This Film is Not Yet Rated

Another documentary. I am on a roll. This Film is Not Yet Rated is directed by Kirby Dick.

In this documentary, he tries to uncover the method and the people behind the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), though I think it would better if they renamed it the American Motion Picture Association of America.

Everyone knows that the MPAA rates movies either G, PG, PG-13, R, or NC-17. And you probably know that you never see NC-17 movies. The only one that I recall seeing in the theater was Showgirls. Apparently, getting rated is purely voluntary - unless you actually want you movie distributed to theaters and produced on DVD.

The documentary exposes the people behind the scenes and how inconsistent the process is. The ratings board has absolute and unfettered power over the movie industry. They are a corrupt group and ironically get praise as "helping parents decide what to allow their children to see".

What they point out and what you will probably agree is that the ratings of American movies are entirely backwards. How can graphic violence be rated PG or PG-13, yet a glimpse of a woman's butt or her breasts cause the movie to be rated R?

Think about this - you are in downtown Washington, D.C. with your children. Would you rather they see a violent shootout that results in 100 people being killed with enormous bloodshed - or a woman's breast? And don't even get them started about showing a penis - the scourge of all images.

What I get out of this documentary is that there needs to be another independent ratings board - one that is not controlled a bunch of California granola living in Hollywood. How in the world can you say that a group of people in California represent the average person in America. Other than being majority Hispanic, Californians have always been the joke of goofiness in America.

Like the Enron documentary, this movie will leave you a bit irked and irritated. John Waters offers insightful and hysterical commentary in addition to other directors and actors/actresses.

I really liked this documentary. I give it 5 stars. If you don't like watching documentaries, then watch this movie for the comedic experience. You will not regret it.