Thanks to last summer’s double dose of “Knocked Up” and “Superbad,” combined with Judd Apatow-branded TV cult classics “Freaks and Geeks” and “Undeclared,” I could not be more in love with Seth Rogen. And being the tried-and-true Jersey Girl that I am, I am super stoked about the upcoming Kevin Smith film starring none other than Rogen himself (yes he does work on projects not involving Apatow) “Zach and Miri Make a Porno.”

The film sounds like Smith’s getting back to his roots of honest emotion and complete vulgarity as the plot centers on two broke best friends. The female lead played by Elizabeth Banks (shown with Rogen above), who teams up with Rogen to make a porno film for some quick cash, but end up falling for each other along the way.

While production wrapped back in March, the film has hit a new, and perhaps damaging, bump in the road - an NC-17 rating.

According to an MTV.com news interview with Rogen last week, the filmmakers are working with the MPAA to win an R rating (a standard for Kevin Smith films), but Rogen and Co. sound none too pleased with the process thus far.

This begs the question, is the NC-17 rating even relevant these days?

This past awards season, Academy Award winning director Ang Lee caused quite a stir with his NC-17 drama “Lust, Caution”. The film received mixed to poor reviews and seemed to fall quickly out of sight at theaters. For some unknown reason (har har), NC-17 ratings don’t exactly spell box office bonanza these days.

Remember that other much-talked-about NC-17 movie from a few years back, “The Brown Bunny?” Yeah, I didn’t think you would.

So the question remains: if the films aren’t going to be able to reach their targeted audience, or any audience for that matter, what’s the point? Fans love Smith, and Smith loves his fans, so while other directors claim they just want the best film possible, Smith on-the-edge films targeted to a young crowd only fit under that category marginally.

Here’s hoping Smith and crew can sweet talk the MPAA into an R rating before the scheduled October release and before taking too much out of the film.

From Sign On San Diego