For tonight's entertainment: This Film Is Not Yet Rated, a documentary about the American rating system. As I watch, I will be writing my response as well as information and parts of the film I think will come in handy for you guys. Also, while I watch this movie, I will be eating leftover Mexican food from last night.
First off, before we start, I would like to say how strange out rating system is. Does anyone else remember when R was so innocent? And now days R ratings include horrific violence like peoples arms getting cut off, non-stop swearing, etc. etc. Have you also noticed how now days, it always seems to be different? Some movies with the F*bomb get classified as an R while some that swear just as much, or even more, with the F*bomb get put into the PG-13 category.
Okay, right off the bat, this is not for children. Seriously. Don't let your kids watch this.
Having your movie get an NC-17 rating means that the studio's won't release your movie.
Kimberly Peirce was interviewed in this film and she makes an amazing point. Most films are from guy's and their fantasies. In her film Boy's Don't Cry they pointed out a few things that caused it to be placed as an NC-17. One of these was that the main female character in her film had "too long of an orgasm". And so Kimberly talks about how that, ya, most films are made by guys and have their "happy go-ya-ya's" all over them, and they are mainly from a males perspective. But when she made hers, and had that "too long of an orgasm" part in, it made people feel uncomfortable. Like woman can't be happy too? What's wrong with that? I (mostly) quote her here: "I think people think female pleasure is unnatural, I think they think female pleasure is scary. So I think that if you're a woman who understands female pleasure from the woman's perspective you're probably rolling in a terrain that's unfamiliar. Really it's the unfamiliarity that breeds the NC-17."
-Sirwhovian, Out!
I watched this movie. It is kind of crazy how a couple boobs can get NC-17, but people getting their heads blown off all over the place is only an R.
ReplyDeleteI also kind of wonder about documentaries in general. They're good for bringing issue to the publics attention, but just like any narrative movie, they only show certain things. The audience only sees what the filmmaker wants them to see. I wonder what you think of that.
That is a very good point. There are many things documentaries get out, like Food Inc. But we do trust documentaries to be so true that it is hard to think that maybe they're leaving things out or only showing certain things. I personally think that it all depends on who made it and what studio or company it was released from. If you have someone who made an indepth documentary that showed "too" much and the studio wasn't willing to release it like with NC-17 movies, yes, we're going to get restricted information. At least the documentaries of this world are not made by Fox. Am I right? The truth is, we will never know everything we want to know or should know. In America, there are a lot of secrets. And I wish we could be more informed. I hope that answers your question!
Delete