So something I noticed now that I finally decided to dive in on Get Back was that there’s a strong language warning at the beginning and F-bombs be flying’ in this. It really surprised me since it’s a D+ Original and Disney has their No F-bomb rule.
It got me wondering…. Why are The Beatles the exception to the rule? Sure, they’re The Beatles, but Taylor Swift, Billie Eillish, and Hamilton have all been censored and forced to be PG-13. So why does Get Back, a series of basically three 2.5 hour movies, get the pass to be put on US Disney+ (instead of Hulu) at a TV-MA/R rating? Disney doesn't actually show a rating for Get Back in the US because it would be MA and they don't want set a standard that they are willing to put that type of content on the service, because then people would start asking for Deadpool, Die Hard, etc. In recent surveys, it shows 55-65% of D+ subscribers want more adult content or want Hulu content on Disney+.
Well, here's why the series of films got a pass. It wasn't for lack of trying to censor on Disney's part. Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and Olivia Harrison stepped in and basically said they wouldn't approve of it if it was censored. What that says to me is that in the future, people need to hold Disney's feet to the fire and not budge on these things. I feel like if Lin-Manuel Miranda had pushed harder, he could've gotten an uncensored Hamilton. Same with Swift and Eillish if Disney+ wanted them on their platform.
“Paul [McCartney] describes it as being very raw,” Jackson said. “He said to me: ‘That is a very accurate portrayal of how we were then.’ Ringo [Starr] said: ‘It’s truthful.’ The truthfulness of it is important to them. They don’t want a whitewash. They don’t want it to be sanitized. Disney wanted to remove all the swearing and Ringo, Paul, and Olivia [Harrison] said: ‘That’s how we spoke. That’s how we talked. That’s how we want the world to see us.'”