Nov 1: This Film is Not Yet Rated

"Kirby Dick's exposé about the American movie ratings board."

Directed by: Kirby Dick, Rated: UR, 97 minutes

This Film Is Not Yet Rated is an eye-opening documentary about the inner workings of the MPAA, the group of people that decide the ratings of every major motion picture from studio blockbusters, to indie darlings. It leaves you incredibly frustrated with a broken system that was set up in 1966 with a main mission to avoid censorship, yet has managed to turn itself into a regulating body that does exactly that in its own twisted way. It's a documentary that takes a side but, when the facts of the argument are presented, it's incredibly easy to join the fight. Oh, and it's also incredibly funny as the ridiculousness of the entire system is so laughable. 

You realize how much this movie gets away with. 

Director Kirby Dick is out on a mission to expose the MPAA rating system for what it is- an understated, unfair, and way too secretive board that has way too much power. The MPAA has been known to actually ruin filmmakers and their work, as getting slapped with an NC-17 rating for an up and coming filmmaker is a near death sentence. The film compares ratings for multiple films and tries to explain what justifies a PG-13, R, or NC-17 rating. Dick compares big studio releases with far smaller indie films and shows that if you have money behind the production, you're sure to get by with much, much more. Intertwined with Dick's own investigation into the MPAA (with the help of a very enthusiastic private investigator) are interviews with filmmakers who have experienced critical issues with the MPAA and their own appeals for the system.

Founding president of the MPAA, Jack Valenti is one of the most self-obsessed arrogant son of a bitches I have ever seen. 

This Film is Not Yet Rated challenges and exposes a system that's well past its expiration date. It literally leaves you floored with what films have gotten away with and leaves you wondering what films had to have been scrapped entirely by an unfair rating slapped upon it. Dick does a terrific job at challenging the system and breaks it down for all of us to understand and fight against. It's a film that exposes so many secrets of the MPAA, the board will never be what it used to be and the demands placed upon it require scrambling from the corrupt process. It's a real eye-opening documentary and I think it completely does what it has set out to do. Realistically, change will not happen over night, nor has a lot been changed in the six years since this film's release, but it's a good jump-start in the right direction. It also gives a greater insight to the film-making process and the loops filmmakers need to jump through in order to get the product, that they work so hard on, out to the public. It gives you an added appreciation for the things that they do and makes you admire them even more. I would highly recommend this doc and hope that more changes the film suggests happen sooner than later.

The Good:

the work Kirby Dick and his team go about to expose the MPAA is admirable and the secrets that uncover are things no one has known about before

The Bad:

knowing that such an out-dated system still holds so much power in Hollywood and that the people behind it are not publicly known

The Ugly:

not knowing if huge changes will ever happen and if the system can fix itself before more damage is done

7.6/10

Discussion Question:

If you were to set up your own rating system, how would you go about it and what factors would you consider?

Trailer: