Dick, in full prankster mode, actually hired a private detective to identify the secret panel, put their names and pictures in his film, and then submitted it to the MPAA. Their response and his appeal process reveal a world that indeed someone who had just read Kafka’s the Trial would find brutally terrifying. Filmmakers aren’t even allowed to compare their films to other films that have gotten previous ratings by the board. In fact, any filmmaker that has a problem with the MPAA is pretty much at their mercy for the rest of their career.
That means that you’ll continue to see movies that find sex to be more deplorable than violence, and realistic violence more harmful than cartoon violence. This Film Is Not Yet Rated is an essential and courageous movie. My guess is that in the future Kirby Dick could submit a version of the Flintstones and find it rated NC-17. I also appreciate the bravery of Stone, Kevin Smith, Kimberly Pierce, and Maria Bello for speaking eloquently and persuasively about their experiences, while still in the movie business.
Nevertheless, I’ll leave with my new favorite example of the industry’s hypocrisy, which due to its time of filming, Dick couldn’t comment on. There is a long scene in the film where Bello discusses how her film The Cooler was originally rated NC-17, due to a brief flash of her pubic hair. Bello would then go on to make A History of Violence, a film, which though rated R, shows a full, unobstructed view of the same region for nearly 60 seconds. Don’t try to make sense of it all, it will only make you dizzy.
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Article comments
1 - Ty
This was a neat film, it's just a shame that the film spent too much time on the lesbian PI instead of on the material. It was kind of a distraction.
2 - Brent
Just a couple of facts from this review that desperately need correcting. The MPAA was not founded by Jack Valenti, it was created as the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors Association of America. The name was changed to the present one in 1945. As for Jack Valenti, he would be terribly insulted to have been accused of coming straight from the Nixon administration. He was a lifelong Democrat who worked for Lyndon Johnson and was so loyal it was said that if Johnson dropped the H-bomb Valenti would call it an "urban renewal project."
3 - Brad Laidman
Brent's comments are corrent - I meant to say he created the rating system not the MPAA and he did work for Johnson not Nixon.