Kirby Dick made a documentary a few years ago called This Film is Not Yet Rated where he went into the history of the ratings system and the opaque way it is implemented. He found lots of arbitrary decisions.
On Sat, Mar 26, 2022 at 6:58 PM Kevin M. <[email protected]> wrote: > A while back, filmmaker and occasional pot smoker Kevin Smith penned an > essay about the MPAA that a quick Google search did not unearth, but I > recall him explaining the process including the appeals for several of his > films. > > On Sat, Mar 26, 2022 at 3:52 PM Tom Wolper <[email protected]> wrote: > >> I find this story the way it’s reported to be confounding. Here’s what I >> understand about movie ratings: >> >> Originally each state had a censorship board and each film had to be >> submitted to each one and then cuts would have to be made in order for the >> film to be distributed to theaters. As Hollywood grew to the point that >> they couldn’t continue the system they set up a national production code >> and an office in Hollywood to enforce it. The production code process lost >> its teeth in the early sixties with lots of foreign films and independent >> films coming into the market. The successor they came up with was the >> ratings system. A filmmaker submits their script to the MPAA office, is >> told the rating, and what they would have to change if they want a >> different rating. >> >> Mature films got an X rating. With court decisions striking down >> obscenity statutes, mainstream theaters started showing hardcore porn >> movies with the X rating. Major theater chains decided not to show any X >> rated movies, even serious adult themed ones. Same with newspapers and the >> ads they’d accept. So the MPAA came up with NC-17 which was supposed to >> differentiate from porn but it got caught up in the same embargo. >> >> In practical terms if a studio submits a script and is told it will get >> an NC-17 rating they ask what changes they need to make to get an R rating >> for distribution. >> >> Netflix doesn’t need to submit a film for a rating in order to stream it >> and if wide theater distribution meant anything to them they’d make the >> changes to get it to an R. And art houses will gladly accept unrated movies. >> >> What confounds me is why Netflix bothered to submit the script for a >> rating in the first place. >> >> On Sat, Mar 26, 2022 at 3:29 PM Mark Jeffries <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> >>> "Blonde," the Netflix adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates' novelization of >>> the life of Marilyn Monroe starring Ana de Armas as Marilyn, has picked up >>> the scarlet "adults only" rating from the MPA, the first film made for a >>> streamer with that rating: >>> >>> >>> https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/netflix-marilyn-monroe-blonde-nc17-1235118236/ >>> >>> The possibility of a limited run in theaters may not be much of a >>> problem in this case, since the major theater chains don't touch NC-17 >>> films with a fork lift and won't book Netflix films, while the mostly >>> independent arthouse circuit will. Besides, the big audience will be when >>> it hits The Service. >>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>> Groups "TVorNotTV" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>> an email to [email protected]. >>> To view this discussion on the web visit >>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/72fc934b-fc67-4429-9a52-eb3b72d42b10n%40googlegroups.com >>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/72fc934b-fc67-4429-9a52-eb3b72d42b10n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>> . >>> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "TVorNotTV" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> > To view this discussion on the web visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAJE-FiHDzDLYK%3DVtBLfGiyaNCvxxf_1z3PUu0Ea5-bwWZncuHg%40mail.gmail.com >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAJE-FiHDzDLYK%3DVtBLfGiyaNCvxxf_1z3PUu0Ea5-bwWZncuHg%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >> . >> > -- > Kevin M. (RPCV) > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "TVorNotTV" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKgmY4DZnee3iWC-goRJ%3D1S35GRP-K7wLzhgVWGu_%2BcjTEvz5A%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKgmY4DZnee3iWC-goRJ%3D1S35GRP-K7wLzhgVWGu_%2BcjTEvz5A%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAJE-FiFcMY_xj8UGzvC0vYkvyTh%3DMqdYCqaCNQ5wbH8sYsSu1g%40mail.gmail.com.
