Jessica Doll- "Some Material May be Inappropriate or Mystifying, and the Rating System May be as Well"
A.O. Scott, author of "Some Material May be Inappropriate or Mystifying, and the Rating System May be as Well" states "The little boxes that appear at the bottom of the print advertisements are sometimes helpful . . .but they can also be mystifying" (1).
This article examines the documentary, "This Film is Not Yet Rated", which analyzes the rating system of films (i.e. PG-PG-13) and the various criteria (if any) that these rating systems are based on.
The documentary uses various tactics to analyze the film board such as interviews, movie clips, and sound bites. Eventually they even hire a spy to get "inside information" on the various rating board members.
The article goes on to describe how the rating system is a mystery. As evident from the documentary, many inconsistencies are found from the rating of one film to the next. For example, after comparing two films, one with explicit "female sexual pleasure" and one with just talk of sex, they both received the same rating.
Therefore, what makes one film PG and the other PG-13? The answer to this question is fuzzy, which makes one wonder, "if there is not a fixed criteria for rating films, what influences the rating system?"
The answer may lie with popular culture. For instance, the example above states that two films with very different content are rated the same, one dealing with "female sexual pleasure" and the other merely with talk of sex. Is popular culture more or less accepting of "female sexual pleasure" as opposed to "male sexual pleasure"? Either way, popular culture has a hand in deciding movie ratings.
Popular culture influences many other issues discussed in class, for example we examined the power Hollywood (driven by pop culture) has over the content of films. They have the ability to reinforce the values and beliefs of the mainstream if they choose to. In addition, we witnessed the power the government has over film content. This was especially evident during WWII when the OWI controlled all information that went into the U.S. (film, media etc.)
Thus, throughout history, we see that pop culture influences everything from Hollywood filmmakers, to film ratings, to government decisions. The list could go on and on, and will continue to do so until society learns to not take everything they see and hear at face value. One must question the authenticity and motives of mainstream America.