There's a new poster out for Saw II… though not for the usual reason. The previous poster, which I've posted to the right of these words, was rejected banned by the MPAA. What! Don't they only give movies ratings? Not so. They also control what studios use as marketing materials. Of course Lions Gate could ignore the MPAA and run the poster anyway (in theory). But then the MPAA would refuse to rate their film, and then they wouldn't be able to find theaters willing to show it. In THEORY participation in the MPAA is only voluntary, in practice they have a censorship stranglehold on the movie industry.
So, Lions Gate has decided to pull the previous poster and go with the new one, which you'll find posted below. Personally, I think this new one is a lot more disgusting. The only real difference though is that you can no longer see that the fingers are missing an attachment to a hand… which makes me wonder why they didn't just go with this one in the first place. It's not like Lions Gate doesn't know they have to get their marketing materials approved by the MPAA… it's almost as if they failed to do so intentionally to drum up controversy. Actually, if that's what they did I’m all for it. The MPAA is a dinosaur of an institution and if Lions Gate can find a way to use their crotchety nature to their advantage then go for it.
