You send a print to a secret, anonymous ratings board which rates the film based on their own personal moral standards which are unusually biased against sex while ignoring terribly graphic instances of physical violence. If you've ever seen Hostel (either of them) or The Hills Have Eyes, you'll know that there are literally no acts of physical violence that the MPAA won't put its stamp of approval on. When it comes to sex, there is documented proof that straight sex scenes that get an R rating will get NC-17 if they are gay scenes. Even salty conversations will trigger hysterical fits and childhood regression.

It's exceptionally rare then to win an appeals process since we now know factually that the also secret appeals board is made up essentially of theater owners, film buyers, and studio executives. Smith won his appeal which is like winning the lotto, and got his NC-17 knocked down to an R without having to lose a difficult scene altogether.

Kevin may not be all that upset over this, but I personally think it's quite sickening and arbitrary. The MPAA needs to be scrapped, in my humble opinion, or at the very least the rating system moved to a neutral organization that has no vested interest in a given outcome either way.