So I actually read up on the plot of this book, on Wikipedia, and Cacher was kind enough to PM me some more sordid details. (Thanks, I guess.
) It's still hard to see what taboos a film adaptation might break that aren't routinely broken by R-rated films. Male frontal nudity has gone mainstream (
Observe and Report, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and
The Watchers, from what I'm told), and rape (or attempted rape) has been shown from
The Outlaw Josey Wales to
Pulp Fiction to the
Shawshank Redemption. Directors and actors know how to get the plot across without making a full-fledged porn film. They leave things off-screen and use facial expressions, sound effects, screams, etc.
I don't really have a dog in this fight; I'm just incredulous at the suggestion that film-makers might be struggling to pull this thing back from an X rating (though I guess that would be NC 17 rating now). It seems more like the choice is between an R and what people sometimes call "hard R."