Grand Lake suspends R rating for 'Farenheit 11/9' because 'political discourse must not be stifled'

OAKLAND, Calif. (BCN) - The marquee at Oakland's Grand Lake Theatre has long been a posting place for the political musings of its longtime operator, Allen Michaan.

It started with a rant against the Supreme Court in November 2000: "This is America. Every vote should be counted," the marquee read.

"It's really nothing new for me; I've been speaking my mind on the billboard for a long time," Michaan said on Sunday.

Literally hundreds of marquee messages later, the old-fashioned movie marquee had a somewhat different message this weekend: "We will not enforce the 'R' rating on 'Farenheit 11/9!' Political
discourse must not be stifled"

 "To me, an R rating on a film that's political in nature in uncalled for," said Michaan, who has operated the Grand Lake since 1980 but has been the owner for only the past month or so. "There's no nudity or sex, a few four-letter words ... the R rating seems to be repression of political dissent."

An "R" rating means "restricted," with anyone under age 17 requiring an accompanying parent or adult guardian to get in. 

 "Farenheit 11/9" is Michael Moore's latest film, this time putting the Trump presidency, the media, the Electoral College and the government in general through the grinder. It's a film that deserves as much discussion as possible, he said, and he said he's allowing anyone who wants to see it to
see it.  

"Not that a 5-year-old really wants to see it ... but we don't want to exclude anyone," he said.

 So if a group of young kids wants to come and watch "Farenheit 11/9," Michaan will happily welcome them in. He hopes it will lead to discussion and thinking about the state of the nation, on whatever level they want to tackle it.

The Grand Lake also suspended "R"-rating restrictions for Moore's last film, "Fahrenheit 911," which similarly addressed the George W. Bush presidency.

Moore himself tweeted out the photo of present marquee posted to the Grand Lake's Facebook page.

Michaan expects "Fahrenheit 11/9" will run another week or two at the Grand Lake, and then be gone. "It's a very crowded fall movie season," he said.