Inspiration and Fair Use: How This Film Is Not Yet Rated Directly Inspires My Documentary

This Film Is Not Yet Rated was a documentary that has had a big impact on me and how I think about media and its impacts. For those who haven't seen it, the doc is an expose on the MPAA's rating system and the effect it has on American culture. It thoroughly examines the types of films that get the NC-17 rating and through that examination, shocking trends emerge. The disparity between sex and violence, sexuality, and sexual orientation and the ratings these depictions receive is astounding.

Through clips of media footage and interviews, I aim to illustrate the deep rooted problem in how the media reports on transgender individuals. Through my research, focus has been spent on the bodies of transgender indivdiuals and a complete disrespect for identities. I'm not saying that there are some reportings that are better than others, but how transgender individuals are treated in the media is repulsive. Just take a look at Caitlyn Jenner. Before coming out the media completely invaded her privacy and focused on how her body was looking different. For a transgender individual, how they transition and the timeline through which they transition is an incredibly personal decision, and that is completely disregarded through the media.

How Are Movie Ratings Determined??

This is a documentary about the process of how movies are rated. It features producers, directors, and actors, that have been part in making movies that most of us have never heard of. Why? Because they received an NC-17 rating and got little to no funding for advertising.

This documentary tries to uncover the mysteries of why some of these movies got that NC-17 rating, and just how the process works in general. As of the time this was filmed (2006) the whole process was 100% secret, and nobody knew the identities of those who rated films. This documentary hires a private investigator to find these identities, and also interviews producers, directors, and actors as mentioned above. It compares side-by-side scenes from movies that received an R, and those that received an NC-17; which are extremely similar in terms of content, camera angles, etc. It raises an obvious question as to why, and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) is very vague and confusing when they attempt to give answers.

The documentary also reveals that in the USA, violence is basically unlimited, while sexual situations are highly censored. However, in European countries, they are nearly the complete opposite, by being very liberal when it comes to sex, and very suppressive on violence. Again, why? The documentary answers the questions as best as it can, but in the end, the MPAA is still very secretive, confusing, and vague. But what it does a great job of is showing the major inconsistencies in the rating system and puts the right questions out there to hopefully change the system for the better. It is a tough topic though, since it does flirt with the boundaries of the First Amendment and censorship, as well as give a general indication of the content in the movies being rated so that parents can choose what they let their children watch. The latter was the original purpose for movie ratings, but does the MPAA do a good job at it? This documentary would say "no," and they do give convincing evidence of why.

This Film is not yet Rated is an award-winning documentary, that I feel is very valuable to Park students who aspire to be in the film industry later on in their careers. It even ends with quite a big f**k you to the MPAA, which I found quite hilarious, and definitely worth watching (you can find it on Netflix). However, I will end by saying that it does show the full uncensored scenes from the NC-17 movies as examples, but we're all adults and professionals here, right?