WEBVTT - SYSK Selects: How the MPAA Works 0:00:00.920 --> 0:00:04.320 Hey, everybody, This is Chuck and welcome to this weekend's 0:00:04.480 --> 0:00:07.600 Stuff you Should Know Selects episode. This one I picked 0:00:07.600 --> 0:00:10.160 out How the m p a A Works from June 0:00:12.160 --> 0:00:14.800 just a few years ago, and I picked this one because, well, 0:00:15.200 --> 0:00:17.800 kind of because I'm doing my new show Movie Crush, 0:00:18.400 --> 0:00:21.240 where I talked to people about their favorite all time movie, 0:00:21.600 --> 0:00:24.680 and my new episodes called Mini Crushes where I don't 0:00:24.720 --> 0:00:27.080 have a guest, but it's just Nolan High in here 0:00:27.120 --> 0:00:31.479 kind of rapping about stuff, recommendations and calling Facebook questions 0:00:31.520 --> 0:00:33.800 and stuff like that, and it just kind of got 0:00:33.840 --> 0:00:36.640 me thinking along the lines of movies in This episode 0:00:36.640 --> 0:00:40.120 on the Motion Picture Association of America was a really 0:00:40.120 --> 0:00:42.680 good one. And if you are just confused by the 0:00:42.720 --> 0:00:44.960 mp A what they do, this will clear it all 0:00:45.040 --> 0:00:47.919 up for you. So please to enjoy How the mp 0:00:48.159 --> 0:00:57.760 a A Works. Welcome to Stuff you Should Know from 0:00:57.760 --> 0:01:05.640 House Stuff Works dot com. M Hey, and welcome to 0:01:05.680 --> 0:01:09.840 the podcast. I'm Josh Clark. There's Charles W. Chuck Bryant, Jerry. 0:01:09.880 --> 0:01:14.680 But where's wal though right over there apparently, and I 0:01:14.720 --> 0:01:18.440 wish people could hear in between stuff. I think Jerry 0:01:18.520 --> 0:01:21.440 was recording that last one. Oh yeah, I think so. 0:01:22.040 --> 0:01:24.200 She used to give us a neat little outtakes, but 0:01:24.280 --> 0:01:27.440 she doesn't do that anymore. Those days are long gone. 0:01:28.520 --> 0:01:32.679 They exist in the vault though. How you doing not good? No? No, 0:01:33.600 --> 0:01:36.160 I don't know what's wrong with me. I am off today. 0:01:36.680 --> 0:01:39.800 Out of your game. Yeah, it's weird. Well, I think 0:01:39.800 --> 0:01:42.280 this is the perfect podcast to set you straight. Why 0:01:42.800 --> 0:01:48.840 because it's something that we both have some passion about against. Yeah. 0:01:49.360 --> 0:01:52.880 I think anybody who's seen um the documentary this film 0:01:52.920 --> 0:01:57.320 is not yet rated, that would be uh very difficult 0:01:57.360 --> 0:02:02.880 to not be persuade, didn't to feel strongly about the 0:02:03.000 --> 0:02:05.360 m p a A and its practices. Yeah, and at 0:02:05.400 --> 0:02:08.480 least how they do things. But we're going to try 0:02:08.520 --> 0:02:10.799 to be objective. Yeah, I'm gonna go ahead and say 0:02:10.880 --> 0:02:13.960 up front, I have no problem with rating of films 0:02:14.000 --> 0:02:18.280 content so parents can decide whether or not it's appropriate. 0:02:18.720 --> 0:02:21.080 It's valuable, but I think there are ways to do 0:02:21.120 --> 0:02:24.919 it that I don't think the mp A does. Yes, 0:02:25.120 --> 0:02:28.840 So how how I just wanted to float that early on. Okay, 0:02:29.040 --> 0:02:33.919 I think that was probably smart. Okay, Um, I don't 0:02:33.919 --> 0:02:37.680 have kids, so I don't really whatever, But I mean 0:02:37.680 --> 0:02:40.040 I can understand the value of that kind of thing. Yeah, 0:02:40.040 --> 0:02:41.840 but it gives you an idea of Like I like 0:02:41.919 --> 0:02:43.720 having an idea what I'm about to see too. I 0:02:43.760 --> 0:02:46.639 feel like I can tell just from watching a trailer 0:02:46.800 --> 0:02:53.239 previusing a movie poster. I'm pretty um, I'm pretty intuitive 0:02:53.280 --> 0:02:58.120 when it comes to the marketing techniques of movies. Yeah, 0:02:58.120 --> 0:03:01.359 but I think like being a film nerd, it's like, 0:03:02.240 --> 0:03:05.960 is the New Uh? Is the New Avengers movie gonna 0:03:05.960 --> 0:03:08.960 be rated R? That really tells you something. It won't be. No, 0:03:09.040 --> 0:03:11.560 