The movie is essentially a political screed by a collection of Gay, Lesbian and somewhat aberrant film makers against the MPAA, the Motion Picture Association of America. These are the men and women who slap the ratings on the movies (G, PG, PG-13, R, NC-17). I was amazed to learn the MPAA dwells at 15503 Ventura Blvd in Encino. I am just a little North of 21000 Ventura. They are roughly 10 miles south east of my current position.
Essentially, these aberrant film makers have talked themselves into the following mythological belief system:
- NC17 movies do not make money
- Applying the NC17 tag gets you thrown out of Walmart and Blockbuster
- Ergo applying the NC17 tag is censorship
- 80% of the time, the NC17 tag is applied to a movie for homosexual sexual content, not violence
- The tag is capricious in general
Jack Valenti, the late boss man and founder of the MPAA, has an interesting counter argument which was given very short shrift by these documentary film makers.
- If you make an art movie rubbing the audiences' collective nose in aberrant behavior, you have just made a movie that very few people want to see.
- Ergo your market is small to nothing to begin with.
- Many of these movies are independently made with no support or marketing from the 6 major studios (Paramount, Universal, Fox, Disney, Sony, Warner Brothers). Ergo, nobody ever hears about these movies anyhow.
- You can apply any rating you like to the film, or not submit for a rating at all. It will make little difference to your financial outcome. The movie is destined to be a market failure when you chose your topic.
The rest of the movie constitutes an attempt to avoid dealing with the substance of Valenti's case. A variety of 'artists' parade across the screen complaining of wrongs that have been done to them, and wonderful movies financially sunk by the ratings system. What I saw here was a massive state of denial.
Take a couple of my favorite comedy geniuses, Matt Stone and Trey Parker. Matt was on camera frequently complaining of wrongs done to him in the case of Orgasmo. He strenuously objected to the fact that it got an NC17. Orgasmo happens to be one of my favorite comedies. I happen to own it on DVD. I await the Blu-Ray release if there ever is one. I had no idea that it was rated NC17, but I am not surprised, and I don't care. Rather, I am surprised that Matt could be so indignant over this rating. Was not Orgasmo full of hardcore porn stars such as Juli Ashton, Chasey Lane, Shayla LaVeaux, Mellisa Hill, Yumiko, Jill Kelly, and Ron Jeremy? Was not the entire comedy subject the making of Porn movies? Are you really surprised you got an NC17? I am surprised you are surprised.
Another lesbian film maker complained that her film Big Boys Don't Cry was sanctioned for an elaborate lesbian cunnilingus scene in which the giver wipes the cum off of her mouth for the camera. The MPAA also objected to a brutal anal rape scene in the movie, which is both violent and excruciating. Jeezee... can you imagine the MPAA applying the NC17 tag for a little thing like a brutal anal rape scene? Actually, yes I can. I am surprised that you are surprised.
You get my jist? Do you see the tenor of their arguments?
One lesson this documentary taught me is the enormous disconnect between Hollywood Blvd and Main street. As I have ever known, Hollywood Blvd simply does not think or reason in a manner that is at all similar to Main Street USA.
However, the real lesson of this documentary is about human delusions, and the extent to which people go to avoid consciously recognizing unhappy truths. One of the anti-censorship voices in the movie belts out that most teens have seen more aberrant and hardcore sex on the Internet than their parents have ever seen. Yes this is true, but watch your argumentation there; you will be hoist on your own petard.
This argument is the most devastating of the several self-refuting arguments made during the course of this documentary. XXX rated material is supposed to be inaccessible to minors. A lot of weak controls are put in place to ensure they cannot access such materials. The need for a credit card is one such control. The rating system is another control. Laws requiring verification of age (with a credit card) are another. Somehow, they all get access anyhow. Nothing stops them.
Jack Valenti founded the MPAA the very year that Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin and I were all born. I think they would tell you the MPAA rating never stopped them from seeing an R movie when they were kids. Nothing stopped me. I saw a lot of R movies when I was 15-17. Dollars might, but ratings did not. The ratings don't stop anybody from seeing anything. I never even realized Orgasmo was NC17, I saw it anyway some 13 years ago.
So why then do NC17 movies fail financially? It is very simple: Valenti has reason in his case. These folks are just making aberrant movies for a statistically askew statistical minority. That isn't good marketing. You cannot expect to find a large market there. You may want a large market, but this is an unrealistic expectation at best.
So what does the human soul do when confronted with such pain? What do you do when nobody really wants to see the movie you desperately desire to make, and your work fails in the market? You enter into a state of denial. You make a boogyman scapegoat out of the MPAA and you blame them for your financial woes. The end. Very simple. This is very human.
