POISON SCOOTER

This Film Is Not Yet Rated

Having studied film during the rise of the dreaded NC-17 rating, I was well aware that receiving this rating from the Motion Picture Association of America rating board is the kiss of death for a film. Theater chains are hesitant to carry a film with this rating due to low profitability, larger DVD and Video chains like Blockbuster don't stock NC-17 on the basis of morality and generally the public can be off put by the rating assuming it's going to be hard core porn. Afterall, NC-17 did replace the X rating back in the late 80's.

Kirby Dick having viewed numerous films over the years, much like me, came to the only conclusion one can make about not only the NC-17 rating but ratings in general. They make no sense. Sharon Stone can show her complete vagina in Basic Instinct and it's an R rating. Maria Bello shows a patch of pubic hair in The Cooler and it's NC-17 territory. Huh? Well, everyone kind of knows that the modern studio system probably plays a part. Basic Instinct is backed by one of the majors and The Cooler was an independent film. Maybe the studios have more access to the ratings board? That's a good start anyway...

And so Kirby decided to make a documentary about the ratings board of the MPAA.

This Film Is Not Yet Rated attacks not only the inconsistencies in the ratings bestowed by the board, interviews with impacted directors like Kevin Smith, John Waters and Atom Egoyan abound, but goes after the fact that the board members are anonymous and shrouded in secrecy. All we, the public, are told about these 10 people who control who can see what film is that they are all parents of children under the age of 18, a criteria put in place back in the late 60's when Washington put Jack Valenti in place to monitor and rate films for public consumption as head of the MPAA.

Dick cleverly hires a private investigator to track down the identities of the board members and films the progress over a period of a month. In the end we learn that the board is full of people whose children are grown and have been rating movies well beyond the 3-5 term that is outlined in the MPAA propaganda. But even more humorous than using a lesbian PI to hunt down everyday citizens is Dick's decision to reveal them in this documentary and submit this very film for a rating through the board he exposes. Clearly, he is slapped with an NC-17 rating.

Dick does a wonderful job of pointing out the stupidity of the process a filmmaker has to go through without boring the crap out of everyone. The film is funny, but you have to wonder what the hell are we doing with this stupid system in place in 2007?

Well, the good news I suppose is that I just read this article on Yahoo and it looks like some changes are under foot thanks in no small part to the work of Kirby Dick.

Highlights include:

Board members must now step down after their children are grown so their decisions reflect the concern of current parents of young children.

Most CARA members will continue to be anonymous, but the association will describe the board's demographic makeup on its web site.

There will be a formal training program for rating board members so they understand their charge as board members.

The MPAA also will shed some light on how the board decides which rating a film receives on the MPAA web site, along with information about the appeals process filmmakers must pursue if they disagree with a rating.

As a proud viewer of NC-17 films, I think that this will help some artists get their movies more viewings by mainstream America. If a filmmaker knows what to cut to get an R, they are given an opportunity to play ball in this messed up system. It's not perfect, but it's at least something. My one argument would be the byproduct of allowing board members with grown children on the board the last 10 years is that perhaps movies have been getting softer ratings since the raters are out of tune with the youth of America and that making the board stick to a membership of parents with school age children might make the board actually a little stricter. I guess time will tell.

The good news is that it's always cool to see the power of an idea. Kirby Dick had such an idea and it's creating change. And seeing this film in that light makes it much more enjoyable. Imagine if watching Fahrenheit 9/11 would have led to the end of this silly war we are in?

posted by Scooter @ 6:01 AM