This Film Is Not Yet Rated

An interesting insight into the way in which apparently innocuous processes such as film ratings can become a means of control and political influence.

This does not seem too far removed from the use of the press by the powerful and wealthy to control communication and stifle any subversive view or free speech which might rock the boat.

It was interesting to note that realistic displays of female sexuality and sexual pleasure (as opposed to the strictly 'sex as performance' you see in genuine pornography) seemed to be the main problem for the film classification board and that they aren't particularly bothered by violence, or specifically violence against women in the context of entertainment. How do you get to a situation where a woman having the silicone implant ripped out of her chest for laughs (Scary Movie) is fine and dandy, but not a harrowing anal rape screen that is integral to the plot (Boys Don't Cry)? If ever you needed an example of critical thinking failure this is it!

It's entirely reasonable for an American film maker to care about how films are rated (or classified, or censored) in the USA, but ... I live in the UK, so this has no direct effect on the films that I get to see, and in the end the whole film is a bit less interesting as a result.

During the film it is briefly mentioned that European ratings are usually stricter on violence and more liberal on sex than in the US, but how much? Do individual countries get their own cuts of films, or does everyone just get the US version? You won't find that out from this film.

It would have told us a lot about US attitudes if we had seen a detailed international comparison about ratings given and cuts required (or not) to some of the films that had trouble in the US, but the makers' interest seems to stop at the border.

A very informative and enjoyable documentry. Lets you in to the world of rating films and how the system works. Worth a watch.

This, excellent, documentary is about the politics of censorship, and the censorship of politics. On the wider stage it’s about how Hollywood shapes the American psyche to match its own warped, self-serving, values and ambitions.

In fact, ultimately, it explains why the gun, not the tongue, is so often the first response to issues of conflict, both in the domestic and foreign spheres alike.

It shows clearly how the sum-total of expressed values via censorship, which is firmly in the hands of the top Hollywood companies, passes-off violence (regardless how severe, including sexual violence in the form of rape) as fairly okay: whereas any slight straying from missionary-position sex gets the big “thumbs down”. And God-forbid any film portray women actually enjoying sex to the point of orgasm – with rare exception, this is strictly male territory, apparently!

Additionally, because the big film houses (Fox, Universal, Sony, etc.) exclusively appoint members to this very secretive censorship board, and for the most part control advertising, distribution and format conversion (games and such-like), their grading decisions can “make or break” an independent company.

Other issues covered by the film include; Hollywood’s history of oppressing its own workers: the ‘communist’ anti-union slurs and blacklisting: the processes by which the government ensures the military, in all its forms, are always promoted and never, ever, criticised. And how even this rigged committee, with all its power, is allowed to get away with breaking its own rules of membership (being a parent, for example) when it suits.

Some of the filming is done with hidden cameras, as the services of a couple of private detectives are employed to identify members of the censorship board – all of which provides some amusement, alongside a certain sense of satisfaction at seeing people being “played at their own game.”

Overall; a great film. In fact a “must-see”.