Paul
The film Paul is Classified R13
In March 2011 Paramount Pictures International New Zealand submitted the comedy film Paul for classification. After applying the classification criteria set out in the Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act 1993, the Office of Film and Literature Classification classifed the film as R13 with the descriptive note 'contains violence, offensive language and sexual references'.
Paul is a road comedy written by and starring the UK comedy duo Simon Pegg and Nick Frost
Clive and Graham are two English comic book geeks on a tour of famous American UFO sites. They encounter an alien named Paul who crash-landed to Earth in 1947, and since then has been working with the US government. Paul is on the run from the FBI because he has outlived his usefulness and the government wants to harvest his brain for stem-cell research.
the language in the film contributed to the r13 classification
Section 3A of the Classification Act says the Classification Office can age restrict something which contains "highly offensive language likely to cause serious harm". The written decision of the Classification Office discussed in detail the type and level of highly offensive language in the film, and noted:
The film deals with matters of sex in terms of s3(1) of the FVPC Act, and highly offensive language under s3A. There are frequent crass verbal references to sexual activity and body parts. … The language is puerile, and somewhat incongruous with a film that has no other sexual content and might otherwise have had wider appeal.
– Office of Film and Literature Classification decision
In 2007, the Classification Office did a research project to find out what New Zealanders thought about highly offensive language.
Read about the report Public Perceptions of Highly Offensive Language
The film has an ongoing theme of jokes about gay people
There is some drug use and violence in the film but these depictions were not considered to be particularly strong or promoting either drugs or violence. However, in its written decision the Classification Office did discuss the homophobic nature of a lot of the humour in the film: 
To some extent the film does represent gay people as inherently inferior (s3(3)(e)), since being gay is the source of so much comedy and natural humiliation for anyone who is "straight". One of the film's ongoing jokes is that Clive and Graham are suspected by the people they meet of being a gay couple. Rather than this being a simple misunderstanding, peoples' confusion over their relationship is awkwardly stretched out and their actions misinterpreted for juvenile and fundamentally homophobic comic effect.
– Office of Film and Literature Classification decision
The classification decision restricted the film to people aged 13 and over
Paul was classified R13 with the descriptive note 'contains violence, offensive language and sexual references'.
The dominant effect of the publication as a whole is an uneven alien road movie with a level of crass humour that sits awkwardly with a film that also tries to be endearing... The widespread use of highly offensive language, much of it sexual in nature, would be harmful to children. Its casual and repetitive use may normalise or encourage emulation and would be likely to result in serious harms such as intimidation or alienation from peers. Further injury could result from the film's crassly homophobic sentiments that implicitly promote the notion that gay relationships are less legitimate than straight relationships, or that being gay is intrinsically funny.
– Office of Film and Literature Classification decision
Read the full summary of reasons for the Classification Office's decision on Paul (PDF, v7.0, 117KB)
r13 means it illegal to show the film to under 13 year-olds
The R13 means that if you are aged under 13 it is illegal for anyone to supply you with this film. This applies at home, in school, in the cinema or at the DVD store.
Cinemas have to be sure that the people they let into restricted movies are legally allowed to see them. Although the Classification Act doesn’t state that cinemas have to ask for formal ID, lots of cinemas now require photo ID before they let teenagers into restricted films.
If you are going to any restricted film, it's probably a good idea to ring the cinema and see if they want you to bring ID and what sort they’ll accept.
