Ever wondered who those people in the MPAA are, and what kind of criteria they're using to distinguish between a PG-13 and an R? Well guess what -- nobody knows. That's because the MPAA is, quite literally, a secret organization, whose members are anonymous and whose voting methods are entirely arbitrary. But if you want to know more, Kirby Dick has uncovered as much as humanly possible in his anti-censorship documentary This Film is Not Yet Rated.
Dick's film combines director interviews, MPAA-censored clips and private investigator footage, all with the goal of showing how the MPAA is stifling the filmmaking industry. The film would have been stronger if Dick had scored more face time with big-name directors; their first-hand stories of ratings warfare are just unbelievable. (What the MPAA deemed obscene in Boys Don't Cry -- not the violence, but the close-up of Chloe Sevigny's face during an orgasm -- is extremely telling.) Equally effective is the montage that juxtaposes identically shot sex scenes, one gay and one straight, while contrasting the films' ratings. Although the private eye scenes are less compelling, the PI's eventual discoveries about MPAA members' identities are sobering; in short, everything the MPAA has said about its members is a lie, and their appeals board seems jury-rigged against edgy and independent filmmakers.
Stream or download the whole film here.
