Thoughts on MPAA Ratings- Jasmine Omorogbe
First off, is it peculiar to anyone else that Jack Valenti's eyebrows are
so dark and his hair is pure white?
I find the whole mystery of the raters quite amusing...like, is it really
that serious? Even with their names not released, they are still under
influence. I am pretty sure that they have discussed particular films with
family or friends at some point, even if they were not supposed to. The
fact that they don't have to be held accountable is unbelievable. Joan
Graves lied about the years they serve and the ages of their children. Who
can call them on their lies? On a side note, all the raters turned out to
be really old...where are the young parents, where are the parents of
younger children, etc? I was glad Kirby Dick did research and produced this
documentary. Movie ratings are something people just kind of accept without
much thought into how the decisions are actually made. It was good to learn
a little about the inner workings of them and at least to see how secretive
they are about the real inner workings.
in "The Ratings System, Built to Endure" Michael Cieply quotes Sidney Ganis,
a film producer and president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences, as saying, “In the end, it endures because it works.� This point
was also made in the movie. One director was talking about the success
rates that Valenti quotes and said something like in a comparison between
the rating system and NOTHING AT ALL, yes, it works. Cieply additionally
comments that Valenti has successfully " devised an apparatus that is not
bound by precedent, changes its definitions at will and, ultimately, serves
the motion picture industry by becoming, at any given moment, as permissive
or restrictive as the prevailing climate seems to demand." It's so ambiguous that
it could potentially satisfy and dissatisfy everyone simultaneously.
I am sure that the system is of some help to parents, but a more transparent
system, with clear standards and training, that can utilize a system of checks and
balances would be much better. Personally, I feel either serious changes need to be
made or the government could create a new system that is more fair. Neither one,
the MPAA or the government taking over is super ideal, but I do agree that
some form of censorship is needed.