If you’ve been to the Eras Tour then you know that two major moments where the audience screams at the top of their lungs are centered around Taylor Swift dropping an f-bomb. Overall, there are three songs where the pop star uses the expletive in her lyrics live. While that’s no issue in the world of live music, it could be one for the Eras Tour concert film now that it’s officially rated PG-13, because she’s likely only allowed one f-bomb.
It’s well known that if a movie gets a PG-13 rating, and it uses the f-word, it will only be used once. For example, in The Batman, as CBNC pointed out, there are a lot of curse words used throughout the movie – including “shit,” “bitch,” and “asshole.” However, there is only one “fuck.” With this in mind, Swifties quickly realized that there are four for sure f-bombs throughout Swift’s project, meaning it’s highly likely that three of them will get bleeped or muted out. Considering this Eras Tour question, many fans took to Twitter in a passionate rage, tweeting things like @Stevensully99’s post:
Everyone worrying about them bleeping “fuck the patriarchy” but if they bleep “what a shame she’s fucked in the head” I’ll actually become the worst version of myself
They make a valid point, the two most prominent f-bombs come during “All Too Well (10 Minute Version)” and “Champagne Problems.” They are loud moments, and the audience screams them. Muting the f-word out of the film during these songs would honestly be a little jarring, and as Swift’s fans made clear, a bit upsetting. @CowboyLikeCory made their thoughts on this matter known as they posted:
if they bleep “fuck the patriarchy” i’m suing
Another fan, @filmstylls, was also livid over the possibility of a PG-13 rating causing moments of mute during the Eras Tour movie. They posted:
if i don’t hear her yelling she’s fucked in the head through those dolby atmos speakers i will riot my workplace
Using a SpongeBob meme to illustrate their worries about this potential situation, @margeemargz posted:
https://t.co/YpgGa62Vi1 pic.twitter.com/ZM9BHC1yvUOctober 10, 2023
Along with the prominent f-bombs in “All Too Well” and “Champagne Problems,” there are two causal uses of the word during “Betty.” That brings the count up to four, and considering how language in PG-13 movies is typically treated, it stands to reason that three of the four uses of the f-word will be taken out.
There’s also a chance that one of the surprise songs will be “Maroon,” and if that’s the case, it would bring the f-word count up to six. However, since they filmed three nights of concerts for this movie, there are six possible songs that might be used during this moment. Therefore, it’s unlikely it’ll be “Maroon,” especially if they are trying to bring down the curse word counter.
While many Swifties are feeling a big aggressive about this potential issue, others are simply hoping for the best. @newyorknoshoes is one of those people as they posted:
maybe i’m silly and delusional but in my mind none of the fucks will be bleeped out like taylor runs the world they’re just gonna let her do whatever she wants
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I think it’s highly likely that three of the four “fucks” will be muted. Remember when Hamilton came out on Disney+? To keep Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical PG-13 they took out two f-bombs. I assume the same kind of thing will happen with the Eras Tour.
Along with the concert film being shorter than the live experience, I’m so curious to see which of the four f-bombs they take out to abide by the one f-word rule. Or maybe, we’ll see something unprecedented, and she was able to leave them all in. We’ll have to wait until October 13 to find out.
So, while we wait for Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour to premiere on the 2023 movie schedule, start making your friendship bracelets and ponder which of the four “fucks” might be removed from the concert film, and which one will remain.