Review of This Film Is Not Yet Rated (2006) by Chris D — 27 Jun 2010

An interesting documentary, that covers a lot of different ideas behind the MPAA rating system, including the devaluation of violence, the collusion between the military and large film studios, and the arbitrary nature of sex ratings. This is actually the first NC-17 movie I've ever seen myself, which I think speaks to how much one has to go out of their way to find these films, which have been thrown into the shadows of film studios.

I don't buy, however, the depiction of violence in movies leading to real life acts, much as I think video games also have a negligible effect. For every violent video game player, there are ten who aren't. Overall, though, the movie is very effective in presenting a system, cloaked in secrecy, that decides what they find offensive for 300 million Americans. The film really opens my eyes up to the discrepancy between sex and violence in our culture.