Yesterday the MPAA announced that the rating of the movie Bully was adjusted from an R rating to PG-13. When reading this news, one would hope that the catalyst for this action came from the clear need for giving access to this movie to the audience who needs it most - but the truth was the only reason it was changed was because the movie removed three curse words. Three curse words. Yes, that’s right, three curse words was the difference between allowing a powerful and important documentary to be shown to the audience that most needs to see it, and blocking them from that access.
Before the ratings system created the PG-13 rating, everything was really broken into four buckets. G, M (now PG) R, or X. Basically the first two meant you could see it with your friends, the last two meant you couldn’t. Now the nuances and politics that go into the decision are shrouded in mystery, and the few battles that take place lead by "renegade" directors are producers are showing movie-goers, that the real bullies in this discussion may actually be the MPAA and their arbitrary and often times ridiculous decisions.
I watched the movie Babies and saw a full on birth scene from the bottom up. Now I’m not going to argue about if the beauty of natural childbirth should be shielded or exposed to the general public (I’ll leave that to you guys), but that movie was rated PG. The MPAA thought it was appropriate for the same audience that watches Shrek to see a woman deliver a child. In my mind, if that's how this stuff nets out, it's pretty clear that we have outgrown the system and it's time for an overhaul.
Because lets be honest, if a 14-year-old can't see the actions in a movie like Bully on screen, yet they can be forced to live through them on a school bus every day of their lives, and the only thing that separates those two events are the removal of the word "fuck" three times, frankly, we have a problem.
The problem seems to be the ratings are so inflexible but yet arbitrarily change from movie to movie. No one seems to exactly understand why one movie can get one rating while another, which contains similar content, could get a completely different rating.
Very well written article, and a great point about kid's "uncensored" lives.
This is great news and I really hope the first tiny crack in the art destroying censorship board that skews American cinema to their own insane ends. I am curious about the details here, though. Is the word "fuck" still in the movie? If so, how many times? Does this set a new precedent, or will they go back to their old "rule" for other features? Is the MPAA really made by shape-shifting inter-dimensional reptile creatures who keep us in a sort of dream state to use our souls as batteries for their spacecraft?
The arbitrary 2 fucks and your R rule never made sense to me. I heard worse in middle and high school. Violence and sexual stuff sure makes a bit more sense but o noes actually people said the F word in a documentary clearly R stuff.
glad they changed it but honestly this stuff comes down to common sense and parents knowing what there kids can handle.
Fantastic article, and I agree. It's not broken, per se, but it needs to be updated with new rules and standards. Personally, I feel documentaries, especially ones dealing with children should be given lower ratings to be seen by more of the general public.
I stopped paying attention to ratings once I turned 17.
Fuck the MPAA. It's run by dumb fucking old white men.
That ratings board is like an overprotective mother, forcing her children to go to school in protective gear.
@AuthenticM said:
Men and women, to be fair. I believe the head of the board is a woman, but I can't recall the source.
edit: Nope, its an old white dude. I chuckled
The MPAA changes it's decision
Dude, really? Did these new writers not pass high school or something?
I think these new writers have just been told "just write a bunch of stuff to keep the community happy until we get some real writers in later". This is poop.
Alright folks, these purely negative comments are becoming more and more pointless as the days go on. Yes, "its" is possessive without the apostrophe. And I'm sure there are other errors that could be brought to light. But the point of reading anything here is to absorb and discuss the content, not to freak out if the grammar is incorrect.
By now, how 'bout we either give some thoughtful, constructive criticism, or just stop reading. "This is poop" isn't going to effect the quality of writing, it just makes you look like an ass.
@gangly said:
This.
@Vincemaster said:
This!
Does this mean it will be coming to more theaters soon?
The other problem here, not really a part of the article, is that Harvey Weinstein has been coasting on the publicity of being 'unrated' and fighting the MPAA decision and sticking by his guns, right up until people stopped paying attention and then he edited the movie. Not surprising to anyone who's been paying attention to the nonsense that Weinstein's been pulling for years, but that kind of manipulation is just as shitty as the MPAA's dogmatic moral totalitarianism.
@Napalm said:
QTF
@litrock said:
Yes, thank you! Ever since Rorie wrote a few articles on this topic, I've been thinking the same thing. Harvey Weinstein needs to grow up and stop trying to bully people around himself. He and the director had to of known their movie would get the R-rating because of the swears. Yes, there are kids that probably hear more fucks in conversation at school or with friends than there are in the movie but that's not the point. If Weinstein whines and bullies the MPAA to change the rating, the who's to stop the next director or studio head from doing the same exact thing. If the director and Weinstein were really going to champion the cause of the movie, they should have removed or bleeped the swears, received the PG-13 rating and there would be no controversy. I don't have kids but I would think parents reserve the right if they want their children to view a movie that just has swears and makes it rated R.
Bottom line, Weinstein and company realized what was best and did what had to be done. Hopefully now this movie can be seen by kids and in schools by teachers.
Personally, I think 2 f-bombs per movie is too many as is. Not because I think young people should be sheltered from words that they usually hear (or say) on their own, but because I just don't like movies being filled with swears. I like being able to go into a movie knowing that the writer(s) of the movie didn't just fill it full of swears. If they start relaxing the regulations for something like this, then it's only a matter of time before all PG-13 movies are filled with f-bombs, and I wouldn't like that.
I think it's a lazy way to write, and I realize that argument has nothing to do with a documentary.
But in response to the author of the article, I think having a live birth in a PG movie is messed up. "Beauty of life" my ass. That kind of stuff will give kids nightmares.
I side with the MPAA on this one and I'm glad they stuck by their guns. Make an R movie, get an R rating. This wasn't the case of the MPAA cherry picking and tearing a film unjustly to give it a R rating. There was nothing subjective about it. This was a totally objective, pure number count situation that everyone involved was aware of from the get go.
The last thing I think the MPAA should do is start taking "artistic merit" or "cultural importance" into consideration when rating films. It should be as by the books as possible, considering the wide gamut and variety of content that could be created and would have an impact on a film's rating. Let the critics take artistic merit and cultural importance into consideration when they give their ratings.