This Film Is Not Yet Rated

Hilarious, terrifying, enraging and mystifying all at once, This Film Is Not Yet Rated attempts to get to the heart of America’s bizarrely managed cinema ratings system. Film-maker Kirby Dick enlists the help of a private detective in order to find out the identities of the people who decide which films are G and which NC-17, and which fall somewhere in the middle.

As if seemingly arbitrary decisions and an extreme aversion to sex and nudity while graphic violence remains uncut weren’t enough to demonstrate the MPAA (Motion Picture Academy of America) ratings board’s abnormality, the names and faces of the men and women who actually rate the films are kept strictly secret, ostensibly to protect them from outside influence. That’s where the private dick comes in. The film uses this as its base: the quest to discover the names and identities of the raters. The journey becomes quite exciting and has the viewer rooting for their success all along.

Interspersed are facts about the MPAA, its history and quotes from directors and actors who have fallen victim to the bizarre whims of censorship. Some interesting information includes comparisons of hetero and homosexual sex scenes and their respective ratings (often R and NC-17 respectively, despite being similarly “graphic”), and about the concept of the “average American parent” on which the whole system hinges. Talk of the MPAA’s heavy-handedness with homosexuality is interesting intercut with the private detective’s musings on her own lesbianism.

Despite what some might call “Michael Moore-isms” - flashy graphics, amusing caricatures and a somewhat smug tone - this documentary is extremely entertaining and just might provide the kick up the backside that the ratings services of America and other places need.