For the official first day of film studies class we discussed a film we had watched as a group “This Film is Not Yet Rated” We were given the assignment after our discussion to then write a brief essay describing what we got out of the film and the discussion. This post is that essay.
This Film is Not Yet Rated – Directed by Kirby Dick
After watching “this film is not yet rated” it has come to my attention how shamelessly the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) goes about assigning ratings to films. Before this film I never questioned them, barely a second thought to which films got which ratings, and why. That has all changed.
It has been brought to my attention how structureless the MPAA is, no rules, no guidelines, no basis for comparison. This I feel is unfair, wrong, and unprofessional. “They” say the board must be kept secret to protect them from being swayed into bias, but as demonstrated in this film it seems as though the MPAA board members are really close friends with the film industry reps. Hmm. . .
Now I could write a whole page on the double standard applied to films regarding sex and violence, but I’ll keep it short by saying that films with sex almost always get the harsher rating compared to films with gore and violence. After being made aware of this I can’t believe it’s true! What kind of person would allow young adults to be exposed to extreme gore and violence before letting them watch a film with sex or sexual pleasure? The United States MPAA ratings board, thats the kind.