A FILM BASED on the beloved Paddington Bear books has been given a PG rating in the UK for containing “mild sex references” and its creator is deeply confused. (As are we, to be fair.)

British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) rated the film PG for allegedly having bad language and sexual references, and warned that it may be unsuitable for young children.

The bad language in question? A single utterance of the word “bloody”. A scene in which a man dressed as a woman is flirted with by another man, meanwhile, was cited as a sexual reference.

Meanwhile, the Board also cautioned:

There are occasional sequences of mild threat when Paddington is chased by the villain who threatens to kill and stuff him, as well as a brief sequence in which Paddington lies unconscious on a table while a taxidermist prepares their tools nearby.

Scandalous.

Commentators have pointed out that the classification seems unduly harsh, particularly given that the latest installment of The Hunger Games franchise contains extreme violence and received just a 12A.

Author Michael Bond told The Daily Mail that he was somewhat perturbed by the rating and the insinuation that it contained sexual references.

I’d be very upset. I might not sleep well tonight. I can’t imagine what the sex references are. It doesn’t enter into it with the books, certainly

The live-action adaptation of the beloved children’s book stars Nicole Kidman, Peter Capaldi and Hugh Bonneville with the titular character being voiced by Ben Whishaw.

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