This Film Is Not Yet Rated

Only caught the last part of this on BBC Four last night, but it was bloody interesting. It's a documentary all about the MPAA in the US who give films their ratings. One man makes a film about the MPAA rating system and tries to get it a rating. I don't doubt that like most docs, it's been edited to show the viewpoint the presenter wants to get across, but even with this pinch of salt, this was scathing. He gets an NC-17 rating, and tries to find out why and how he can lower it to an R. MPAA Guy: "You can't compare scenes in your film with similar scenes in other films." Doc guy: "What can I compare them with?" MPAA Guy: "If you compare scenes in your film with another film, I will cut you off." Doc Guy: "You'll cut me off if I compare scenes in my film with scenes in another film?" MPAA Guy: "I will cut you off." Doc Guy: "Can you tell me what scenes I should cut or edit to get the film an R rating?" MPAA Lady: "We don't do that." Doc Guy: "Can you tell me which types of sexual activity in my film caused you to give the film the NC-17 rating?" MPAA Lady: "We don't do that." If you're wondering, this is THE film that got the MPAA into trouble, as they (allegedly, says my lawyer) copied the film without permission and distributed it (again, allegedly) to the MPAA employees who featured in it. From Wikipedia: The MPAA admitted to making copies of the film contrary to Dick's [the documentarian] wishes although they contend that doing so did not constitute copyright infringement or a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). They say that the privacy of the raters themselves might have been violated by Dick. Since no complaint has been filed against Dick and since the DMCA addresses the act of subverting access control and not copying, it is unclear whether the MPAA's justification is sound. More info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_film_is_not_yet_rated Score: B It's very entertaining and a real treat for anyone who loves films and has ever wondered how the rating system works. I'm actually beginning to like not having Sky One. How weird is that? But without it, I'm surfing a lot more between the channels and I'm finding all sorts of hidden gems, like this and the sadly finished-for-the-season Charlie Broker's Screenwipe. Haven't laughed that hard in years.