This Film is not yet Rated

I just wanted to make a quick post about a documentary I watched recently called, This Film is not yet Rated. I was reminded of it in our recent ethics lecture when Bruce mentioned the restricted rating that was given to the ad about not throwing fuel on fires. It had a good ethical message, trying to show people the potential consequences of dangerous behaviour, yet it was restricted from reaching its audience.

This Film is not yet Rated focusses on the Motion Picture Association of America’s (MPAA) rating board. A number of film makers are interviewed in the documentary, discussing the disparity in ratings, the fact that simple homosexual intimacy will be given a harsher rating than heterosexual sex and that gratuitous violence seems to be more acceptable than sex in any form. 

On reflection, the film is highly relevant to the exercise we did in the ethics lecture to establish the difference between ethical issues and personal aesthetics. It seems the ratings board in the US is unable to disambiguate ethics from aesthetics. So, for example, if you have a film which depicts an intimate homosexual relationship with an overall message of respect and acceptance, you will receive a more restrictive rating than an action film with excessive violence which carries no ethically justifiable message. There is no room to consider the film within its ethical context to determine whether the contentious scenes are justifiable. This closed-mindedness places heavy restrictions on the creative freedom of film makers. If they are stuck with a restrictive rating their ability to promote their film and the audience they will be able to reach are both greatly reduced.