censorship priorities: sex vs. violence

[Riff]

Originally Posted by Despare

A LOT of that is the fault of the theaters and companies who refuse to let their films play at theaters that show NC17 movies. It's not the MPAA but rather the whole system that has flaws... just like anything. NC-17 movies can be brilliant such as Bad Lieutenant but most people simply will not get a chance to see them. This "hard R" should give theaters the option to play movies with more violence and sex without having to display the dreaded NC-17 rating on their marquee.

agreed, and a lot of this goes back to the earlier argument that much of this wouldn't be necessary if people didn't want others to decide what their kids can and can't watch.

[smo_go1]

i agree man, it's stupid as!

i mean, sex is legal and people are goin to be doing that more than violence which is illegal but it's fine to put it all over the screen

[Vodstok]

I think the "this country was founded by puritans" sums up the whole issue. America was started by people who would ostracize or kill you for dancing or wearing red; long, violent brutal killings in the name of "goodness", and god forbid you show some ankle...

Sex has always been evil and violence a tool. Welcome to the great irony of "civilization".

[Riff]

For more detailed info on how arbitrary the ratings board decisions are, and how biased they can be, see the documentary, This Film is Not Yet Rated.

[Vodstok]

Originally Posted by Riff

For more detailed info on how arbitrary the ratings board decisions are, and how biased they can be, see the documentary, This Film is Not Yet Rated.

I will have to, that is a big deal to me.I will have to look a little more, but i seem to remember that Trey Parker and Matt Stone filed a lawsuit against them for team america, because they supposedly gave it to a single woman to rate it.

[ManchestrMorgue]

At least in the USA, films do not have to be rated to be released (eg on DVD). In Australia, any film that is to be released must be rated by a government body (the Office of Film and Literature Classification). If the film shows something they don't like, they "refuse classification" and the film can't be released - ie it is "banned". So no one can see it - not in the cinema, not at home on DVD.

And this government rating seems just as arbitary as your MPAA ratings. It is up to the rating board, and things that have been passed with a rating can later be re-submitted and banned (it has happened with a number of films including Salo and Baise Moi).