This blog is not yet rated.

I just saw the film This Film is Not Yet Rated, a well-done mockumentary of the MPAA film rating board. The film is entertaining (it's good and almost---but not quite---very good) and extremely informative, and it seems pretty clear that there is going to be a substantial bit of fallout. It's very much worth seeing, and it does some nice quantification of stuff that isn't surprising. Nevertheless, the quantification is pretty useful, and that's why I forsee fallout. Also, by 'fallout,' I don't mean that the ratings system will be changed (nor do I mean particular computer games). Rather, I envision lawsuits... lots of lawsuits.

The part of the film I liked the best was the George Carlin-esque (and Wake-Up Crew-esque) montage of animated clip art as they consecutively describe the ratins from G to NC-17. Another amusing series of moments occurs with the whole meta- sequence of sending this film to the ratings board. (It was given NC-17, but the film is not actually using any rating. According to IMDB, it's been banned in Malaysia, but that's hardly a surprise.)

There were two really big flaws in the film, which lowered its quality a bit as far as entertainment is concerned. First, the film was too heavy-handed on several occasions. I agree wholeheartedly with its message, but this is one situation where a slightly smaller hammer would probably make things more effective. Second, the human-interest story about the fact that the private eyes the filmmaker hired to investigate the MPAA turning out to be lesbians merely hurt the signal-to-noise ratio. While the role of homosexuality in affecting ratings during which this vignette occurs is extremely relevant, the sexuality of the PIs basically has nothing to do with anything else in the film.

On the way home, I listened to "Discovery Channel" on my iPod, which is certainly appropriate for the film, which uncovers numerous lies from the MPAA. (I especially liked it when Jack Valenti's comments directly contradict facts cited from the MPAA website.) Unsurprisingly, it's the sexual content of films that ramps up the ratings rather than violence, but certain quotes and numerical facts (granted, approximate numbers such as "1 in 4" and other things at that level) make this point especially poignant. OK, I didn't write this paragraph pretty well. I was trying to segue into sex.

By the way, if you see the film, stay until the end of the credits. There is a cookie at the very end which is also very George Carlin-esque.