MPAA documentary gets NC-17
Filed under: Documentary, Independent, Sundance, Celebrities and Controversy, NSFW, Cinematical Indie
Director Kirby Dick (the man behind Derrida and an Oscar nominee for last year's Twist of Faith) has made a documentary that he says will blow the lid off the Motion Picture Association of America's ratings board – that is, if he can actually get it shown anywhere. Dick's This Film Has Not Been Rated, which is set to premiere next month at Sundance, has, indeed, been rated: the MPAA saw fit to brand it with an NC-17. It would be fun to call this some kind of self-preserving conspiracy on the part of Dan Glickman's little kabal, but that's probably not (entirely) the case. Rated includes copious clips from films whose commerical prospects were dimmed after receiving that very rating. According to The Guardian, Dick's film delves into various issues that have haunted the board since its 1960 inception at the hands of Jack Valenti: most notably, the double standard the board seems to operate under when it comes to sex vs. violence. Dick also apaprently investigates the members of the board, a list of names which has heretofore been kept relatively secret. Suffice it to say, Dick is none too pleased by the decision. "It is important that this film be seen by as many people as possible as it deals with an insidious form of censorship resulting from a ratings process that has been kept secret for more than 30 years," he said. No word yet on whether or not he'll appeal.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-08-2005 @ 9:59AM
cel said...
It's a wonderful Catch-22: in order to expose (pun intended) the machinations of the Board, one must delve into the material that constitutes the "NC-17" rating as defined by the Board. But to do so is to expose one's own work of cinematic criticism to the logic of the very ratings system one is trying to lay open to the world. It's all so very Althusserian if you ask me (can we categorize the ratings board as an ISA?).
cel
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12-08-2005 @ 10:55AM
chuck said...
bittorrent anyone? :)
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12-08-2005 @ 11:41AM
Nilblogette said...
I love it. I think I might question the credibility of a hardnosed look at censorship that made itself palatable enough to appease the board it attacks and get an inoffensive rating to ensure greater commercial success. However, if they get a lower rating after a huge legal squabble, I would be fine with it. Fodder for a sequel.
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12-08-2005 @ 11:59AM
Nathan said...
Bear in mind that they probably only submitted it to the MPAA because they actually wanted the NC-17 rating. I see that of the four Kirby Dick films that Netflix has, all are unrated.
Incidentally, I would rent Derrida, but I'm afraid it might cause me start writing like cel.
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12-08-2005 @ 12:07PM
Finished.Law.School said...
So they gave it this rating because it poo poos them? That's funny, completely predictable and should have been expected.
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12-08-2005 @ 12:23PM
cel said...
Nathan, I know. I sold myself into years of graduate education bondage and actually had the opportunity to meet Derrida (though it was after his two hour presentation on Freud so I was a bit foggy) and this is where I've landed up.
But for better or worse, we are the products of our individual histories . . .
cel
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