This Film is Not Yet Rated

This is probably the most entertaining documentary I've seen.  Filmmaker Kirby Dick takes on the MPAA to make his documentary about the rating system.  It brings up several interesting points about what gets a movie an NC-17 rating instead of an R rating.  He interviews several filmmakers whose films received NC-17 ratings.  One main theme that seemed to be in all those films was unusual sexual themes, such as homosexual sex.  Dick points out that scenes of homosexual sex gave movies NC-17 ratings while scenes shot in similar fashion of straight sex received an R rating.  The thing I found most interesting that I did not know before is that the people who rate movies are kept secret from the public.  Dick actually hires a private investigator to find out the names of the people.  The amateur PI succeeds and the names of the people are revealed in the film.  Some other topics that are covered in the film are the idea of violence vs sex.  It is brought up in the film that in Europe the ratings are exactly opposite.  In the US, the more sexual material there is in a film the harsher the rating, but in Europe films receive harsher ratings for violence.  One man in the film states that he feels the films that portray the actual results of violence should receive a lower rating and the films filled with "fantasy" violence, or violence without blood, should receive a higher rating.  He believes that teenagers should see the results of violent acts instead of being led to believe in a fantasy world where no one bleeds when they get shot.  Another point the film brings out is that the MPAA favors studio films over Independent films.  One independent filmmaker submitted his film and received an NC-17 rating.  When he asked what he could change to get an R rating he was told that the raters don't take notes so he would just have to change some things and resubmit the film for a new rating.  Later the same filmmaker submitted a film he was making in association with Paramount studio.  This time when the film received an NC-17 the MPAA provided him with specific details on what to change in order to get an R rating.  In the end of the film Dick submits his own film to the MPAA and because of the graphic sex scenes taken from various NC-17 films his film also receives an NC-17.  He then goes through the process of an appeal, where the members of the appeals board are also kept secret.  It's interesting to note that during the appeal filmmakers are not allowed to reference films with similar content that received a lower rating.  Dick again hires the PI to find out the names of the appeals board members and discovers that most are very well paid members of large production companies.  Something I found extremely interesting is that there are two clergy on the appeals board.  One is from the Catholic church and one is from the Episcopalian church.  The clergy don't actually cast a vote, but they are there to influence the vote.  It's interesting that the clergy are always from those two religions.  The board relies on two men from two specific Christian religions, to represent the morality of the nation.  Dick ends up losing his appeal and rejects the films rating, which is the right of the filmmaker, his film was released without a rating.  The film is put together very well and is very informative.  I would recommend this film to anyone who'd like to learn more about how the ratings system works, but do give the warning that it did receive an NC-17 rating before it was rejected.