Motion pictures have been a very important part of people’s lives for many centuries. Dating back to the early 1900’s, motion pictures have evolved into a form of enjoyment for many families and individuals across the globe. Thomas Edison ultimately began the production of motion pictures in 1888. Edison and his assistant William Dickson created the first device that could record moving pictures. These motion pictures were only a few seconds long and did not contain sound. After Edison’s invention, the film and motion pictures industry took off. Fast forward some years, the motion pictures industry was booming in Hollywood. Hollywood was an ideal location for the industry due to land being sold for so cheap. Most of the people moving to Hollywood that were part of the industry were looking to get away from their parent companies and make a name for themselves. During this time, there were five major studios producing movies, known as the “Big Five”. These companies were succeeding due to the way that they ran their business. They produced, directed and premiered their movies on their own. Not having to rely on another company to help with a movie made them extremely successful. Hollywood became home to the industry and flourished while the motion pictures industry would continue to grow. 

            While the industry was growing, there were some setbacks that studios had to face. The most major issue that they faced was the supreme courts Paramount Decree. This was a nationwide issue in 1948. The “Big Five” companies were seen as a monopoly and the supreme court passed an antitrust act to decrease their power. This was done in order to help smaller, newer studios. Another issue they faced was the continuing growth of television. Watching television became more of a popular past time for Americans, rather than going to the movie theater. With these setbacks, studios had to work harder to survive and make a profit. 

            The film we watched in class called “This Film is Not Yet Rated” made me see how much actually goes into the rating of a movie. The MPAA works to rate each movie that is produced. I found it very interesting to see that the MPAA is so secretive and tries very hard to not reveal their identity. In the movie, the undercover investigators work very hard to figure out who is a part of the MPAA. It was surprising to see that the members were all very different and came from different backgrounds. Another part I found interesting was how many movies are rated as NC-17. The movies that were rated NC-17 were primarily for sex scenes instead of violence which really surprised me. I wouldn’t say that the MPAA is necessarily fair because it is made of a group of individuals that don’t represent the country as a whole. The MPAA seemed pretty stuck in their ways and that they were not extremely willing to change their mind once a decision was made.