This Film Is Not Yet Rated

Who are those 'moral guardians of society' who prevent you or I seeing the films we want to see, in the form originally intended? In any philosophical sense, This Film is Not Yet Rated does not even attempt to make any serious exploration of censorship - but it does name names.

In America, it would seem the big debate is not about what adults can see, but what minors can see, with or without an accompanying adult. The reason this is so important, as far as I can gather, is that the most restrictive of ratings means that the film is not likely to be shown outside of art-house cinemas and so, in practice, a lot of adults will not get to see it either. (The meaning of each of the ratings is whizzed over fairly quickly in an introductory cartoon, so non-US viewers may be well advised to acquaint themselves with the significance of these first.)

Not surprisingly, the film, contrary to what European audiences might think a film about censorship would include, has little explicit sex or violence. One of the most controversial shots is of some very soft-core, neatly-trimmed, female pubic hair.

Director Kirby Dick makes a compelling argument, admittedly mostly by means of soundbites and innuendo, against the current ratings system. His lighthearted and largely non-graphic approach can be justified by wanting to reach (within the present system) as many people as possible. I would (personally) have preferred something a little more thorough, even academic and balanced, but there is no denying that Dick has made choices that are intelligently aimed to hit the target.

Although Britain has long lagged behind continental standards, we now have a fairly relaxed attitude to censorship, enjoying fairly broad support by the public and the industry. Gone are the days of Mary Whitehouse and the mad moral crusaders. I say 'mad' because their idea of morality was based largely on Biblical Christianity which lags far behind the more enlightened human-rights based morality that is a mainspring in Europe nowadays. America, sadly, still labours in the middle ages in terms of its vocal moral majority - people (and presidents) who spout religious texts to justify state-sanctioned killing, bigotry and many abuses of human rights. Liberal Americans of moral integrity are aware of the problem and, like Kirby Dick, sometimes look to the arts and cinema to exert pressure for positive social evolution.

The drawback of This Film is Not Yet Rated is that non-American audiences may find it hard to get excited about a primarily US problem. Its style is fairly repetitive, often showing 'outrageous' examples of violence that are allowed (surprise, surprise) and mild sexuality that is not. The American MPPA, looking at their website, has some apparent similarity to the British BBFC, yet, unlike the BBFC (as Dick goes to some lengths to show), MPPA members do not have any film expertise or dedication to the arts - they are merely anonymous representatives of a hypothetical 'normal parent'. He shows the ridiculousness of such a position, many of the double-standards that exist, and suggests that 'audience satisfaction' with the system is probably because no better alternative exists or has been offered (He makes some constructive suggestions in this direction.)

Through the course of a long undercover operation, Dick infiltrates various aspects of the MPPA system and, by means of this film, tries to bring them publicly to account.

Although I found the film soporific in the extreme, it may yet prove to be an important landmark for American cinema, so I still count myself a reluctant fan.