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Topic: The Matrix = PG-13, Titanic = R?
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Greg Anderson
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 766
From: Ogden Valley, Utah
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 09-24-2000 11:14 PM
There's an amusing, local, urban legend which says that the MPAA has changed its mind about The Matrix and the movie is now rated PG-13. Meanwhile, they say that Titanic is now rated R. According to the legend, the nudity or lack thereof was the issue.Now... why would such an urban legend exist around here? There are plenty of parents in this area who refuse to let their kids see any R-rated movies (and many of those parents don't even watch R-rated movies). But now their teenagers are assuring those parents that The Matrix is no longer rated R... so it's okay to buy the video. It's amusing that teenage boys, who would be most anxious to see The Matrix, have included Titanic in this legend. They'd happily give up their right to see Titanic in exchange for The Matrix. The distressing thing is that parents believe the teenage boys more than they believe the clearly-posted rating on the video case. And these are supposed to be the parents who care about ratings! It would be one thing if a parent watched both movies and decided that sci-fi violence was more tolerable than promiscuity in their household. But this appears to be a case of parents who blindly trust the MPAA to decide what's acceptable. And then they complicate that blind trust by believing their teenagers who are spreading an urban legend about the MPAA! So... has this particular urban legend reached your area yet?
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Scott Norwood
Film God
Posts: 8146
From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas)
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 09-25-2000 07:04 PM
From what I remember reading about this, the guy who was offering to censor your Titanic videotape for you wasn't actually making physical splices to the tape; customers would purchase legitimate copies of the tape and send them to him and he would dupe the edited version over the original version. The quality must have been horrible. Anyway, the justification for this was that, by purchasing the tape initially, customers were purchasing a license to view the movie and so there was no copyright issue. I have no idea how well this would have held up in court (probably not very well at all).
As for making physical edits to a projection print, that's a major no-no...the distributor could certainly claim breach of contract as well as destruction of property (including billing for replacemnet reels as a result of excessive splices, even if the theatre bothered to put the censored bits back in).
The whole ratings system kind of upsets me since it fails to take into account the context in which the sex/violence/language/etc. occurs in most cases. I suppose that having some sort of ratings system is a necessary evil, but what currently exists does not seem to serve its intended purpose.
I am, however, pretty tired of having the US government jump all over "Hollywood" (whatever that is...) to get rid of sex/violence/whatever in movies. As for the "marketing R-rated films to minors"--I don't personally see the issue here. Just because a film is rated "R" doesn't mean that it is inappropriate for children--just that it has "mature" content and that children under 17 should be accompanied by a parent. I certainly would not suggest that 12-year-olds should be watching stuff like "Scary Movie," but I do think that there are plenty of mature 12-17-year-olds who would benefit from having the opportunity to see something like "Schindler's List" (which is rated R for good reasons, but is not necessarily inappropriate for the right child/parent combination).
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Russ Kress
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 202
From: Charleston, WV, USA
Registered: May 2000
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posted 09-25-2000 08:14 PM
Scott, Excellent point!The rating system is not being challenged by the parents who have used it as the tool it was intended to be since its conception. (Personally, I think that "Schindler's List" should be shown every year at the junior high level.) It is being attacked by people who are attempting to get elected. Why, in this day and age, should a parent have to be bothered with trivial tasks like raising their children? (buy their tickets) Sadly enough, I have been bitched out by parents for REFUSING admission far more times than I have been thanked for enforcing the ratings system. If you ask me, society (read: politicians) are attempting to blame the entertainment industry for merely reflecting problems that were created by their neglect of their duties as governors. Ratings should be enforced at the theatre level. We do this. Being a parent is the most important job in existance. Don't farm the job out to someone you never met. Don't attack an industry that developed and enforced a rating system even when they didn't have to! DO attack the moron who takes his kids to see "Scary Movie" and then comes back to complain because he just couldn't comprehend the meaning of the big, fat "R" on the marquee. I won't even comment on the "parents" who simply drop the kids off only to be able to get on with their lives. But hey! If you criticise parents, they won't vote for you! Russ
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