Highly rated: XXX chat with adult film director Amory Peart
When does an X-rated movie become XXX? Award-winning adult film director Amory Peart — the man behind Hard Brexxxit, Butt Buddies and The Iron Lady Garden — explains the confusing movie ratings system.
Before we meet filmmaker Amory Peart, let me give you a bit of background:
The film certification “X” was introduced to the UK in 1951 by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC). It replaced the previous “H” certificate, which largely covered horror films.
Any film which covered “adult” themes deemed unsuitable for a young audience was given an X rating instead of the general “A” certificate. At the time of its introduction, anyone over 16 could watch an X movie — although this age limit was raised to 18 in 1970.
Meanwhile in the US, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) introduced its own X rating. This was applied to any movie judged to be unsuitable for children, e.g. if it contained extreme violence, sex or “graphic language” (swearing).
Among the movies which had the X certificate imposed upon them were A Clockwork Orange, Last Tango in Paris, horror classic Evil Dead and soft porn sci-fi parody Flesh Gordon.
Midnight Cowboy (1969) told of the friendship between a sex worker (played by Jon Voight) and hustler (Dustin Hoffman). It was given an X rating due to its “homosexual frame of reference” and “possible influence upon youngsters” — nevertheless it went on to win three Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
Backfire and ban
The MPAA made a fatal error in introducing “X”. Unlike its other movie ratings, which had to be approved by the censors, the MPAA failed to trademark its “X” certificate. As a result, any filmmaker could add an X rating to their own movie.
This was done with great enthusiasm by the makers of pornographic films, who shrewdly used the notoriety of the X rating as a marketing tool to grab the attention of extra viewers. It worked — instead of acting as a warning to cinema goers, the X certificate backfired and became a sleazy seal of approval.
The X rating soon became synonymous with porn, and some cinemas flat refused to screen any film with an X certificate — including those movies with “adult” themes that were in no way pornographic.
This led the UK to scrap the X rating in 1982, replacing it with the “18” certificate. The US followed suit in 1990, replacing X with “NC-17”, meaning only people aged over 17 were permitted to view the movie. This time the MPAA trademarked its new certification, so only they could legally apply it to films.
Despite the official death of the X rating in 1990, it continues to be used enthusiastically by the makers and distributers of porn. Some go even further and claim their films are more explicit than a standard X-rated movie, declaring them to be “XX” or even “XXX”.
Battle of the XXXs
So when does an X-rated movie become XXX?
In the 70s film scholar William Rotsler attempted to pin down the difference between the Xs.
“The XXX-rating is for hardcore, the XX-rating is for softcore, and an X-rating is for comparatively cool films.”
William Rotsler
Others have defined an X-rated movie as erotica, XX as softcore porn and XXX as hardcore porn.
Let’s ask someone who knows.
Amory Peart is the director of dozens of gay and straight adult films, including porn parodies The Iron Lady Garden (2012), Friends With Benefits Street (2014), Poledick (2015) and Saturday Night Beaver (2017).
His 1997 film Butt Buddies won an Erotic Oscar and he has four adult industry awards — known as Shaftas — including Best Scene for his Gogglebox parody Gobblecocks (2014).
Peart says that even if past definitions of X certificate films had a degree of accuracy at the time, those descriptions no longer apply.
“As there’s been no official ‘X’ rating since 1990, anyone can claim to have made an X, a XX or a XXX movie,” Peart says.
“For me the X rating was just a kitsch thing from the 70s. I always saw it as something playful.”
Sex and comedy
Peart explains: “If you look at the history of soft porn, X-rated films like Playbirds (1978) and Come Play With Me (1977) were among the biggest selling films in the UK at that time.
“We were so starved of sex in the 70s, it was the only way people got to see anything even remotely racy.”
Peart says those classic X-rated cinema hits fired up his own interest in adult movies.
“I was fascinated by the whole thing. I like sex and comedy together, it seemed very British. That was what got me into porn.”
Amory Peart
Peart would go on to make films such as Butt Buddies, Muff Match and Piccadilly Pickups. He directed the UK’s first gay bear movie Lick Daddy Suck Bear (1998) and presented Channel 4 series Digital Sex. In 2018 Peart was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Shaftas.
He’s worked frequently with acclaimed adult film star Rebecca More, who shares his playful approach to porn.
Regulation today
To sustain his extended career in adult movie making, Peart has needed to remain firmly on top of film regulations.
“You send your first edit of your film to the BBFC and they send you back a list of the cuts you need to make. The film distributors will also have their own requirements,” he explains.
“It’s not unusual to make three versions of a porn film: a hard version (the full film, for sale on DVD or online, or for screening at film festivals), a soft version (for broadcast on a pay TV channel like Television X at night) and a supersoft version (for broadcast on a pay TV channel during the day).”
Could these be the elusive X, XX and XXX definitions we’ve been searching for?
“At a stretch — but that’s not how they’re promoted,” Peart says. “Absolutely anyone can call their film a XXX movie if they want to.”
And they do. Adult movies on sites such as Pornhub, and homemade porn on sites like OnlyFans, are frequently sold to us as “XXX”.
“When online porn started to become available I said: ‘No-one will want to watch porn on their phones!’ How wrong can you be?” laughs Peart.
“Now you can get any type of porn you want on your phone, instantly. Compare this to the 70s when you had to physically go to a sex cinema in Soho to watch even the softest of porn.”
Amory Peart
“But as humans we’ve always had a fascination with whatever is forbidden, whether it’s a sex cinema or an X-rated film.”
Peart concludes: “The X rating was a piece of culture that disappeared — it was so mainstream and so kitsch at the same time. But it fascinated me. And I’m very glad that it did.”
