After an initial R rating for 3 Generations, a successful lobby campaign by The Weinstein Company and GLAAD as led to a change from an R rating into a PG-13 rating.

This is so important because transgender youth need to be able to see the movie without having to go with their parents. I mean, their parents are more than welcome to go but I’d hate to be prevented from seeing a movie because of being under 17.

Harvey Weinstein had penned a column the other day on Deadline Hollywood about the movie and the importance of a PG-13 rating.

Weinstein writes:

“Especially these days, it’s important to use our power as filmmakers, directors, executives and studios to give a platform to those who have really lived the stories we’re trying to tell; it is the joy of doing what we do.”

It’s true. These stories are so important and we deserve the platform to tell them. I say this, of course, as a transgender woman who is writing her own sitcom pilot with a plan to submit it to festivals and writing competitions sooner rather than later.

Weinstein writes:

However, when we do a movie that touches on themes of social justice and believe that movie should be seen by children, we want the MPAA to exercise the same imperative they do in allowing so many action movies to receive a PG-13 rating and family films with questionable amounts of violence to be rated PG. This debate isn’t hurting anyone, and that’s what’s good about America. Writing articles about and bringing understanding to these issues is what movies have the ability to do.

Exactly. This is why I signed the petition to change the rating from R to PG-13.

I could write about the power of film forever, so I will return to what I am really trying to say. 3 Generations is an important story — not just as a vehicle of representation, but also as a genuine and heartfelt portrait of the contemporary family. What I love about the movie is its warmth. The vulnerable family at the center of it just feels so real. Susan Sarandon reminds me of my own wise-cracking, Jewish mom — right down to the red hair. I love the chemistry between these three fantastic actresses — I love that this film gives them so much room to interact, to joke and argue and get under each other’s skin in the only way family can. It was so important to everybody on the project that when teenagers see the film, they’ll relate to it as a kind of “snapshot” of their lives. It’s funny and heartbreaking, joyful and sad — but most importantly, real.

Film is very powerful and so are Harvey’s closing words:

Films now more than ever can and need to help move us forward towards acceptance and inclusivity. That’s why I’ll never give up the fight.

An excerpt from today’s press release celebrating the announcement:

“3 Generations is a film that all families should be able to see,” said GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis. “When audiences around the world meet transgender teen Ray and see the love that his family shows him, it will not only send a powerful message to LGBTQ youth, but to families of all types. The MPAA made the right decision and once again The Weinstein Company dared to tell culture-changing LGBTQ stories that Hollywood too often shies away from.”

TWC Co-Chairman Harvey Weinstein commented, “It’s organizations such as GLAAD, the ones that don’t shy away from the difficult conversations, that are the reason we are able to move this country forward and really shift the cultural conversations. We worked with Sarah Kate and her team extensively on this and I am thrilled that we came to a solution that maintains the integrity of this film while making it accessible to the younger audience.”

Please support this movie. While I would usually have a problem with cisgender actors in trans roles, Ray is pre-transition and yet to start hormones, which would deepen his voice. As such, it’s perfectly fine with a female actor playing the role. I have a serious problem with cisgender men being cast as trans women post-transition when there are plenty of us out there that are more than capable of doing the job.