Michael Moore went on a Twitter rant about his film's R rating

Michael Moore took to Twitter Monday to express his unhappiness that his new documentary, Where to Invade Next, has been slapped with an R rating by the Motion Picture Association of America.

"Jeez. Once again the MPAA has given a film of mine an 'R' rating, citing 'violence, drug use and brief graphic nudity,' " Moore wrote. "Here's the truth."

Moore then followed up with a series of tweets breaking down the rating and urging young people to see the film (opening Dec. 23) despite the restriction.

• "The 'violence' in WHERE TO INVADE NEXT is footage of the NYPD officers killing an unarmed Eric Garner on a Staten Island sidewalk."
• "The 'drug use' in WHERE TO INVADE NEXT is me showing how Portugal ended their 'war on drugs'. Haven't arrested a 1 drug user in 15yrs."
• "The 'brief nudity' in my film is 2 secs of Germans whose health care card gives em 3 free wks @ a spa if stressed. Don't show us that!"

Moore urged "teens" to circumvent the process — the R rating requires anyone under 17 to have a parent or adult guardian.

"That's what the MPAA doesn't want teenagers 2 see w/o parental supervision," Moore tweeted. "As always, teens: You know what 2 do, u know how 2 get in."

The MPAA did not respond to a request to comment on the rating by USA TODAY.

Moore told Variety he would appeal and would not cut the film to avoid the R rating.

“The [MPAA] is not doing this against me personally,” Moore said. “It’s the subject matter that makes them nervous. It’s volatile subject matter that we are still without adequate healthcare in this country. But there isn’t gratuitous violence in the film and nobody is having sex. I’m not encouraging drug or alcohol or tobacco use, so what’s the problem?”

“I see PG-13 movies where literally hundreds of characters are mowed down with guns or bombs,” he added.