That above image is not a joke, I noticed several of you read my article on what the MPAA should do about the movie rating system and some made their opinions known, but I am VERY happy that none of you had this idea because it is one of the worst I have ever heard.
The Hollywood Reporter carries the news saying that instead of R ratings reading “Under 17 requires accompanying parent or guardian,” the new and uber fancy R rating will read: “Generally, it is not appropriate for parents to bring their young children with them to R-rated motion pictures.”
Why don’t we just give ticket takers Homey the Clown socks and allow them to beat the stupid ass parents that bring their 6-year-olds to movies like 300 and Saw III? It would be far more effective, make sense and not be some stupid bit of writing that nobody reads or pays attention to anyway.
Do they really think that Joe Blow moviegoer looks at the bottom of a movie poster for the rating and then reads the little caption next to it that says what the rating means?
National Association of Theatre Owners general counsel Kendrick Macdowell said, “Our sole purpose is not to be a prescriptive body but a descriptive body.” Now that makes sense, but describe the movie not the rating! People see R and think R, they don’t think, “Hmm, I heard that generally it is not appropriate to take young children to these movies.” If they can take their kid to an R-rated movie and can’t find a babysitter, guess what, that kid is going to the R-rated movie.
The article goes on to say Macdowell said that exhibitors are experimenting with initiating standards that would refuse admittance to parents with young children to R-rated fare. No industrywide effort has been launched in that direction, though. Yeah, it hasn’t been launched because theater owners don’t care if parents corrupt their children, they just want the money, and that is just fine. If parents want their young children watching people get tortured it is not a theater owner’s responsibility to stop them.
The article also says that religious organizations are allowed to sit through the films and the Q&As, but they are forbidden to state their opinion or vote. They are there only to ensure that the process remains fair. We have religious organizations making sure the MPAA remains fair? Damn, this is more messy than I ever thought.
Also discussed was the appeals process, which has actually made a little bit of news lately with Norbit and Transformers. When first rated Norbit received an R-rating but after some unknown changes it was given a PG-13. Word on Transformers was that it was originally cited with an R, but Michael Bay sent producer Steven Spielberg in to have a little chat with the Association and got it knocked down to a PG-13. I have yet to receive an official bulletin on Transformers so the reason for the rating is not yet available, and that PG-13 rating is still not official.
If it were up to me and people still thought the current rating system was a problem I say scrap it. Have the MPAA just give their reasons for each movie and maybe give it a color, like the terrorist threat level and if parents want to take their kids to red band movies with graphic battle sequences throughout, some sexuality and nudity then let them see 300 all they like. I just hope they aren’t in my screening when they start to cry.
If the descriptions aren’t the best way to go perhaps something like this would work:
