Q - L ( V I N G
This Film is Not Yet Rated’ explores anti-gay
bias of MPAA ratings system
by Bart Smith
The IFC Original Documentary “This
Film is Not Yet Rated” opened in limited
release Sept. 1, and will roll out in select
markets across the country through October.
The film is an unprecedented investigation
into the Motion Picture Association of
America’s (MPAA) film rating system and its
profound influence on American culture —
including its impact on representations of
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
(LGBT) people in film.
Directed by Oscar-
nominee Kirby Dick
(“Twist of Faith”), the film
asks whether Hollywood
movies and independent
films are rated equally for
comparable content, and
whether sexual content
involving LGBT characters
faces tougher scrutiny by
the MPAA. The MPAA is
the trade organization of
the she major film studios,
which indicates age-based
content classification using
the letter grades G, PG, PG-13, R and NC-17.
“Films with gay or lesbian sexuality are
Oscar-nominee Kirby
Dick directs ‘This Film is
Not Yet Rated.’
rated more strictly than films about straight
sexuality)’says Dick. “After our film premiered
at Sundance, Kori Bernard, the spokesperson
for the MPAA, was asked about this bias. She
replied: ‘We don’t set the standards. We just
reflect them,’ which I found very revealing.
What if this society’s standards were racist?
Would the MPAA rate films about African-
Americans more strictly? What if the stan
dards were anti-Semitic? Would they rate films
about Jews more harshly? Her response was a
tacit admission that a homophobic bias is
built into the ratings system.”
“This film provides a valuable opportunity
for people to acknowledge and con
front the double standard the MPAA
places on films with gay content,” says
Damon Romine, entertainment media
director of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance
Against Defamation (GLAAD).“We
hope this leads to an overhaul of a sys
tem that has compromised honest
depictions of gay people and relation
ships for far too long.”
While Dick says he had no trouble
finding stories of filmmakers who had
first-hand experience with the MPAAs
“often arbitrary and clandestine rat
ings system,” getting filmmakers to
speak on camera was another matter, as some
feared being penalized in the future. Others,
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however, wereVilling to have their stories
told. Jamie Babbit, director of “But I’m a
Cheerleader,” tells Dick she felt discriminated
against by the MPAA for making a film about
gay teenagers. Director Kimberly Peirce is
interviewed about the process she went
‘We don’t set the standards.
We just reflect them!
— MPAA Spokesperson
Kori Bernard on the reasoning behind the
MPAA’s harsher
ratings for films with LGBT content.
through to get the MPAA to lower its initial
rating of “Boys Don’t Cry” from NC-17 to R.
Directors John Waters (“Hairspray”), Kevin
Smith (“Clerks”), Matt Stone (“South Park”)
and Atom Egoyan (“Where the Truth Lies”)
also share their experiences with the ratings
board. In addition, a key figure in the film is
openly gay detective Becky Altringer of Ariel
Investigations, who helped the director
research the MPAA.
The MPAA gave “This Film is Not Yet
Rated” an NC-17 rating. Because this rating
can greatly inhibit the distribution and suc
cess of a movie, IFC Films will release the doc
umentary as unrated. It will premiere on IFC
TV in January 2007.1
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SEPTEMBER 23.2006 • Q-NOTES 39