This Film Is Not Yet Rated

[rodneyfaile]

IMDb - This Film Is Not Yet Rated (2006)

Does the MPAA indirectly ruin some movies? Studios hindering creativity by limiting content just to get a broader audience? Is the rating system even fair?

Is this documentary one-sided, or is it an accurate portrayal of things?

 

[cayman shen]

I thought this documentary was fantastic. I've often been fascinated by discrepencies in ratings, both across time (Midnight Cowboy was rated X?!) and across genres (there are some things in PG-13 comedies that I find just stunningly vile). The way certain content is held hostage by others' morals is an outrage. Is it one-sided? Perhaps. The point is, we'll never know unless the MPAA answers some of the film's charges.

I think the best answer would be for theaters to have to courage to start screening NC-17 features. Then directors could stop dancing around the censors' complaints. Though I suppose "unrated" DVDs are a step in the right direction.

 

[jcoffman99]

I watched this a while ago and really enjoyed it. The fact that no one would just simply tell him why the ruled they way they did speaks volumes.

 

[Wes R]

I'd say it's pretty accurate. The MPAA people have had to defend themselves against the media and people before and it's basically the same thing in that they just dodge the questions. For sure the studios hinder things to make a buck off getting more people and then they release the unedited version on DVD to make more. I thought it was a really good documentary.

 

[rodneyfaile]

It would be different if the system was more defined. As it is now, seems like its up to a very small group of narrow minded people.

The rating is another form of censorship. Studios care about money, and larger audiences mean more money, so they want PG-13.

Whenever you limit something, that is censorship, even if it is just Expendables 2.

 

[Jedi2016]

That film really shows how much actual censorship goes on. And not just for marketing purposes, but because the rating board thinks that certain things are "bad", and that we're all too stupid to make up our own minds on what we want to watch. I didn't realize how much it goes on until I'd seen this film, and now it's hard not to spot it.

 

[CB2001]

That film really shows how much actual censorship goes on. And not just for marketing purposes, but because the rating board thinks that certain things are "bad", and that we're all too stupid to make up our own minds on what we want to watch. I didn't realize how much it goes on until I'd seen this film, and now it's hard not to spot it.

Honestly, I think the MPAA should be abolished and the Voluntary Media Rating system should be the new standard. Of course, that's just my opinion.

 

[Zombie_61]

It would be different if the system was more defined. As it is now, seems like its up to a very small group of narrow minded people.

Absolutely right. The main problem with the MPAA is that the people responsible for deciding which rating a given movie will get don't have an established set of standards to follow--content is deemed "questionable" based solely on their moods or opinions on the day the movie is viewed and, quite often, they have no quantifiable reasoning for giving a movie a particular rating or requesting certain scenes or dialogue be removed in order to give the movie a lower rating.

 

[Qrest Fourstar]

Saw this a while back and it blew my mind how they give ratings to film. The MPAA is like the freaking Illuminati. Crazy man.

 

[Funky]

You want a real kick in the pants? (keep in mind this was the early 70's so there was no PG-13 and the rating system was VERY different)

Logan's Run rated PG.
The amount of nudity in this PG movie makes me :lol

 

[cayman shen]

I remember working in a video store and putting on a PG movie from the late 70s or early 80s, and ten minutes later there's a completely naked, I mean full frontal, woman strolling around the store's half dozen monitors. Whoops!

 

[rodneyfaile]

I suppose this thread could be combined with the one about PG-13 ruining movies.

When it comes down to it, the film makers decide if they should bend to the will of the MPAA ratings, so I guess they decide to ruin their own art for the sake of more money.