The Hypocrisy and Star Wars

You know what I think.

Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith is an R Rated movie.

I’ve argued with countless people about the rating system. They say blah blah blah: “if other people think the movie is bad enough for an R, you should too.” Flawless logic. These are the same people who will see Episode III and not notice the violence.

It’s not that simple really. Ratings are based on politics.

The MPAA was created around 40 years ago to protect the financial interests of the movie industry. It grew out of the crumbling of the fascist movie content standards of the 30s. The industry created the rating system to deal with the controversy over the content of some of the great movies of the 60s and early 70s.

It wasn’t created out of good intentions. The studios wanted to keep the government from getting too involved – no highly political ratings or content management committee within the beltway – and retain a level of freedom.

So when the entire point of the rating system is to keep people pacified. That means rated movies based on public perception and the political climate.

Example: the last movie I know of with as the swordplay and decapitations of Episode III, well. The movie wasn’t rated PG-13. It was rated R – and then only because of a black-and-white sequence in the middle of the big action scene the allowed it to avoid the NC-17.

What I’m trying to say is that everyone who trusts the MPAA to make a decision about what is appropriate or inappropriate for them -- is stupid.