Thoughts on This Film is Not Yet Rated

Just watched the spectacular film This Film is Not Yet Rated, which chronicles how the MPAA actually places ratings on films. A few things of note:

• The interviewees echo a concern that has been voiced many times before, namely that a film is penalized more for sex than for violence, especially where female pleasure is concerned
• There is an appeals process that a filmmaker can go through to change the rating on his film. On the board that oversees this process sits one Catholic priest, one Protestant pastor, (WTF???) and a handful of Big Media insiders
• The McCarthyist investigation into Hollywood in the 50's was largely a power move by Big Media executives to break the back of labor unions that were on strike at the time (makes me want to read The Shock Doctrine, which I saw on display the other day)
• The Requiem for a Dream director makes an interesting point: in PG-13 movies, gunplay is shown without the consequences (that is, no blood or guts, just people going 'oomph' and falling down) whereas in R rated movies it is not. He believes this should be the other way around because it is misleading: why is it more appropriate to show younger kids violence with less consequences?
• In a conversation with an MPAA spokesman, it is revealed that the MPAA's main disincentive for rating films lower is that they recieve a lot of mail from various special interest groups. This is in stark contrast to the MPAA's oft-given reason for keeping the process so secretive: to "protect people from possible influence" (not to mention people who have a financial incentive in influencing the ratings are integrated into this process).
• Any film using military-loaned equipment must submit 5 copies of its script in advance of the movie's release to the Pentagon, so the military can censor any negative detections of military life (drinking, drugs, language, excessive violence etc.).
  

This film exposes the hypocrisy and nepotism of the Hollywood rating system. Independent films are censored in the interest of diverting more viewers towards Big Media productions (because many theaters/chains will not carry a movie if it gets an NC-17 rating). I was surprised to discover the military and Christianity's role in censorship of films (perhaps I shouldn't have been), but certainly not surprised that the MPAA ratings are mostly arbitrary and inherently aligned with the interests of major studios. In conclusion, never trust ratings -- they're a bunch of bullshit, rife with bias and Big Media politics.