This Film is Not Yet Rated...

This weeks’ screening of This Film is Not Yet Rated was really eye-opening, to say the least. I knew what the MPAA was and what the purpose of movie ratings was, but I did not realize how secretive the whole process of establishing film ratings was, or how inconsistent movie rating seemed to be. I can understand that the MPAA wants to keep their raters from being put under pressure from outside influences, but at the same time, it only seems fair that filmmakers should have the right to know what types of people are determining the audiences that will be allowed to see their films. I don’t understand why something like movie rating needs to be kept under such close watch, to the point where it takes a private investigator to simply to know the name of a rater or even if the people responsible for designating movie ratings are the least bit qualified to do so. It was also interesting to see how biased some of the decisions made by the MPAA ratings board seemed to be and how uncooperative the appeals board was when filmmakers dared to challenge the ratings boards’ decisions.

I have never really been the type that pays much attention to MPAA ratings when trying to decide which movies to watch. Needless to say, this film has not made me any more likely to take ratings into consideration when forming opinions about films or making decisions about what to watch. I don’t necessarily think that being the “average American parent” is really enough to qualify someone as capable of determining what audiences can see certain films. Shouldn’t something like this be left to those who understand the motion picture industry best and can make the most well informed, unbiased decisions? Anyway… what did everyone else think of the film?