Cinema Cemetery

Absent-minded Morality Police

Disclaimer:

The following is my own opinion and not the opinion of any studios I have worked for in the past or will work for in the future. All specific information comes courtesy of publicly accessible articles, please see the bibliography for more information.

From a parent’s perspective, being able to understand the content within a movie before their child sees it can be a very comforting thing. Heck, as an adult, there are some things that I would personally rather not see...we all have our own comfort zones and thresholds of tolerance when it comes to content that we may deem objectionable. For many, film ratings are helpful devices. A simple code to allow one to avoid material that may inhibit development, reopen personal wounds, or outright offend without cause. It’s understandable that such a code would be desirable. However, there’s much about our current system that is fatally flawed.

“Movie ratings began as early as the 1920s. Under the strict Hays Code, many films were banned, kept out of theaters or highly censored to fit the image of prosperity, goodwill and conservatism that concerned parents wanted in the movie palaces of the day. Fast forward to today’s standards, and films are still heavily censored... (3)” 

It’s not that changes are forced upon a film per se.

“The MPAA rating system is a voluntary scheme that is not enforced by law; films can be exhibited without a rating, though many theaters refuse to exhibit non-rated...films. (2)”

“The MPAA is only a part of the problem. Theaters that belong to the National Association of Theatre Owners, such as Carmike and Cinemark, often won’t show films that have not been rated or carry an NC-17 rating. ...Such restrictions make it difficult for certain movies to make it to theaters. The problem is ‘How do you get a movie on the radar without a theatrical release or marketing budget?’ NATO won’t take films that they think won’t draw an audience. (1)” But it’s more than just a moral grandstanding, it’s also monetary blackmail. Getting a rating for your film is an expensive process, cutting out smaller distributors and impacting low budget films chances of a wide release.

This tight control over content oven means that,

“Studios often won’t even greenlight films they think could be lightning rods for ratings. All along production of the film, the eventual rating will weigh heavily, impacting decisions across the board. (1)”

“For many filmmakers, the Motion Picture Association of America’s film rating system has long been a point of contention. Opponents have derided the system...for possessing vague standards and wielding an unusual amount of power over the entire industry. (1)”

Yet this power is not legislative,

“They’re not regulated by the government nor are they mandated… (3)” 

They just run a near-monopoly on theatrical distribution chances.

In addition to the mob-like level of arm twisting, the ratings themselves aren’t even that useful when it comes to objectively identifying and categorizing content.

“The ratings are not qualitative. There are no written standards about how much objectionable content is allowed in each rating, and movies’ ratings are not meant to be compared with one another. (4)”

“Many critics of the system, both conservative and liberal, would like to see the MPAA ratings unveiled and the standards made public. (2)”

“Furthermore, the (system) does not distinguish between objectionable elements that are perceived as immoral and those that negatively influence a child’s development. (4)”

“...the MPAA's preoccupation with what is offensive to adults comes at the expense of what is arguably a more important question: What types of portrayals are really harmful to children? (5)”

While an adult may be capable of enjoying a wide variety of material, a developing mind may need time to fully process difficult content.

“Do children (really) react to media violence? The answer to this question is more complex than a simple yes or no. It depends upon the emotional maturity and the level of learning ability of each child. Most parents of two or more children know how much children's abilities and understanding can vary even at the same age, and a year or two of development creates broad differences. (5)”

These complicated developmental questions aside, there are still many issues.

“Many critics of the MPAA system, especially independent distributors, have charged that major studios' releases often receive more lenient treatment than independent films. (2)”

Additionally,

“Film critic Roger Ebert argued that the system places too much emphasis on sex, while allowing the portrayal of massive amounts of gruesome violence. The uneven emphasis on sex versus violence is echoed by other critics, including David Ansen, as well as many filmmakers. (2)”

“The disconnect between (the USA) and other (countries) is especially strange. In Europe sexuality is often downgraded to watchable, even by small children, but violence is heavily rated. Here, the opposite remains true.  (3)”

This is only a small sampling of the MANY issues which plague the current MPAA rating system. If you want to dive deep into this I recommend checking out the documentary “This Film is Not Yet Rated”. Keep in mind though, this documentary is not family friendly by any stretch of the imagination.

It’s one thing to point out exactly what is broken in a broken system. It’s another to propose a solution, an alternative system. There do exist some really great sites which break down the content of a film in a detailed and well-laid out manner, such as PluggedIn and Common Sense Media. But both of these methods can be a little subjective.

A user-friendly, an objective, and

“...a useful rating system exhibits both reliability and validity. The ratings that each rater assigns to movies must periodically be compared with the others to make sure that there is inter-rater reliability. There also must be empirical consistency between ratings; if two movies have comparable content, they should be rated the same and should have the same content descriptors. The system must measure what it claims to measure, that is, content harmful to the development of a child. Lastly, the way movies are rated must not shift over time. (4)”

That’s a problem with any system that isn’t locked to very specific codes, the systems become subjective. Once a system becomes subjective, it runs the risk of becoming useless. A PG rated film twenty years ago and a PG rated film today are very different animals.

Jaws, released in 1975, contains brief nudity, high tension, crass language, minor gore, and some pretty brutal animal attacks. When it came out, it was rated PG. Night of the Living Dead was released as PG. As was Poltergeist. I have no doubt in my mind that if these same films were released today, they would be slapped with an R rating easily.

What we need is a numeric, objective system for content identification that doesn’t result in an age range, but a content advisory color that, upon being looked up/clicked on/what have you, will result in a detailed, specific, yet spoiler free list for people to base their personal decisions on.

Here’s my proposed rubric, Each line is a specific TYPE of content, such as sensuality or violence. Categories are weighted by negative psychological impact. Items within categories are listed in specific detail from mild to severe with each instance being worth a certain number of points. Multiple instances of a specific item will add that number of multipliers to that specific item.

It’s bulletproof, watch a movie, check the boxes, multiply, add, and the resulting number corresponds to a numeric system of severity. This system ensures continuity from rating to rating, as well as offering an itemized, math-based approach that cuts some of the subjectivity from the process.

Yes the calculation is a bit more complicated than that, perhaps one day I’ll make a video on how my system works fully. Right now though, it’s a barometer I’m comfortable using and am confident in it’s lack of subjectivity. It seems to match the MPAA ratings decently enough, though this time the content and reasoning isn’t hidden.

For example:

My rating system gave Night of the Comet a 5.42 out of 10 on our intensity scale, we recommend this one for mature teens. The MPAA gave it a PG13.

My rating system gave Moana a 2.11 out of 10 on our intensity scale, I recommend this one for mature kids. The MPAA gave it a PG.

So what about you, do you think the MPAAs rating system is fine or would you like to see a more objective replacement?

I would personally love to see an open rating system devised by psychologists and human behavioral scientists. Something that actually exists as a reasoned safeguard for rational beings, until then, we get the MPAA’s method. A monetized theatrical release gate that monopolizes the wide release industry while offering up zero transparency or accountability.

This has been Cinema Cemetery, digging six feet deeper into film and culture.

-Josh Evans