Word on the street is that The Expendables 2 will carry a PG-13 rating when it comes to theaters. If you are thinking it’s an odd move to take an R rated movie’s sequel and water down the language (or excessive violence) to a PG-13, it’s really not that strange. (Remember Die Hard 4? Yeah, I tried to forget it too as soon as it was over. And every day ever since…) The issue here is the reasoning. Because it’s stupid.

But first, let’s remember that typically the reason to downgrade is something like “hey if we make this PG-13 it means more people can see it and that means more money!” Which is the same logic behind the latest 3D surge. It’s not very sound, not very artistic, but at least it’s not totally stupid. I’m sure there are instances too where the story just isn’t as brutal/sexy/whatever in tone as the first, so there really is no legitimate reason to throw in some extra dialogue in order to receive an R rating. (The exception to this rule is Snakes on a Plane. That movie, without Samuel L. Jackson’s signature line, would have been loathed upon release. Granted, it wasn’t a blockbuster, but without that line the entire audience that did go see it would have left the theater in a really bad mood).

But what’s behind the rating change for The Expendables 2? Chuck Norris. He agreed to be in the movie if they would take out the foul language. So they did. Cool. Why did he want it to be toned down in the words department? Because that way more kids can see it. For real.

“In Expendables 2, there was a lot of vulgar dialogue in the screenplay. For this reason, many young people wouldn’t be able to watch this. But I don’t play in movies like this. Due to that I said I won’t be a part of that if the hardcore language is not erased. Producers accepted my conditions and the movie will be classified in the category of PG-13.”

This is stupid because while Chuck Norris has a problem with kids hearing swearing, he apparently has no problem with them watching people violently beating other people to death.

I’m cool with the ratings downgrade if you want it to be less violent and have less foul language so more kids can see it and be inspired by an actual story or ideas or themes. But this is The Expendables, so there’s not a whole lot of substance going on. And no one should think a child hearing “shit” twenty times is worse than them seeing someone’s head get kicked so hard it splatters.

I wasn’t sure if I would even see the sequel, but with this news and Chuck Norris’s plans to turn the move into an extended episode of Walker Texas Ranger, you can definitely count me out.