Blaise+Mannino

 ​  Hello! My name is Blaise and I am in my fourth year at Temple University double majoring in Broadcast, telecomunications and mass media (BTMM) and theater. Aside from involvement with school, I have worked for two of the Nation's largest entertainment corporations, Clear Channel Communications and Disney. In the radio industry, I work promotions for various events, concerts and artist 'meet and greets'. With Disney, I completed a semester long internship with Walt Disney World working in the attractions of Disney's Hollywood Studios. Now back at Temple, I remain working with the Disney corporation acting an advocate for the company as well as promoting oportunities for college students by hosting events and presentations. In addition, I serve as a member for SEPTA's Youth Advisory Council, striving to improve SEPTA and increase SEPTA awareness among the young people of Philadelphia. In my spare time I can be found helping at my family farm, on a mountain snowboarding or creating a wikispace page for Mass Media and Society. Enjoy!

What’s Wrong with The Film Ratings System? ** The documentary, “This Film Is Not Yet Rated,” explores the problems with the way in which movies are, and have been rated for over twenty-five years. In the New York Times editorial, “Rated R, for Obscure Reasons,” this documentary is further explored as its content is uncovered. The article explains the problems of ratings secrecy and biasness, as well as ways to reform these problems as showcased in the film. Although the article primarily concerns the documentary, the content of the movie is highly relative as it directly correlates with the matter at hand. One of the greatest flaws found in the way movies are rated is the extreme measure of secrecy, hiding how the films come to bear their ratings. As explained, “Most of the raters are anonymous, so the public cannot assess whether they are qualified or impartial judges.” With the anonymousness of the raters, audiences are misled to believe that the parents evaluating movies for other parents are relatable. But as it is found, the raters are actually parents to adults so their influence on what is appropriate for their children is irrelevant. Another problem is the idea of rating biasness. This prejudice includes stricter ratings for movies with sexual content and homosexuality. “Because the standards are so nebulous, it is not hard to believe that some of these biases enter into ratings decisions.” There are no set guidelines for how movies gain their ratings so the movie raters have full range to judge films as they deem fit. This vagueness is troublesome as it leaves room for favoritism and unfair rankings. Other issues found through the documentary include the lack of ability to appeal ratings, as well as the board of representatives being exclusive to the religions of the Catholic and Episcopal Churches. In lieu of the situation, Dan Glickman, president of the Motion Picture Association of America, foresees change in the ratings board. As explained the article, he described this transformation in an interview, “like not allowing appealing parties to cite other movies and allowing only the Catholic and Episcopal Churches to send representatives to the appeals board – need to be changed.” On a personal level, I have never been affected by the rating a movie holds nor have I been restricted by my mother to see a movie due to a harsh rating. Despite this, I understand the critical role movie ratings can play in the success of a film because, as Baran explains, movies today are appealing to younger audiences so that, as the article states, “Producers are often willing to make substantial cuts or changes in movies to get more commercially viable ratings.” It was shocking to me to learn of the extreme secrecy. Because it is unclear where movie ratings come from or how they come to be, the idea of unfairly labeling a movie for discriminatory reasons is rather upsetting. Both the documentary and New York Times article are now three years old which can leave room for major changes in the media world. However, when researching the information further, I was unable to find up to date information that showed progress regarding the way in which movies are rated. As taken verbatim from the current MPAA official website: The ratings are given by a board of parents who comprise the Classification and Rating Administration (CARA). CARA?s Board members view each film and, after a group discussion, vote on its rating. The ratings are intended to provide parents with advance information so they can decide for themselves which films are appropriate for viewing by their own children. The Board uses the same criteria as any parent making a judgment ? theme, language, violence, nudity, sex and drug use are among content areas considered in the decision-making process. 

Clearly, the rating system maintains its board of anonymous ‘parents,’ judging movies with no set criteria. Perhaps if the documentary, “This Film Is Not Yet Rated,” becomes more widespread there may be an outbreak of concerns and a demand for change. But for the time being, the MPAA will keep their rating of SOB - Secret, Obscure and Bias, of course.

Video’s concerning the topic at hand:

media type="youtube" key="mrvSnvUzKt4" height="344" width="425" This YouTube video shows a newscast talking about the 2006 documentary “This Film Is Not Yet Rated.” First a trailer for the movie is shown then there is an interview with documentary director, Kirby Dick. Both the documentary and Dick discuss the secrecy behind the way movie ratings are set, as well as their bias towards stricter ratings for movies with sexuality or homosexuality. As stated in the interview, reasons for this secrecy are because of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), which is made up of six major film studios. They create less restrictive ratings so that their films are able to reach broader audiences. @http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTL3XMDwY0c This is a better link to the official documentary trailer, “This Film s Not Yet Rated” by Kirby Dick.  

 Works Cited. Associated Press (2006, September 8). “Rated R, for Obscure Reasons.” //The New York Times//. < __[|http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/08/opinion/08fri1.html?scp=5&sq=%22This%20fil] [|m%20is%20not%20yet%20rated%22%20Kirby%20Dick&st=cse] __>.

Baran, S. J. (2009). //Introduction to Mass Communication Media Literacy and Cultue//. New York: McGraw-Hill Company Inc.

//<span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Motion Picture Association of America //<span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">. Motion Picture Association of America. Web. 3 Nov. 2009. <http://www.mpaa.org/FilmRatings.asp>.