it never would be, because PG thirteen is the the 0:03:12.400 --> 0:03:14.800 h that's the strike zone these days. It really is. 0:03:14.840 --> 0:03:18.520 Apparently PG thirteen movies pull in more money than all 0:03:18.560 --> 0:03:24.200 other ratings combined. And it's a relatively new phenomenon. You 0:03:24.200 --> 0:03:27.320 want to talk about its origin, let's do it. So 0:03:27.400 --> 0:03:34.119 back in a man named Steven Spielberg had two movies out. 0:03:34.200 --> 0:03:39.000 Who Steven Spielberg right? Uh? He directed one, Indiana Jones 0:03:39.040 --> 0:03:43.160 and The Temporary Doom, and he produced another, Gremlins, and 0:03:43.600 --> 0:03:46.600 both of them caught. He caught a lot of heat 0:03:46.640 --> 0:03:49.200 from both of them. Sure, Indiana Jones for the heart 0:03:49.240 --> 0:03:53.200 removal scene specifically, Yeah, but also the snake, the live 0:03:53.320 --> 0:03:57.240 snake at the feast thing, yea, all the snake babies, 0:03:57.280 --> 0:04:00.560 the eyeballs, all that stuff. Uh. And then with Gremlins, 0:04:00.560 --> 0:04:03.440 it was just downright terrifying in a lot of different places, 0:04:04.040 --> 0:04:06.160 especially if you're a kid. And the reason he caught 0:04:06.240 --> 0:04:09.520 heat was because both of those movies were rated PG. 0:04:10.880 --> 0:04:14.320 And so, uh, Spielberg went to the m p a A, 0:04:14.440 --> 0:04:19.279 the Motion Picture Association of America, and said, let's do 0:04:19.360 --> 0:04:23.359 something about this because he's clearly aren't our movies, but 0:04:23.480 --> 0:04:26.920 they apparently aren't PG movies either, so maybe we should 0:04:26.960 --> 0:04:31.080 come with something in between. And PG thirteen was born. Yeah, 0:04:31.120 --> 0:04:35.039 and this was before he had all this way in 0:04:35.080 --> 0:04:38.479 the world. He was influential, but it wasn't like Spielberg today, 0:04:38.520 --> 0:04:41.760 who could have just waved his wand and made it happen. Yeah, 0:04:41.760 --> 0:04:44.360 but I think even at the time he was important. 0:04:44.560 --> 0:04:47.919 He Yeah, there were very few directors at that time 0:04:48.320 --> 0:04:52.160 who could have gotten something like that done too. But um, 0:04:52.240 --> 0:04:55.640 so that's where PG thirteen came from. And uh that, 0:04:56.080 --> 0:04:58.080 like you said, that's the strike zone now. And the 0:04:58.120 --> 0:05:01.320 reason why is because that is the kind of movie 0:05:01.360 --> 0:05:06.560 that caters to um, young teenage boys who apparently are 0:05:06.600 --> 0:05:11.040 the most successful at getting girls to go to movies 0:05:11.080 --> 0:05:16.599 with them. So if you can get a movie rated 0:05:16.600 --> 0:05:20.040 PG thirteen, you're going to make a bunch of money. 0:05:20.200 --> 0:05:22.440 Plus it makes sense, it's right there in the middle. Yeah, 0:05:22.560 --> 0:05:26.400 you know. But the problem is it's become a means 0:05:26.480 --> 0:05:30.920 of almost advertising that rating rather than cautioning parents. It's 0:05:30.920 --> 0:05:35.360 a way of attracting the audience. It's like, this isn't 0:05:35.400 --> 0:05:38.040 some kids PG movie. This is as close to an 0:05:38.040 --> 0:05:40.919 OUR movie as you can get in Yeah, and I 0:05:40.960 --> 0:05:44.640 think filmmakers try to achieve that rating, um by either 0:05:44.760 --> 0:05:47.560 scaling back their our rated movie, or juicing up their 0:05:47.600 --> 0:05:53.239 PG movie or adding more violence. Apparently PG thirteen movies 0:05:53.760 --> 0:05:58.240 are um have tripled in violence over the last like 0:05:58.520 --> 0:06:02.680 a few decades, and um they now have, according to 0:06:02.720 --> 0:06:06.560 one study, more violence than there are rated counterparts in 0:06:06.600 --> 0:06:10.599 different kinds of violence that you didn't used to see. Yeah, 0:06:10.680 --> 0:06:13.320 you know. Um, all right, I guess we should go 0:06:13.320 --> 0:06:15.320 back in time a little bit. Let's is it way 0:06:15.360 --> 0:06:17.760 back machine? Sure, let's go. Let's go a