Michael Moore: R rating for 'Where to Invade Next' is 'political'

Left-wing filmmaker Michael Moore is blaming politics for the R rating his documentary Where to Invade Next received from the Motion Picture Association of America.

Moore lashed out about the restrictive rating after the AFI Fest premiere for his film Saturday night in Hollywood.

"I believe there is always a political underlying thing with the MPAA," Moore said during a Q-and-A after the film. "And we’re going to fight them hard this time."

The battle cry prompted enthusiastic applause from the audience which included Law & Order star Sam Waterston.

Moore said he will appeal the rating, which does not allow people under 18 to see the film without an adult or guardian. The film opens in a limited-release awards run on Dec. 23.

"Teenagers are the most important audience for this film, and I want them to see it," said Moore. "I’m really upset."

Moore took to Twitter last week to express his outrage. On Saturday night, Moore mocked the official reasons for the MPAA's restrictive rating — which he said was for violence, nudity and drug use (the MPAA has not commented to Paste BN).

On the violence, Moore said the MPAA objected to scenes showing Eric Garner in a fatal police chokehold.

"They don’t want teenagers to see it because the police are killing Eric Garner on Staten Island," said Moore. "It’s still so wrong."

There is also a brief full-frontal scenes of German citizens getting into a spa hot tub.

"The nudity is showing how the Germans have an excellent health care system where they can go to a spa. It’s the most asexual nudity I have ever seen in a film," said Moore. "I honestly believe if there wasn’t a German penis in that two-second clip it wouldn’t be an R rating for (the movie)."

On the drug question, the movie shows adults smoking marijuana to depict how Portugal does not arrest drug users.

"That short scene, taken from the nightly news, shows middle class people smoking a joint," said Moore. "So it’s an R rating for my film."