The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) is a morally bankrupt organization and should be ignored and chastised by the public until they stop equating curse-words, sex and nudity with graphic beatings, rape, and horrific violence by bestowing similar ratings for all.

The MPAA ratings are skewed to begin with because it is a conservative organization that exercises a quiet and underhanded form of censorship on the art of cinema.

They exercise censorship in a very understated way. Filmmakers are very aware of tailoring their content for two people... the MPAA and Blockbuster Video (another cinematic plague that people should avoid at all costs). The filmmakers are aware of the guidelines that they need to follow so that they may avoid the dreaded NC17 rating, which is box office suicide and will result in unwanted editing for Blockbuster copies.  So, directors are forced to censor themselves to avoid this dilemma.

On a side note, Blockbuster will censor anything that they deem inappropriate for you to see. They are usually far more likely to censor nudity or sexual situations than horrific violence, which is exactly the opposite of every other country in the civilized world.

There is this bizarre notion in America that cinematic sex is worse for kids than cinematic violence. The USA may be the most prudish country in the western world.

Let me say that I have no problem with ratings in general. I just have a problem with the vague MPAA ratings.  Ideally, parents should be the ones who guide children in their film-viewing, not conservative old farts who think graphic violence is more appropriate for young viewers than sex.

Hundreds of films have had laughably assigned ratings, the most infamous of those include…

“Blue Car” - R

“Whale Rider” – PG13

“Amelie” - R

“Lost in Translation” - R

“In America” - R

There are hundreds of other examples.

 "Whale Rider" got a PG13 because of one brief glimpse of someone smoking a joint!?!? Yeah, like kids should avoid that film... one of the most praised family dramas of the decade.

"Amelie" got an R for an orgasm montage!?!? Yeah, like that will scar our children for life in the same way that "Ichi the Killer" will.

How “Lost in Translation” merited an R, no one will ever be able to explain.

“In America” is a fabulous family film and should be seen by all families.

“Blue Car” deals with adult themes but should be mandatory viewing for all High School Freshmen Girls.

Renowned internet critic, James Berardinelli, in a recent rant, also pointed out a ridiculous parallel when both “Murderball” and “The Devil’s Rejects” opened on the same weekend with the same rating.  Where is the common sense?

There is no more morally skewed organization than the MPAA. The US is ridiculed the world over for its nudity standards in comparison to the vicious violence that it tolerates from its entertainment. And the MPAA is greatly responsible for the wayward moral compass in this country.

My point is this... the MPAA seems to equate mild scenes of nudity or sexual content with graphic scenes of horrific violence as if they are equally inappropriate. I think that is a tremendously skewed perception that is perpetuated by the religious right in this country.

Parents should be given better tools to work with. XV for extreme violence. MN for mild nudity etc. This blanket R is absurd. And parents should take a more active role in what their kids watch rather than let an uber-conservative morally bankrupt organization do it for them.

We can all agree that graphic XXX pornography is deserving of its ratings. But brief glimpses of breasts or momentary smoking of joints hardly resembles that extreme and should not be punished or have its audience lessened by slapping it with the same rating as Ichi the Killer or Hostel or Salo or even films like Resident Evil etc.

The problem with the MPAA is that it is black and white... if there are 7 instances of the work FUCK, then it merits an R. They seriously have rules like that. They have rules where if you can see one nipple from the side it gets a PG-13, but 2 nipples from the front it gets an R. Full frontal male nudity for more than 3 seconds results in a NC17. I don't care to know the specifics... but they do not allow room for common sense or artistic tone.

Tone or Common Sense is hard to quantify and even harder to apply. I am not saying that it is easy to implement. However, it is clear that the MPAA do not take either into account.

I don't think any human being on earth would begrudge "Whale Rider" being a PG or even a G... but according to the unbending rules of the MPAA, they gave it a PG13... the same rating as “Lord of the Rings” or “Anaconda” or dozens of other violent films.

Judgment is not being used and that is why the MPAA rating system is all screwed up. The ever-so-brief nudity in a film like “Amelie” should not be equated with a late night Cinemax soft core skin flick or a high-body-count, mass-execution gore-fest.

They are incomparable - It's not even apples and oranges... It's more like cheesecake and abortion rights.

Yet all these examples get generic R's. It is a real shame.

The MPAA is too representative of the extreme right's repressive attitude toward sexuality and its equally bizarre tolerance of on-screen violence.

There need to be ratings that are more descriptive of the content.

As it stands, it is rather like looking at Ebert's thumb for his opinion of a film rather than reading his entire review. His thumb doesn't really tell you much of anything. He gave the same rating with his thumb for both “Schindler's List” and “Speed 2: Cruise Control”. But his reviews explain his rating and differentiate all the various possibilities of upturned thumbs.

I think the system should look more like this...

X - Pornographic Violence or Sex (18 or Over)
XV - Extreme Violence (16+ with Adult Supervision)
GV - Graphic Violence (14+ with Adult Supervision)
GN - Graphic Nudity (14+ with Adult Supervision)
MV - Mild Violence (12+)
MN - Mild Nudity (12+)
AT - Adult Themes (Any Age with Supervision)
AA - All Ages (All Ages Welcome)

Examples...

X - We all know what X's are... no changes required here.
XV - Ichi the Killer, Hostel, Wolf Creek
GV - Lord of the Rings, Goodfellas, Kill Bill
GN - The Dreamers, Basic Instinct, Eyes Wide Shut
MV - Gladiator, Raging Bull, Bourne Identity
MN - Amelie, American Beauty
AT - Schindler's List, Titanic, Forrest Gump
AA - Toy Story, Lion King, My Dog Skip

Now... the specifics can be bantered about... but something like that would be much easier for parents to use as a guide. It also splits the R rating into 5 or 6 categories that each have their own restrictions on age and supervision.

Thank Goodness for DVD's and director's cuts... where we can actually get to see the films that directors want us to see rather than the ones they have to slice and dice in order to procure PG-13 and R ratings rather than the dreaded NC17 curse.