, and while it may have also added a salacious hook for some viewers, it was always a more detrimental accreditation than many perceived.
The story behind the first X-rated American movie
The first American film to get the X rating was released in 1968 as well, and it was made by none other than the great New Hollywood auteur Brian De Palma. Titled Greetings, it was one of De Palma’s very first works, and it starred Robert De Niro in his first major film appearance. Over the years, the film has been largely forgotten, but it’s still relevant due to these interesting facts.
Although technically, The Wedding Party was De Niro’s first major film, given that it came out after Greetings, De Niro had already gained recognition for his collaboration with De Palma. Structured in an episodic format, Greetings revolves around three friends who are eccentric in their own ways. A satirical take on the Vietnam war draft, it explores the existential impact of war in a humorous way.
Despite its scrappy, countercultural charm, Greetings was never meant to go quietly. With De Palma’s handheld cynicism and a young Robert De Niro already exuding that twitchy energy he’d later weaponise in Taxi Driver, the film stares down the barrel of American hypocrisy. The Vietnam draft, Kennedy conspiracies, peeping Toms; nothing is off-limits, and everything’s played for absurdity. It’s lo-fi chaos with a political pulse, the kind of manic filmmaking that felt more like an underground zine than a studio product. The X rating only bolstered that anarchic credibility. Whether it was earned or just a byproduct of the MPAA clutching its pearls, Greetings wore it like a badge of honour.
Reflecting on its impact during an interview, De Palma explained: “You submit a film to the ratings board, and they tell you that you have an ‘X.’ Then you try to get some insight into the scenes which are disturbing them, or which are too excessive. Sometimes, you put stuff in, you’re ultimately not going to put in so that they can have stuff they can say is too excessive, and they want to take out.”
Detailing further, he added, “But Scarface was a unique situation. I cut it back once, sent it in, and they gave me an ‘X.’ I cut it back twice, sent it in, and they gave me an ‘X.’ Then I cut it back a third time, and they still gave me an ‘X.’ I’ve been fighting with the ratings board since…Greetings! Greetings had an ‘X.’ Greetings was released with an ‘X.'”
Brian De Palma had made a film about draft-dodging for younger audiences, but ironically, Greetings got the dreaded X rating, which granted restricted access. After some of the sexual material was cut from the film, the rating was amended to an R, but it ended up in the history books as the first X-rated American film.
The movie would now be considered a relatively tame X-rated film. In comparison to the heinous violence, sex and gore that is now on show in your local theatre, De Palma’s jibe at Vietnam War-era America seems rather pale in comparison.
