This week was very interesting as we talked different movies as well as how they are rated. The Motion Picture Association of America is not what we all thought it was. The way films are rated, who they choose to rate them is all kept secret. Kirby Dick who is an Academy Award-nominated director decided he wants to find answers to how these people go through the process of rating films. Usually for inappropriate movies that involve sexual acts, cursing and more, you would think that the movie would instantly be rated ‘R’. However, The MPAA has another classification of ratings called ‘NC-17’. Basically, it just means anybody under the age of 17 is prohibited to see the movie. Yet, how do movies that have just been filmed get graded? What criteria makes them ‘R’, ‘NC-17’, PG-13 and more? Kirby Dick tried getting answers by hiring a private investigator to stake out the MPAA building headquarters. He wants to know the truth about how the MPAA has so much underlying power. He also interviews other directors who have been affected by the judgements of the MPAA’s ratings. Directors such as Kevin Smith, Mary Harron, John Waters and others shared the complaints with the unfair system that continues.   

One answer that was found was how the MPAA selects participants to volunteer and rate the newly-produced movies. You would think all participants would share similarities, such as having kids among a certain age, married, income and more. In a way, like a focus group would. However, the private investigator in the film found out that some of the people volunteering had kids, while others did not. Lots of raters selected never really had training in this either. They don’t know what classifies as ‘R’ or ‘NC-17’. How is that fair to people? The answer is that it simply isn’t. When Kirby Dick spoke with a MPAA official regarding a certain film and why it got a certain rating, the official was vague and secretive. The official wouldn’t give out any info on the personnel selected to rate the film, or why it was giving that specific rating period. The MPAA lacks consideration of high-class directors. It was also said that the MPAA treats homosexuality in films more harshly than heterosexuality. How is it fair to treat one different than the other when they both involve the same thing? Sex. You would think major production companies such as Paramount, MGM and Warner Bros would all have the power to select the ratings of their own movie since it is THEIR publication. But no. They all must be rated by and organization that hires inexperienced people with different aspects of life to view their film. Is the MPAA really the answer? Or are they just a problem that’s in the way of big-time directors?

Jason Berardicurti