Drudge linked an article today that reports that, at least with respect to Hollywood movies, sex does not sell.

At a recent convention of movie theater owners, the National Association of Theatre Owners came to blows over whether or not to spell theater with the r before the e. But before that, they actually got some good discussion in. Such as when their president, John Fithian, urged Hollywood film studios to stop making so many R rated movies and start putting out more PG and PG-13 flicks.

It seems that theater owners are tired of screening R rated movies and then losing money on them.

As any theater owner will eagerly tell you, American audiences like their movies PG and PG-13, not R, and certainly not NC-17.

Last year, five of the top-10-grossing movies were PG. Of the top 25, only four were rated R.

The article lists many overtly sexual films that have tanked financially in the last few years despite heavy marketing from studios and even some Oscar nods.

“Lolita”, “Striptease”, “Showgirls”, “Henry and June”, “Crash”, “The Brown Bunny”, “The People vs. Larry Flynt”, “Crimes of Passion”, “Wonderland”, “Original Sin”, “Eyes Wide Shut”, “Inside Deep Throat”, “The Dreamers”, “Closer”, and “Kinsey” just to name… well… a bunch.

Now, sex is still selling some movies. Goofy, slap-stick, “teen” comedies (ala “American Pie”) can be as sexual as you please and still make a profit. That’s really sad, but to some degree it makes sense. Kids love to watch shows that parody sex because they don’t yet understand how serious sex is and their MTV society doesn’t teach them otherwise. (BLARING BULL-HORN NOTE TO PARENTS: It’s YOUR job to teach your kids otherwise. Please don’t be prude about talking about sex. If you are, I guarantee your kids won’t be prude about having it.)

Still, it’s good to see some concrete evidence that Americans do not all have their minds’ in the gutters. Funny… if you look at a map of America, and you think of the gutters as being along both sides… sure enough, entertainment capitals New York and L.A. are as deep in the gutters as you can get. Hmmm.

You can read the complete article here.