This Film is Not Yet Rated

It was about time I saw this film after all my recent concern about screwy ratings in films I have seen recently (Fast Five earlier this summer for example). This documentary tries to find out who the ratings board members are (they are kept under lock and key). What I liked about the film is that it was primarily a discussion with filmmakers about how they make films and what decisions they make when trying to get particular ratings. The "investigation" to uncover the raters was a nice diversion to hold the whole thing together. Overall, it seems that most people in the film agree with me (which strokes my ego of course). That is, the ratings will let almost any violence through with a low rating, while sexuality is always a strict rating, regardless of the context. In describing violence, it appears that you can kill any number of people as long as you don't show blood and still get a PG-13 rating. However, if death is shown with blood, then the R appears. One filmmaker interviewed suggested that the reality should be exactly the opposite. It is not until you are older that you are mature enough to distinguish that killing without seeing blood is false and unrealistic. Younger kids should be required to see the full trauma of death if they are going to experience it at all. I am not sure that I would encourage 13-year olds to see the full trauma of death, but do understand the argument that showing death matter-of-factly does not do anything to promote care for life that we should be teaching youth. Overall, I suppose we must resign ourselves to the fact that the ratings are a guide set up by a seemingly conservative group of people with a specific moral code that is clearly not similar to mine. To blame them for holding their moral code does not work. The filmmaker here simply argues that the moral code is not wrong, but the secrecy and inability to admit that the moral code governs the ratings is.
4 stars (out of 5)