LOS ANGELES, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- A scene showing simulated sex with puppets is causing a ratings controversy for the movie "Team America: World Police," the Los Angeles Times said Tuesday.
The movie uses marionettes to tell an action-comedy story about an elite unit of terrorism fighters. In the process, it makes fun of a wide array of targets -- including Hollywood liberals Alec Baldwin, Susan Sarandon and Janeane Garofalo, and North Korean dictator Kim Jung Il.
The paper said Trey Parker and Matt Stone -- the makers of Comedy Central's irreverent "South Park" -- have trimmed the sex scene in their upcoming Paramount Pictures satire several times, but not to the satisfaction of the Motion Picture Association of America's ratings board. The board has repeatedly slapped the movie with an NC-17 rating, which means no one under 17 will be admitted.
"It's something we all did as kids with Barbie and Ken dolls," Parker said. "The whole joke of it is that it's just two dolls flopping around on each other. You see the hinges on their legs."
The movie is scheduled to be released on Oct. 15.
