TORONTO – Bo Burnham, the director and writer of the indie darling “Eighth Grade,” says teens and adults can handle the content in his acclaimed coming-of-age film, which tackles topics such as consent and sexting.
“I think the movie handled the stuff responsibly, so I can definitely stand behind it, whoever sees it,” the 27-year-old says.
Though Burnham admits the film was made with an adult audience in mind, the comedic drama has stumbled into the heart of a debate in North America about what is appropriate viewing for kids and teens. The film follows Kayla Day (Elsie Fisher) during her final week of Grade 8 as she flails awkwardly through social situations and navigates sexual pressures using the internet as a questionable love guru.
In the U.S., the film was rated R for coarse language and sexuality, which means that no one under 18 can see it without adult accompaniment.
The same film is rated PG in the Maritime provinces, encouraging any age to attend.
“There were no scenes of violence, no nudity, and no scenes with drugs, alcohol or smoking,” notes Service Nova Scotia’s Marla MacInnis, speaking on behalf of the Maritime Film Classification Board. “We noted limited coarse language and one scene of simulated sexual activity which led us to classify this film as PG.”
In every other province except Quebec, where the film is not yet classified, the film is rated 14A, meaning that children under 14 must be accompanied by someone 18 or older.
“Most movies classified in Canada receive the same rating in all provinces,” MacInnis says. “But in some instances the content is close to the tipping point and it comes down to the judgement of the classifiers and the pervasiveness of the content.”
Canada’s more permissive ratings for the film reflects a core cultural divide between Canada and the U.S., says Rod Gustafson, editor of the Calgary-based film review publication Parent Previews. “The Canadian boards for the most part are more sensitive to violence than the United States,” he observes. “A movie like “Eighth Grade” will likely receive more lenient gradings for sexual content in Canada than it would in the United States.”
Canadian film classification is handled provincially with the aim of reflecting community standards.
“If our complaints from consumers are low and our reconsideration requests from the industry are also low, then we think that we are being effective at administering the legislation fairly,” says Steven Pelton, the director of Motion Picture Classification at Consumer Protection BC. He says Consumer Protection BC will be asked a few times a year by members of the film industry to reconsider their rating on a film while most of the community feedback comes from parents.
“Eighth Grade” has resonated with critics, with a glowingly positive 98% score on Rotten Tomatoes, and audiences — its opening weekend in four theatres in the U.S. earned the highest per-theatre average of the year with $63,071.
But Burnham would like students who are actually in Grade 8 to be able to see the movie as well. He believes the R rating the film has received in his own country demonstrates a naivety about the lives of teenagers.
“There’s more than one F word and some sexually suggestive stuff,” he says. “But it’s nothing that kids aren’t very aware of. Their life is R-rated at minimum.”
Canada’s ratings better reflect his ideal audience, he adds.
“Being able to see it at 14 seems pretty good,” he says. “If it encourages parents to bring their kids or older siblings or cool uncles and aunts, that’s cool too. I would like more kids to see it for sure.”
Gustafson agrees that the 14A rating is appropriate for a film that may divide parents. “Parents will always disagree on whether a movie like ‘Eighth Grade’ that contains some sexual content and some profanity portrays a realistic view of eighth grade,” he says. “By some parents definitions it may, and not for others.
“My personal feeling is that with some of the subject matter that ‘Eighth Grade’ is handling, it would be a good idea for a parent to accompany a kid to that movie. Have a night out. Go out and get ice cream afterwards and talk about what you saw in the movie.”
Yet that approach ignores another truth, perfectly captured in the film by Kayla’s persistent mortification by her father: what Grade 8 kid wants to go see a movie with their parents?
Burnham has a solution: “I say that you can sit on opposite sides of the auditorium and then have a conversation on the way home,” he says. “Just don’t buy the seats together.”
“Eighth Grade” is now playing in Toronto, opens July 27 in Vancouver, and will open in additional Canadian cities on Aug. 3.
— Ryan Porter is a freelance pop-culture writer based in Toronto.
