The MPAA Bows Down To Disney - Page 2

Any governmental agency that bans any work of art should be criticized wholly and heartily. Period.

So you're one of those people who thinks violence in movies and games inspires violence in real life? If you're a decent parent, wouldn't you discuss any movie you see with your small child so they can understand what is and isn't acceptable behavior from that movie?

I don't know what you're exactly even saying. If ONCE was PG-13, would that mean an explosion of pre-schoolers saying 'fuck'? What's your exact point?

What do you masturbate into? Your children?

My reply was a simple way of saying that I don't give a shit about your kids or how you raise them or abuse them. Don't inflict your poor parenting on me and my entertainment. Don't take your stupid little shitty kid to any movie not rated G and you won't have to worry about anything.

THE DARK KNIGHT will not have an R rating. I never said it would have an R rating. Everything I hear is that it's a PG-13 that will be seriously stretching the PG-13 in terms of tonality and violence.

Because ratings can make a difference in how much money a movie makes. An R rating will reduce a film's success. An NC-17 will essentially kill a movie. This means that studios are less willing to make more adult films, or to make films that will push boundaries. This is why it matters to me.

You don't know what you're talking about. This is no longer interesting to me.

*facepalm*

We should have an FAQ because this stuff keeps getting trotted out.

1) All movies make a profit. It is a rare film that does not make a profit. With TV, DVD, airplane, foreign, etc, almost every film eventually turns a profit. What the studio guys care about is turning that profit right away, in a theater. See, they might not be at their job when EXPLOSION THE MOVIE finally turns a profit in ten years because they got fired when EXPLOSION TEH MOVIE bombed.

2) Hollywood is a fucked up business. It's just as much about perception as it is about numbers. Being number one domestic is important. Doing well domestic is important. Getting nominations is important. This isn't all bottom line shit, it's high school shit, and this is what makes the weird town turn.

3) No director signs a contract saying he will deliver a movie with a guaranteed number of laughs or a guaranteed score from the test audience. They do sign contracts saying they will deliver movies of a certain rating.

4) The rating of a movie not only impacts the potential size of an audience but how it can be marketed. You can put TV ads for R rated movies on at certain times. No newspaper will carry ads for NC17 movies. And because R rated films have a lower ceiling, generally, the studio puts less muscle behind them anyway.

5) You can trot out exceptions to the rule all day, but the truth is that the studios don't want to release a movie that has a limited audience. They'd rather an R than an NC17 and a PG13 than an R. EVERY TIME. (Except prestige and low budget pictures. Bring your movie in very cheaply and you'll have more leeway, since your budget will be under whatever the bean counters see as the R rating ceiling).

All of this, by the way, is why a rating needs to happen for soft R movies like ONCE. A PG-15 or something just makes a ton of sense.