way back 0:06:17.760 --> 0:06:28.599 in time in Hollywood. All right. It's Hollywood and Vine 0:06:28.800 --> 0:06:33.599 is a viable intersection in Hollywood at the time, unlike now, 0:06:34.680 --> 0:06:36.520 although people are gonna say no, they built that area 0:06:36.560 --> 0:06:40.359 back up. Yeah. Uh, And that is when the m 0:06:40.400 --> 0:06:43.080 p A was born in the early nineteen twenties. And 0:06:43.240 --> 0:06:46.800 at the time it was up to local authorities or 0:06:46.800 --> 0:06:51.520 your state or your municipality to either stamps something as 0:06:52.440 --> 0:06:56.000 moral or immoral. Um, there were no ratings on movies. 0:06:56.200 --> 0:06:59.240 And thanks to a guy named Will Hayes who was 0:06:59.279 --> 0:07:01.279 the first president of the m p A, he installed 0:07:01.279 --> 0:07:05.520 the Haze Code and said, um, you're either going to 0:07:05.560 --> 0:07:08.720 pass or fail. It's either gonna be stamped demorl or moral. Right. 0:07:08.760 --> 0:07:11.320 And the reason Will Hayes, who is the m p 0:07:11.480 --> 0:07:15.640 a A president, came up with the Haze Code, which 0:07:15.720 --> 0:07:19.720 was really extensive. It was like if you, uh, if 0:07:19.760 --> 0:07:23.200 you talk about the government, it always has to be good. Uh, 0:07:23.280 --> 0:07:27.920 sexuality has to be like repressed, and just basically how 0:07:28.000 --> 0:07:30.920 you think about all movies from like the thirties and forties, 0:07:31.560 --> 0:07:35.920 squeaky clean. Basically like the division between good and evil 0:07:36.040 --> 0:07:38.840 is very clearly defined that the good guy always wins. 0:07:39.520 --> 0:07:41.840 And if you didn't fall into that Haze code, like 0:07:41.880 --> 0:07:44.360 you said, your movie would be stamped immoral. But the 0:07:44.360 --> 0:07:47.160 whole reason he came up with this code was because 0:07:47.680 --> 0:07:53.400 local municipalities could pass their own obscenity laws and that 0:07:53.440 --> 0:07:56.480 could be bad for business. So then not even get 0:07:56.480 --> 0:08:00.560 your film exhibited. Um. So remember we're in the A c. 0:08:00.680 --> 0:08:03.960 L U episode where we're talking about that one Um, 0:08:04.040 --> 0:08:07.320 that one movie that New York just the Catholic said no, 0:08:07.440 --> 0:08:09.280 you can't show that here, and the A C. L 0:08:09.360 --> 0:08:13.600 You went to work getting getting the Catholics beaten in court, right, 0:08:13.680 --> 0:08:16.640 even though it was just a bad movie something to 0:08:16.680 --> 0:08:19.280 do with well, I mean it did, but it shouldn't 0:08:19.280 --> 0:08:21.320 have been shown because it was so terrible. Was it bad? 0:08:21.360 --> 0:08:23.200 I don't remember. Yeah, I mean it was supposed to 0:08:23.200 --> 0:08:26.080 be not very good. Um, but it happened like that 0:08:26.160 --> 0:08:28.520 kind of thing happened a lot like local, local town 0:08:28.600 --> 0:08:30.440 said no, we're not going to show that movie. So 0:08:30.560 --> 0:08:33.360 Hayes figured out if if Hollywood policed itself, then they 0:08:33.400 --> 0:08:37.600 could control what, you know, what movies came out, and 0:08:37.640 --> 0:08:41.120 therefore everybody could make a bunch of money. That's right, 0:08:41.600 --> 0:08:43.320 and that's the point of the n p A. There 0:08:43.360 --> 0:08:49.319 the lobbying arm of six major Hollywood studios there there, 0:08:49.440 --> 0:08:51.920 they work for them. Yeah, well yeah, that's one way 0:08:51.960 --> 0:08:54.720 to say it. But they and it's just those six too, 0:08:54.760 --> 0:08:59.440 isn't it. Uh well, yeah, I mean you. There's definitely 0:08:59.440 --> 0:09:02.480 an argument. These days the independent filmmakers have a much 0:09:02.600 --> 0:09:05.840 rougher time with the m B a UM, but most 0:09:05.840 --> 0:09:09.079 of the indies too, are eventually distributed by the majors. Anyway, 0:09:09.160 --> 0:09:11.920 I got you. You know what I'm saying. Uh So, 0:09:12.280 --> 0:09:14.760 flash forward a bit in our way back machine to 0:09:14.800 --> 