The Motion Picture Association of America is at it again. Every once in a while, it tries to jazz up its movie ratings system in response to some recent trauma, whether it be real or imagined.
The rating system began with people freaking out over the use of the word "screw" in the film "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"
Then in 1984, when it felt that "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" was too intense for a PG rating, it created the new PG-13 rating.
Then when the infamous X rating became too synonymous with pornography, it changed it to NC-17 — which ironically still became synonymous with pornography.
After the Columbine shootings, the system increased its enforcement of the ratings system by putting more pressure on cinema owners to card younger movie-goers before entering the theaters. The system also began offering more detailed descriptions below the ratings to explain their content.
With all the recent tragedies of the past few months, the MPAA now wants to push those explanations even further. That's all swell and good, except for one problem: The system is wildly inconsistent. The only way the system will even begin to be effective is if it starts being as tough on violence as it is on sexuality. For years, it has suffered the reverse, and it could be taking a toll on our society's social mores.
But more importantly, these days it seems that ratings system are controlled more by corporate greed than by a desire to protect the public. A film can get an automatic R rating for having nudity of any kind, no matter how innocuous. But if its a big-budget film containing nudity like "Titanic," the MPAA can receive major pressure from the combined forces of Twentieth Century Fox and Paramount Pictures to lower the rating down to PG-13 so that it can reach a wider audience (and help the film recoup its $200 million budget).
The most vivid example I can think of is when comedy writers Trey Parker and Matt Stone tried to make an independent film early in their career called "Orgazmo."
When they received the NC-17 rating, they asked the MPAA what cuts they needed to get an R rating. The MPAA said it couldn't tell them what cuts to make, because that would make them a censorship board. Parker and Stone were then stuck with the NC-17 rating, which meant most theaters would refuse to show their film and most advertisers would not promote it.
Parker and Stone later found success with their hit show, "South Park."
When the time came to make a "South Park" movie, Parker and Stone again received the NC-17 rating. After Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros., who financed the film, asked what changes needed to be made, the MPAA magically offered a detailed editing list that allowed the film an R rating. This is more than censorship.
If the MPAA thinks that Hollywood movies have an impact on the tragedies in our society, then it needs to act like it. It's not enough to just set standards for the movies. It needs to set standards for itself.
Reach the columnist at crgavin@asu.edu or follow him at @coltongavin
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