Greed | 2020 | R | – 4.5.10

Why is “Greed” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “pervasive language and brief drug use.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes several kissing scenes between men and women and two men, and cleavage revealing outfits and partial nudity with people wearing swimwear; a lion attack ending in the bloody death of a man, scenes of garment workers in factories, a punching scene, many yelling scenes, discussions of maltreatment of workers, and the disparity between wealthy business owners and laborers; a scene of drug use and several scenes of people drinking alcohol; and nearly 70- F-words and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.”

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Dark comedy about a British fashion mogul (Steve Coogan) as he plans his own over-the top, ill-fated 60th birthday party on a Greek island. He cannot stop himself from using and abusing anyone who works for him, while a hapless freelancer (David Mitchell) has been hired to write his authorized and sanitized biography. Also with Isla Fisher, Asa Butterfield, Sophie Cookson and Stephen Fry. Directed by Michael Winterbottom. [Running Time: 1:44]

Greed SEX/NUDITY 4

 – Two men wrestle playfully in waist-deep water (we see their bare chests and abdomens) before they embrace and kiss. A man and a woman kiss, the woman (she’s wearing a revealing dress and we see cleavage, bare sides, bare abdomen and legs to the hips) pushes the man back on a bed and straddles him as she leans over to kiss him (they are interrupted by a knock on the door and the man says that he is no longer aroused).
► A man and a woman kiss passionately in a car. A man and woman (his ex-wife) kiss passionately and she leaves. A man and a woman kiss as fireworks go off behind them. A man and a woman kiss in a room while another man outside sings and plays a guitar. A teen boy dances with his father’s young wife, touches her hips and thrusts toward her from behind until the boy’s father sends him to bed. A man kisses a woman on the cheeks. Men and women dance at a party.
► A boy talks to a man about a boy having been abducted and raped in the ancient Greek tragedy of “Oedipus Rex.” A woman tells her teenage son that his beard hair looks like he has pubic hair on his face. A man tells a woman not to claim sexual harassment because of a remark he makes.
► A woman does yoga poses on a balcony while wearing a sports bra and legless shorts (we see cleavage, bare abdomen and legs to the hips). A couple of scenes shown women bathing from a well and their clothing outlines the shape of their buttocks and breasts. A woman wears a toga-like dress made from opaque fabric that reveals the outlines of her legs and bra when she is lit from the back. A woman is shown being massaged on the back by a man while wearing a bikini (we see her bare back and legs to the hips). Women wear low-cut dresses and tops in several scenes. Women wear low-cut and short dresses that reveal cleavage, bare backs and legs to the upper thighs in a few scenes. A woman wears a low-cut swimsuit that reveals cleavage and bare legs to the hips.

Greed VIOLENCE/GORE 5

 – A man walks toward a caged lion as the cage door is opened and the lion moves toward the man: the lion pounces on the man, tackles him, bites and claws him as the man screams (we see blood on his arms and abdomen and a long smear of blood on the ground after the lion drags the now dead man); the lion leaps toward another man and we see blood on the lion’s face and paws (we later see a severed leg separated from the dead man’s body and lying nearby in blood) and we hear later that the lion was put down. A woman yells, “Fire” in a garment factory and workers crowd toward the exit as the area fills with smoke; we see people with char on their faces outside and we hear that a woman died in the fire (we see people walking in a funeral procession).
► A man chases children into an area where another man confronts him, they shove each other and the second man punches him in the stomach; several men punch each other briefly and some of them leave angrily. A man in a private school strikes a young man on the buttocks several times as punishment and the young man makes pained faces and flinches with each blow.
► Several scenes show garment workers toiling over sewing machines in factories and being yelled at to work faster. Several scenes show people camped on a beach and we understand that they are Syrian refugees. A few scenes show people living in squalor without running water. A man tricks a group of people into a card trick and when they lose, they are forced to leave a beach where they are camped and the men are forced to work for the other man for little pay. Three children are chased out of an area by a man that yells that they stole silverware from his restaurant. Two men with meat on the end of long sticks poke the meat toward a lion. Several scenes show a lion in a cage with a few of it roaring and swatting at people as they look at it and tapping on the bars.
► Men argue at a building site with one man yelling at the other and calling him names in several scenes. Men argue and shove each other in a crowd of people. A woman presses a cream pie into a man’s face while yelling at him for his business practices; the woman is taken out of the room by security. A woman gives a plate of food to people on a beach while a film crew documents them, the woman tries to take the food back from the people and they struggle over it spilling it on the ground. Teen boys gamble in a school social room and a man breaks up the game taking the money off the table while one boy yells at him. A woman yells at a man for using corporal punishment on her grandson. Several scenes show a man being questioned by a panel of officials about his business practices and numerous bankruptcies. Police arrive on a beach and try to remove refugees from a makeshift camp set up there; they all argue with each other. A reference is made to bathing in someone’s blood. A woman complains of being poked with a pin as a seamstress fits a dress on her. People discuss what they are paid for a day’s work in a garment factory and we understand that it translates to 4 British pounds a day. A man yells about EU “Health and Safety” regulations. A woman tells a man, “I’m a slave.” A woman talks about her mother having been fired from her garment factory job for not working fast enough. A man yells at wait staff and threatens bodily injury if they don’t do what he asks.
► Small vehicles speed through traffic. A man pretends to die and his employer tells him to do it better; the first man pretends to die again with a more dramatic flair. Two boys play fight with swords. A lion in a cage becomes agitated when fireworks explode in the sky nearby.
► We read statistics about the plight of garment workers in developing countries and their economic struggles along with information about the wealthy that helm the clothing companies that make deals with the garment manufacturers that keep decreasing wages.
► A man vomits after witnessing a lion attack; we hear splatter and gagging and do not see goo.

Greed LANGUAGE 10

 – About 68 F-words, 2 sexual references, 15 scatological terms, 8 anatomical terms, 12 mild obscenities, name-calling (idiot, slow, shifty, greedy, opportunistic, Greedy McReady, Arab, cheeky, fools, ruthless, tyrant, stuck up English gits, prat, bully, dump, stinking, coward, weird, patronizing, cocky bugger, donkey, twerp, bottom feeder, mug), exclamations (bloody, jeez, shut-up), 1 religious exclamation (Christ on a [indecipherable word]). | profanity glossary |

Greed SUBSTANCE USE

 – A woman snorts cocaine in a bathroom, a man talks about giving a lion some cocaine to liven it up, a woman asks her teen son if he is on crack and then lists other illegal substances (the boy answers that he is not), and cocaine is sprinkled on a plate of raw meat inside a lion’s cage. A glass of wine is shown on a table near a man (he is not shown drinking), a man holds a glass of wine, servers carry trays of glasses of champagne through a party, people toast with glasses of champagne at a party, and people are shown drinking alcohol and champagne in a casino and in a bar.

Greed DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Money, deal-making, greed, taking advantage of the underprivileged, hubris, death by lion, chaos of war, the retail fashion business, fast fashion, Zara, H&M, sweatshops, garment workers, history, bankruptcy, fate, extravagance, bread and circuses, capitalism, jealousy.

Greed MESSAGE

 – Predatory 21st century capitalism has created extreme income inequality by allowing ruthless billionaires to make obscene profits by paying starvation wages to garment factory workers in developing countries.