anybody here think the MPAA ratings system is lacking?

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1. The luger's death was a news item. The most the FCC could compel is a "graphic content" advisory before showing it to viewers.

2. Two guys kissing as a pre-planned event. Same reason Janet Jackson and Co. got so smacked down for the intentional "wardrobe malfunction."

Yes, most "standards" are double if not hypocritical.

america's continued puritanical streak remains an embarrassment to me. i knew a few canadians a few decades back, and when watching various late night talk shows, saturday night live, etc. the bleeps and muted volume when some actor or talk show guest would curse, made my canadian acquaintances question the maturity and intellectual honesty, of an american viewing public which would countenance such a childishly restrictive thing. i was and continue to be very ashamed of the whole spectacle.

I don't quite trust the MPAA as they seem to operate similarly to the Skull and Bones society at Yale.

the MPAA is dominated by republicans, so i distrust them for just that reason, as i wouldn't trust any right winger any farther than i could throw a piano.

why on earth was "casablanca" rerated PG when it was made for general audiences in the first place?

Yes, but more for censorship than content ratings. NC-17 is the same as banning a film!

anyone know that if f*ck is said twice in a movie it is automatically rated R? and, what is up with more comedies being R and more horror movies being PG-13? also, anyone know that steven speilberg practically invented the PG-13 rating?

there is actually a wide variation of "F"-word occurances in PG-13 movies, depending on the type and severity of other offensive/adult content in such movies. a few PG-13 films have as much as 9 utterances of the F-word in them. the main thing is that the word is flatly prohibited when used in a sexual sense. before the advent of the PG-13 rating, in PG movies there were also F-words, albeit rare.
the R-rated comedies [rated R strictly for language] are strictly a puritanical american reaction-you will find these same films are given the equivalent of PG in most other countries, who find violence to be far more offensive than profanity or nudity. most other countries have far more cursing on [their] television programming than american films do in theatres. so many adult americans are quite childish in this regard, acting like shrinking violets when they hear somebody else say a "bad" word. i wish this country would just grow up.

Studios release more horror films as "PG-13" so they can attract a bigger teen audience at the theaters. Then they add footage or CGI blood and release it on video as "unrated". Also it's a lot easier to get a PG-13 for a ghost/supernatural themed horror film.

After watching "Ninja Assassin" I've become convinced that currently the MPAA judges action style CGI blood and gore much less seriously than practical blood and gore effects. Ninja Assassin had an INSANE about of bloody violence. The new red band trailer for Machete looks to be along the same lines.

true. f*ck the MPAA. they should grow the f*ck up. This comment is now rated R

courtesy of the automated **** censor of WP, it is now rated TV-14 [L].
the latest rating outrage for me is the movie "Moon" - america was the ONLY country to give this movie a restricted rating, due mainly to language. most other countries gave it their national equivalent of a "general admission with cautions" rating. no other country uses language as punitively as america does, as a criteria for restrictive movie ratings.

only in america, where puritanical newspapers in puritanical communities ban advertising for adult entertainments. in most other countries, adult movies receive the same advertising as general fare.

i watched "Moon" recently, and try as i might, i just couldn't find ANYTHING in the movie which warranted the R rating. not a damned thing. what a ratings injustice- this film should have received no worse than a PG-13, if that.

america has long had a soft spot for [bloodless] violence and a blue nose for anything else.

watching "forever amber" on the boob tube one night, i noticed that on the end credit crawl, it displayed a very rare MPAA "adult certification" (PCA #11495, Adult Audience) - mind you, this film was made in 1947 and had no real adult content, but by american standards of the day, was considered too racy for kids and so theatre owners of the day were required to ban child/teen attendance for this film. no other country thought this film was anything for parents to worry about.

I object to the censorship that goes on (both direct, and self-censorship).

That's why I like Québec's system. The distributor submits the film for ratings and it's an all-or-nothing proposition. The film gets rated as presented with not cuts made by the review board. It's only power is to set a rating or deny a rating altogether.