You know the rating system run by the Moving
Picture Association of America or MPAA – the
“G,” “PG,” “PG-13,” “R,” and
“NC-17” classifications marketed as your
guide to what you should show your kids. But
before you take those ratings too seriously,
here are a few things you may want to know
about the group behind it. The MPAA is a trade
association representing the five major film
studios and Netflix. It’s been around since
1922, and while its primary work revolves
around lobbying on behalf of the industry,
including in favor of wildly unpopular proposals
such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership and
the SOPA and PIPA bills, it’s been involved
in censoring films nearly since their beginning.
Until 1965, they rigidly enforced what was
known as “Hay’s Code,” which dictated
that “no picture shall be produced that
will lower the moral standards of those who
see it.” What did that mean? “Excessive
and lustful kissing” was restricted, but
not all the antiquated rules were so laughable;
portrayals of, quote, “miscegenation”
was forbidden, meaning the sexual or romantic
mixing of different racial groups, as were
references to homosexuality and “the ridicule
of religion.” In 1968 Hay’s Code was replaced
with the ratings system we know today, with
the X rating, now known as NC-17, included.
If a film gets an NC-17 rating, most theaters
won’t screen it and it can’t be widely
advertised. An NC-17 rating is considered
the financial death of a film. The 2006 documentary
This Film is Not Yet Rated includes numerous
examples of the MPAA using the NC-17 rating
to censor content found distasteful by those
in positions of power, and to help the studios
protect themselves by harming their independent
competition. Matt Stone explains that when
his independent film Orgazmo received an NC-17,
the MPAA refused to explain its reasoning,
making it impossible to know what changes
were needed to get an R rating. But when his
movie South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, produced
by MPAA member Paramount Pictures, received
an NC-17, the ratings board told them exactly
the changes needed to receive an R. Even if
the ratings truly were about protecting children,
they do an awful job at it. The 2011 independently
produced documentary Bully follows children
as young as 11 being bullied. The director
intended it to be shown to middle and high
schoolers to help prevent bullying. Yet it
received an R rating, signaling to parents
their children shouldn’t see it. The MPAA
may be of help to the film industry’s major
players, but for all the rest of us, they’re
probably best ignored. I’m Jake Klein If
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