0:09:17.240 the nineteen fifties. Things changed a little bit after World 0:09:17.280 --> 0:09:21.199 War Two and people, I guess the easiest way to 0:09:21.240 --> 0:09:24.240 say is people loosen up a little bit and didn't 0:09:24.280 --> 0:09:28.480 mind certain elements in their entertainment any longer. Yes, A 0:09:28.559 --> 0:09:31.680 big example this article uses Frank Sinatra got an Oscar 0:09:31.720 --> 0:09:35.520 nomination for playing a heroin Addict and the Man with 0:09:35.559 --> 0:09:39.480 a Golden Arm. And that couldn't happen in the nineties. No, 0:09:39.760 --> 0:09:42.760 millions of people hadn't died in World War two yet, 0:09:43.000 --> 0:09:45.559 that's right. I imagine that kind of loosens you up 0:09:45.600 --> 0:09:49.520 as far as the seeing Chris words and stuff in 0:09:49.600 --> 0:09:51.920 movies goes. Yeah, like that's not a big deal, Like 0:09:52.080 --> 0:09:54.560 World War two is a big deal. Get your haunches 0:09:54.600 --> 0:09:58.040 down exactly. That was the that was the big one, 0:09:58.320 --> 0:10:01.920 the big first crack to the Hayes Code. Uh, and 0:10:01.960 --> 0:10:04.080 then there were I think that you said he won 0:10:04.120 --> 0:10:06.600 an oscar, right, Yeah, it was a really good movie, 0:10:06.679 --> 0:10:08.400 and that kind of opened the floodgate, so that by 0:10:08.440 --> 0:10:09.959 the end of the fifties you've got some like a 0:10:10.040 --> 0:10:12.360 hot and Tony Curtis and Jack Lemon are dressed like 0:10:12.360 --> 0:10:17.560 women hitting on Marilyn Monroe and um. At that point, 0:10:17.600 --> 0:10:20.240 it was pretty obvious the Hayes Code was dead. Yeah, 0:10:20.280 --> 0:10:21.960 I mean, they weren't passing the code, but they were 0:10:21.960 --> 0:10:25.520 still getting released. So once something is subverted like that, 0:10:25.600 --> 0:10:29.760 it's it's dead in the water, right, So there was 0:10:29.800 --> 0:10:32.280 a that was fine for a little while. I think 0:10:32.280 --> 0:10:34.160 the Hayes Code just kind of fell to the wayside 0:10:34.160 --> 0:10:37.120 and people were releasing movies without any kind of moral 0:10:37.240 --> 0:10:40.360 or immoral stamp. But the rating system as we understand 0:10:40.360 --> 0:10:43.160 it today hadn't come about yet, so it's kind of 0:10:43.200 --> 0:10:50.400 a limbo period until and a store owner in New 0:10:50.480 --> 0:10:53.600 York with the last name of Ginsburg got busted for 0:10:53.640 --> 0:10:57.480 selling nudy mags to sixteen year old boys, and he 0:10:57.520 --> 0:11:00.120 took it all the way to the Supreme Court saying, 0:11:00.840 --> 0:11:03.800 you can't can't say anything about this there's federal laws 0:11:03.800 --> 0:11:06.120 about obscenity, not local laws in the Supreme Court that 0:11:06.200 --> 0:11:08.880 you know what, we really think it's up the local 0:11:08.960 --> 0:11:13.360 municipalities to decide what they want their miners exposed to 0:11:13.480 --> 0:11:17.360 or not. That got Hollywood's attention because all of a sudden, 0:11:17.880 --> 0:11:21.800 local municipalities could decide whether or not they wanted to 0:11:21.840 --> 0:11:24.880 show movies to minors or not, so that what was 0:11:24.960 --> 0:11:27.600 old became new again. And Jack Valenti, who was in 0:11:27.679 --> 0:11:29.600 charge of the m p a A, said we need 0:11:29.640 --> 0:11:33.840 another system of self another self policing system, and he 0:11:33.920 --> 0:11:36.760 came up with the rating system that that we have today. 0:11:36.840 --> 0:11:40.079 Yeah and he uh, I mean Jack Valenti was the 0:11:40.120 --> 0:11:42.840 head of the NBA for close to forty years, and 0:11:42.960 --> 0:11:48.120 he initially the intention was to stop censorship because he 0:11:48.160 --> 0:11:50.600 feared that the movies were going to start being censored locally. 