Even though it's supposed to protect children, it's turning us all into children.
Anybody who's serious about film has to have at least a passing interest in the censorship it has endured down the ages. On its face, Kirby Dick's 2006 documentary This Film Is Not Yet Rated would appear to be the perfect primer on the subject, particularly as it targets the Motion Picture Association of America and its sometimes inscrutable ratings system, but it's a little too unfocused to convincingly make its case. Maybe if it had stuck to the stories of filmmakers whose films had been slapped with the dreaded NC-17 (which can adversely affect a film's commercial viability) it would be more persuasive, but Dick spends far too much time with the private investigator he hires to expose the identities of the ratings board members (and, it has to be said, far too much time on camera himself).
This is a real pity, because the film puts forth some fascinating theses: namely, that the MPAA has traditionally favored studio films over independents, it's more apt to be troubled by sex than violence, and it has consistently given harsher ratings to depictions of gay sexuality. These are amply illustrated by the interviews with and clips from the films of Kimberly Peirce (Boys Don't Cry), Wayne Kramer (The Cooler), Kevin Smith (Jersey Girl), Matt Stone (Team America), John Waters (A Dirty Shame), Mary Harron (American Psycho), and Atom Egoyan (Where the Truth Lies). And the private investigator does come through with the names and relevant personal data on the members of the ratings board, which proves that the MPAA has misrepresented its makeup. Then Dick goes the extra mile and submits This Film Is Not Yet Rated to the board, gets the NC-17 he was probably expecting (after all, he repeatedly shows the things that got other films their NC-17s) and takes us through the appeals process. Considering the film ultimately went out without a rating, that's very meta of it. What's frustrating is the sneaking suspicion that it could have been a whole lot more.