movie time
Sunday, Oct 28, 2007 9:50AM / Standard Entry
/ Members only
3 comments
watched "this film is not yet rated" today.
quite interesting (amusing at times too). it's a documentary on the hollywood film rating system. it talks about censorship, and the monopolist control of film by the hollywood studio system from production to distribution to exhibition. it talks about how the motion picture's association of america (mpaa), which rates basically all the movies that make it to theatres in the states, use their rating system to enforce/reinforce stereotypes. it looks at the difference in the ratings received by violent films vs films with sexual depictions, and heterosexuality vs. homosexuality in films (with the latter category usually getting a harsher rating).
it also documents how independent films are treated differently from studio-produced films. for example, if two films had the same amount/type of sexual content or profanity, and one was produced independently while the other was a studio production, then the latter would probably get a more lenient rating, or they would get a more detailed account of what needed to be edited to get a lesser rating.
what's ironic is that though it is titled "this film is not yet rated", the dvd actually does have a sticker with a 14a rating by the canadian home video rating system...lol. but i guess it doesn't really defeat the purpose, because the documentary is about the secrecy surrounding the members of the mpaa, not other ratings associations. it says something at the beginning of the film about the mpaa being the only rating system in the world (i think...) that keeps the identities of its raters undisclosed.
all in all, it's a good film. interesting, informative, funny. i recommend it if you can find it.
Entry comments (3)