0:11:51.320 --> 0:11:53.640 And so I think the the origins of the m 0:11:53.720 --> 0:11:59.200 p a's rating system. We're we're arts centered, art center, 0:11:59.280 --> 0:12:02.839 but also money centered, because again, if you have if 0:12:02.880 --> 0:12:06.800 you have town A showing the movie, but Towns B 0:12:07.000 --> 0:12:09.720 through L deciding that the movie is obscene and not 0:12:09.840 --> 0:12:12.839 showing it, then you're losing that money and be through L. 0:12:13.480 --> 0:12:16.040 So what Valenti came up with was this idea that 0:12:17.120 --> 0:12:22.000 let us tell you what is appropriate for minors or 0:12:22.040 --> 0:12:24.800 not what movie is, and we'll just make a simple 0:12:24.880 --> 0:12:30.160 rating system g pg R or X the old X 0:12:31.000 --> 0:12:34.800 and triple X, which wasn't even formally a rating, it 0:12:34.920 --> 0:12:38.360 was just a marketing tool. Yeah. Yeah, because three x's 0:12:38.480 --> 0:12:40.880 that's like whoa. I wonder if anybody ever came out 0:12:40.920 --> 0:12:44.120 with one with four X or double X even yeah, 0:12:44.280 --> 0:12:49.600 like we cut out that one part so X. Uh. Yeah. Christian, 0:12:49.800 --> 0:12:51.880 our colleague here wrote a great blog post about the 0:12:52.760 --> 0:12:55.640 former X rated movie. Is that right? Yeah, let's to 0:12:55.720 --> 0:12:58.400 check that out. It's good for brain stuff, for stuff 0:12:58.440 --> 0:13:01.720 of genius on the brain stuff blog earlier this year. 0:13:01.720 --> 0:13:06.200 And you actually recommended it on your blog the X rating, 0:13:06.480 --> 0:13:09.520 Yeah the best remember this week? Yeah, I remember recommending 0:13:09.559 --> 0:13:11.280 one of his things. I just don't remember that one. 0:13:11.400 --> 0:13:13.280 It's good. I thought about asking him in here, but 0:13:13.320 --> 0:13:16.640 then I thought, yeah, we got it. Um so yeah, 0:13:16.679 --> 0:13:20.320 back then it was G through X and um. Well 0:13:20.320 --> 0:13:23.640 we'll talk about you know how that changed maybe after 0:13:23.640 --> 0:13:34.960 this message break. All right, so no longer do we 0:13:35.000 --> 0:13:36.840 have X rated movies. Now we have something I guess 0:13:36.880 --> 0:13:40.080 we should just go through what these ratings mean today 0:13:40.120 --> 0:13:44.000 in two thousand fourteen. So you've got your G. She's 0:13:44.040 --> 0:13:47.800 always been G. General audience. Anyone can see it. Yes, 0:13:47.920 --> 0:13:51.760 and that's your your family cartoon that kids love and 0:13:51.840 --> 0:13:55.560 parents are forced to go to. Right. Then you've got PG. 0:13:55.920 --> 0:13:59.319 Um that means no drug use. Um, maybe a little violence, 0:13:59.559 --> 0:14:03.120 because as will learn, the m p A has less 0:14:03.120 --> 0:14:06.240 problems with violence and more problems with language and sex. 0:14:06.520 --> 0:14:11.320 Huge criticism, huge criticism. Uh, PG thirteen, which we've you know, 0:14:11.400 --> 0:14:14.160 kind of been through. Um. Then you've got your R 0:14:14.800 --> 0:14:16.480 and that is no one under seven. This is a 0:14:16.520 --> 0:14:19.560 suggestion that no one ever seventeen be admitted without a parent. 0:14:20.320 --> 0:14:22.720 And uh, these aren't laws, though, that's one thing. It's 0:14:22.720 --> 0:14:26.240 supportant to point out those are suggestions. And then theaters 0:14:26.240 --> 0:14:31.040 have policies. Yes, it's let's kind of dig into that. 0:14:31.200 --> 0:14:34.640 So none of this is legally binding. None of them 0:14:34.640 --> 0:14:38.400 are anything more than recommendations. They're basically saying that this 0:14:38.600 --> 0:14:44.880 movie has X amount of profanity or x amount of nudity, 0:14:45.000 --> 0:14:48.440 or lacks any drug use or something like that. And 0:14:48.520 --> 0:14:52.400 so for what the m p a A thinks the 0:14:52.480 --> 0:14:56.960 average moral compass of the average American thinks about these 0:14:57.000 --> 0:15:00.360 different things like sex, drugs, nudity, all that stuff. This 0:15:00.480 --> 0:15:04.359 movie falls into this rating. And again it's not enforceable. 