The steamy "Black Swan" love scene between Natalie Portman and co-star Mila Kunis may have been the No. 1 selling point for a fair number of moviegoers not typically interested in a dance-oriented thriller -- but not everyone was pleased with the sexy sequence.
As The Independent is reporting, "Black Swan" was Britain's most-complained-about movie in 2011, according to a new report by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC). The organization received a total of 40 complaints about the film, for which Portman nabbed an Oscar, with most viewers objecting to the "pornographic" love scene between Nina (Portman) and fellow dancer Lily, played by Kunis.
"While the scene is visually discreet, narratively justified and within the 15 guidelines criteria, some correspondents felt it was pornographic in nature," the report reads, according to the BBC. "That it was a sex scene between two women was an aggravating factor for some who argued that portrayals of homosexual activity should either be restricted to the 18 category, or not shown at all."
The report goes on to note, "The high number of complaints for 'Black Swan' demonstrates the disconnect that sometimes occurs between a viewer's expectations of a film and its actual content."
Still, BBFC officials pointed out that not everyone's feathers were ruffled by the scene, and given the fact that 2.7 million people had gone to see "Black Swan" in theaters, the figure was "proportionately very small."
“It is a fairly strong scene, but it’s not anything like above the line," David Cooke, director of the BBFC, is quoted by The Independent as saying. "We felt 'Black Swan' was in the boundary of a sex scene for a 15 rated film. ... We have a clear policy in the guidelines that we don’t differentiate or discriminate whether it’s a straight or gay or lesbian scene."
As The Hollywood Reporter pointed out, however, "Black Swan" complaints paled in number when compared to "The Woman In Black," which is 2012's most complained-about-movie so far. The latter film, which starred Daniel Radcliffe in his first post-"Harry Potter" big-screen role, nabbed a staggering 120 complaints, many in response "to a number of scenes of supernatural horror and threat."
Take a look at some other acclaimed LGBT-oriented movies below:
