Adult Ratings

When I was writing about the PG-13 rating, it me thinking a little bit about the adult ratings that we have, that don't work. Not real deep thinking, but I thought I would toss out a few things.

What we need in this country is a rating for adults that works. As it stands, each attempt has failed. Originally there was the X rating, which got compromised by the porn industry more or less adopting it for their use. This pretty much made it useless for mainstream films to use, as it became so closely associated with that "other" enterprise. This happened mainly because the MPAA didn't copyright the X rating symbol like it had for the other ratings, therefore it was up for grabs for anyone to use, and we know who did jus that. The one release that comes to mind that originally had an X is Midnight Cowboy, which was nominated for 7 Oscars, winning 3 of those including Best Picture. It has since been re-rated to an R. If they released a film of this caliber as an X today, if the rating were still in use, nobody would have seen it, as the rating is virtually unmarketable.

In September of 1990, the next step was taken. The X was re-imagined as NC-17, and then copyrighted to prevent the fiasco with the X category. This was intended as a working adult rating, but it too does not work. How many films can you remember getting decent releases with this rating attached? I can only remember two, and neither one hung around too long. One is Showgirls and the other is Crash. Other films have been "threatened" with an NC-17. Read that last line again: 'Other films have been "threatened" with an NC-17.' Does something sound wrong there? Why is there a threat involved, and that is the word they use whenever this rating information is leaked prior to a films release. Here is a quote from the MPAA site: "this "adults only" category explicitly describes a movie that most parents would want to have barred to viewing by their children. That was and is our goal, nothing more, nothing less." So why the problem?

The problem lies in the minds of those trying to market such a rated film, and the mindset of many people in the potential audience. Too often the thought of an adults only film conjures up thoughts of the pornography industry. This is where marketing comes in, I am not sure how I would try to counteract this reflex imagery, there has to be a way to get across that a film like this can exist outside of the porn industry. It is possible to have a film that is meant to be for adults only, it really isn't a difficult concept to grasp, is it? Am I alone on this? Taking a quick glance at IMDB reveals that there are currently 141 films which have qualified for the NC-17 rating. Among them are some films which I have seen in there "edited for re-rating," or R, formats which are good films that could have been successful in their original states. Films such as American Psycho, The Boondock Saints, Clerks, and Kalifornia. Back to this threatening thing, most recently it has come up with the upcoming film Team America: World Police, from Trey Parker and Matt Stone (the minds behind South Park). This is a legitimate rating, why not treat it like one? Go ahead, rate a film NC-17, release it as such. If the marketing is there, the audience will come around. At this point it should be looked at as a potential revenue opportunity, it is an untapped demographic that should be explored.

Reminds me of another compromised film, Stanley Kubrick's final film Eyes Wide Shut. This film features some graphic sexual scenes. They are used for effect, apparently the MPAA thought that it was too much for American eyes and insisted on changes. Sadly, by the time this incident came about Kubrick had passe on. I would like to think that he would have stuck to his guns and insisted on no changes. Those who were in charge of it trimmed a few seconds from it and digitally superimposed images, people, plants, to block these "offensive" scenes. This is the version I have seen, I have not seen it uncut yet. But I can say that these images were distracting and seriously detracted from the impact of the sequences. We are supposed to be identifying with Tom Cruise's character as he is horrified by what he sees, but since we cannot see it, how can we completely identify? It prevents us from having the full impact of the film. This is a crime against cinema.

I am not terribly familiar with the ratings systems of other countries, but it is my understanding that Canada and the UK have systems that work. I have also seen it mentioned on message boards that the US is pretty much the only country that doesn't have an adult rating that works. This is something that needs to be rectified. In order to have a fully functional film industry we must have a rating system that works. i realize this is just a small part of the problem, but it is a piece of the puzzle. It also does trickle down to the theaters executives who make the decision as to what films to show, they need to come on board and realize that an adult rating can work and can draw people.

These thoughts lead on to the way attitudes on other elements of entertainment differ in countries, generally to our detriment. But that is a discussion for another time.