0:15:04.480 --> 0:15:06.320 You don't even need to have a rating to release 0:15:06.360 --> 0:15:08.960 a movie. But if you want to get your movie 0:15:08.960 --> 0:15:12.800 in theaters, there's basically no theater chain out there right now, 0:15:13.160 --> 0:15:15.920 no major theater chain out there right now that will 0:15:16.000 --> 0:15:20.280 show an unrated movie. Yeah, it's a completely voluntary system 0:15:20.640 --> 0:15:23.440 to submit your film to the m p A ratings board. 0:15:23.760 --> 0:15:27.760 But it's de fact though, but you have to do it. Yeah, 0:15:28.280 --> 0:15:30.920 that's the rub is that they say it's voluntary, but 0:15:30.960 --> 0:15:32.520 you actually have to pay a fee to submit your 0:15:32.560 --> 0:15:35.600 movie if you ever want to have it shown in theaters, 0:15:35.800 --> 0:15:37.920 right and the fee is anywhere from like twenty five 0:15:38.400 --> 0:15:41.320 dollars for a big budget movie to seven fifty dollars 0:15:41.360 --> 0:15:46.800 for a short um. And so you're you submit your movie. Well, 0:15:46.840 --> 0:15:48.360 we'll get into it in a second. Let's talk some 0:15:48.360 --> 0:15:50.840 more about the rest of the ratings. Yeah, well there's 0:15:50.880 --> 0:15:53.240 only one more and that's n C seventeen, which replaced 0:15:53.440 --> 0:15:56.800 X and that means, uh, this is and it basically 0:15:56.840 --> 0:16:00.560 means that it's for adults on me and you should 0:16:00.600 --> 0:16:03.320 not come in if you're under eighteen, right and also 0:16:03.440 --> 0:16:09.960 means these days as foreign or about lesbian or gays. Exactly. Yeah, 0:16:10.040 --> 0:16:13.440 not fully, but sure it's pretty close. Yeah. Um. And 0:16:13.720 --> 0:16:15.960 NC seventeen. The first movie to come out with that 0:16:16.160 --> 0:16:18.920 was Henry and June. Yeah, not to be confused with 0:16:18.960 --> 0:16:22.560 Benny and June. Uh. And it basically sunk that movie 0:16:23.360 --> 0:16:26.960 because everybody was like, oh, this is X now right 0:16:27.040 --> 0:16:29.360 n C seventeen. If you jumble it all together, it 0:16:29.400 --> 0:16:32.360 looks like X. And the whole reason they came up 0:16:32.400 --> 0:16:35.160 with NC seventeen was to replace X because X was 0:16:35.360 --> 0:16:43.360 associated exclusively with pornography in the minds of movie goers. Yeah, exactly. Um. Alright, 0:16:43.440 --> 0:16:46.680 so let's get into this. The actual ratings board. There's 0:16:46.680 --> 0:16:49.000 the m p a A, and then working for the 0:16:49.080 --> 0:16:54.040 m p A is the Classification and Ratings Administration CARA, 0:16:55.000 --> 0:16:58.800 and uh. CARRA doesn't say whether your movie stinks or not. 0:16:59.240 --> 0:17:04.000 Carras eight to thirteen people, and they're called raiders, and 0:17:04.080 --> 0:17:06.800 they are overseen by senior Raider and they sit down 0:17:06.800 --> 0:17:09.800 and watch these movies and take copious notes on what 0:17:09.840 --> 0:17:14.480 they think based on their standards. Is Uh, I don't 0:17:14.680 --> 0:17:18.920 want to say offensive, but just noteworthy, Like maybe they're 0:17:18.920 --> 0:17:21.919 not offended, but they think the average mom and Sheboygan 0:17:22.080 --> 0:17:25.880 might be offended. Right, supposedly, but which is a kind 0:17:25.920 --> 0:17:28.720 of a thing because the whole rating system, as you 0:17:28.880 --> 0:17:33.280 just kind of pointed out, is a subjective, totally subjective. 0:17:33.359 --> 0:17:37.480 They supposedly. Uh. Here, here's the other rub is it's 0:17:37.480 --> 0:17:40.480 all secret, right. You can you can find out of 0:17:40.600 --> 0:17:44.160 federal judges name and address, but you can't find out 0:17:44.240 --> 0:17:47.120 who a raider is for your films. It's all conducted 0:17:47.119 --> 0:17:49.800 in private. None of the stuff is released. And that's 0:17:49.840 --> 0:17:53.239 one of the big rubs in that documentary and with 0:17:53.280 --> 0:17:56.480 filmmakers in general, is it's all, you know, done behind 0:17:56.520 --> 0:17:59.919 closed doors. There's never any explanations provided. These people are 0:18:00.000 --> 0:18:03.240 supposed to have kids between ages of five and seventeen, 0:18:03.280 --> 0:18:05.920 but many of them do not, right, either have kids 0:18:05.920 --> 0:18:10.760 at all or have kids that are older than eighteen. Um, 0:18:11.200 --> 0:18:15.199 it basically frees them up from any accountability. Yeah, to 0:18:15.240 --> 0:18:17.399 do this all in private and in secrecy. And until 0:18:17.440 --> 0:18:21.760 that movie, um By Kirby, what is Kirby's last name? 0:18:22.240 --> 0:18:26.280 Henry and June No, No, the the documentary, Oh yeah, 0:18:26.320 --> 0:18:28.760 this film is not yet right, and yeah when until 0:18:29.440 --> 0:18:32.879 Kirby Dicks, um, this film is not yet rated came out, 0:18:33.600 --> 0:18:38.200 like all of this stuff was just conjection, conjecture and 0:18:38.240 --> 0:18:41.720 Hollywood legend. He was the first one to really basically 0:18:42.119 --> 0:18:45.280 he tailed these people, tailed them to lunch to find 0:18:45.280 --> 0:18:47.440 out who they were and eaves drop on them and 0:18:48.200 --> 0:18:51.440 like did some digging and found like these anonymous people 0:18:51.520 --> 0:18:53.920 did not fall into the requirements that the m p 0:18:54.119 --> 0:18:57.920 A said they did, and so not only was it 0:18:58.040 --> 0:19:04.680 in secret, it was it was fraudulent. Basically, this rating system, 0:19:04.720 --> 0:19:09.439 so according to the standards, you submit your film, this 0:19:09.720 --> 0:19:12.000 group of people, this anonymous group of people, watch it, 0:19:12.440 --> 0:19:15.480 they rate it, and then they come together and vote 0:19:15.480 --> 0:19:19.240 on a rating, and then they passed. There there um 0:19:19.600 --> 0:19:22.439 vote along to a senior rat who talks to the 0:19:22.440 --> 0:19:25.800 movies distributor or director or producer says, here's the rating, 0:19:25.920 --> 0:19:29.399 here's why we rated it like this, and then you 0:19:29.400 --> 0:19:32.840 you're faced with a choice. You can accept the rating. 0:19:34.000 --> 0:19:38.119 You can edit your film as per the uh C 0:19:38.320 --> 0:19:41.399 A r a S recommendations. Take out these bad words, 0:19:41.480 --> 0:19:46.800 cut the sex scene a little early, leave all the violence, yeah, um, 0:19:46.960 --> 0:19:50.280 or you can reject the rating and just release your 0:19:50.280 --> 0:19:55.199 movie is unrated, which, well, you can try to release it, 0:19:55.240 --> 0:19:57.080 but since no one will show it, it's really sort 0:19:57.119 --> 0:20:01.040 of a misnomer, right, But it's because, I mean increasingly 0:20:01.119 --> 0:20:04.480 a thing again, you need the rating to get your 0:20:04.480 --> 0:20:07.439 movie shown in movie theaters. But what happens if you 0:20:07.960 --> 0:20:10.600 don't care if your movie comes out in theaters, video 0:20:10.600 --> 0:20:13.680 on demand, yeah, or just releasing it to the internet. Now, 0:20:13.680 --> 0:20:16.680 I'm curious about that. How that's going to change the landscape. Well, 0:20:16.800 --> 0:20:19.040 right now, it's a huge threat to the m p 0:20:19.200 --> 0:20:21.639 a A because all of the power they wield is 0:20:21.640 --> 0:20:25.960 found in this rating system. And if for theaters, yes, 0:20:26.080 --> 0:20:28.680 if no one's going to theaters, then the m p 0:20:28.840 --> 0:20:31.119 a A A loses all of that power, which is a 0:20:31.160 --> 0:20:34.199 big deal, especially now because the m p A is 0:20:34.280 --> 0:20:37.600 needed more than ever as a lobbying group because of 0:20:37.600 --> 0:20:40.000 online piracy, which we'll talk about some more. So it's 0:20:40.000 --> 0:20:42.400 a very precarious time for the m p A right now, 0:20:42.640 --> 0:20:45.200 and it's a terrible time for them to be under 0:20:45.680 --> 0:20:49.320 as much scrutiny and public attack and critique as they are. 0:20:50.080 --> 0:20:53.480 So it's I mean, they got spears sticking out every 0:20:53.480 --> 0:20:57.440 which way, and their trunk is flailing in their honking. 0:20:58.000 --> 0:21:00.119 That is true. One thing I should point out I 0:21:00.160 --> 0:21:03.320 said it is that there's no accountability. That's what the 0:21:03.400 --> 0:21:05.199 n p A says. It's the good thing about the 0:21:05.240 --> 0:21:09.160 secrecy is that it frees them up. That anonymity does. 0:21:09.200 --> 0:21:14.280 It frees them up from accountability. Um, I just don't agree, right, Okay, 0:21:14.320 --> 0:21:17.720 So the uh, if you want to appeal there there 0:21:17.760 --> 0:21:23.160 was apparently a change made in response to Kirby Dick's movie. Um, 0:21:23.280 --> 0:21:27.960 the documentary before if you were appealing your rating, which 0:21:28.000 --> 0:21:33.359 is very difficult. Um, almost never was done and you 0:21:33.440 --> 0:21:36.520 never want that's for sure, right, And when you were appealing, 0:21:36.560 --> 0:21:41.160 you couldn't reference any other film. It was totally done 0:21:41.200 --> 0:21:44.920 in a vacuum, which is pretty preposterous. Yeah, Like that's 0:21:44.960 --> 0:21:47.159 the only way to be able to sell us. Like, 0:21:47.200 --> 0:21:49.560 wait a minute, if you said this about this, then 0:21:49.600 --> 0:21:52.520 why not this for my movie? Which meant that there 0:21:52.600 --> 0:21:56.000 was no real standard, yeah that that you could point to, 0:21:56.680 --> 0:21:58.520 or there were standards you could point to, they just 0:21:58.520 --> 0:22:01.320 wouldn't be considered. Yeah, or at the very least, if 0:22:01.320 --> 0:22:03.879 they do have written standards, they don't release them, so 0:22:03.960 --> 0:22:07.120 you don't even know what they are. Right. So, Um, 0:22:07.280 --> 0:22:11.159 the m p a A is Uh, they've got their 0:22:11.240 --> 0:22:15.440 rating system, they've got the appeals process, which was also 0:22:15.480 --> 0:22:19.920 in secret, unless that's changed, right I think. I think 0:22:19.960 --> 0:22:23.000 the appeals board not only was the appeals board and secret, 0:22:23.040 --> 0:22:26.280 but they weren't even just raiders. They were people from 0:22:26.280 --> 0:22:31.720 the industry, right, and the Theater Owners Association exactly, whereas 0:22:31.800 --> 0:22:35.760 the people who were raiders are supposedly unaffiliated with the 0:22:35.800 --> 0:22:41.679 movie industry and are just like average ordinary parents representing uh, Europe, 0:22:42.320 --> 0:22:45.320 Middle America. We'll just call it, even though I think 0:22:45.320 --> 0:22:47.600 that's insulting. The thing is, though, is a lot of 0:22:47.600 --> 0:22:50.679 people criticize the mp A and say, these raiders are 0:22:51.240 --> 0:22:54.639 UM really representing the six major studios who rake in 0:22:56.160 --> 0:22:59.240 the ten point nine billion dollars made in the United 0:22:59.280 --> 0:23:03.080 States UM in theaters alone, just ticket sales, not DVD 0:23:03.240 --> 0:23:07.439 or anything like that. UM. And that's what the m 0:23:07.440 --> 0:23:11.160 p a A does in addition to rating. They are, 0:23:11.200 --> 0:23:14.360 like we said, the lobby arm for these six studios, 0:23:15.800 --> 0:23:18.560 that's right, And they I guess we should talk about 0:23:18.600 --> 0:23:22.080 piracy now, huh. That's one of their other big besides 0:23:22.080 --> 0:23:26.120 from rating movies, they are heavy in the lobby against 0:23:26.240 --> 0:23:29.760 UM well, especially now with online piracy because the digital 0:23:29.800 --> 0:23:33.199 distribution network is uh, it seems like the way forward 0:23:33.800 --> 0:23:37.080 as far as distribution goes, right, Like it's the future. 0:23:37.080 --> 0:23:39.119 It's not the future, it's the present and the future. 0:23:39.240 --> 0:23:42.320 And the m p A has a they're accused of 0:23:42.520 --> 0:23:47.879 UM basically trying to quell new technology. Yeah, by just 0:23:47.920 --> 0:23:50.800 saying like, well, let's just keep people from peer to 0:23:50.880 --> 0:23:55.560 peer file sharing in total so that they can't steal movies. 0:23:55.720 --> 0:23:58.399 In part UM and if you go back to the 0:23:58.400 --> 0:24:02.200 early eighties, Jack Valenti was known to have UM railed 0:24:02.400 --> 0:24:07.280 and lobbied against the legality of VCRs. UM people are 0:24:07.480 --> 0:24:09.399