The MPAA, unable to let us have nice things, edited 2 "fucks" out of Hamilton for Disney+
Even though we like to get a little liberal with the language around here, we at The A.V. Club actually don’t place much of a premium on profanity for profanity’s sake. In fact, we’re well-documented fans of purposeful, creatively deployed adult expressions, especially within properties that rarely indulge in asterisked proclamations. In the case of Hamilton, fans could probably count the number of expletives on one hand. But when they are uttered, they’re pretty great. Unfortunately, those tuning in on July 3 to watch the show for the first time on Disney+ will be missing out on two well-executed “fucks” thanks to an order from the MPAA.
Hamilton’s creator and star Lin-Manuel Miranda took to Twitter to answer some questions about the film’s big Disney+ debut. One user inquired about the show’s language and how some iconic lines would fit with the film’s PG-13 rating.
“I literally gave two fucks so the kids could see it,” Miranda responded, confirming that that the film would be edited according to the MPAA’s strict “one ‘fuck’ only” rule for PG-13 films. The move is understandable: This is, all things considered, a fairly small price to pay in order to secure the widest distribution possible. But damn, if you want to find some nicely deployed F-bombs, look no further than those in “Yorktown” and “Washington On Your Side,” where in both instances, the word arrives during each act’s most energetic moments. Okieriete Onaodowan’s delivery of “Hercules Mulligan, I need no introduction/When you knock me down I get the FUCK back up again” is an electric shock to the system in the best possible way, antiquated perceptions of propriety be damned.
Still, the show’s structural integrity remains intact despite the absence of the profanities and, as Miranda noted in his tweet, everyone still has the option of hearing the show in its full glory via the widely available cast recording. And honestly, should we really have expected another outcome for the same platform that is the home to the now butt-less version of Splash?