Hollywood directors push for rating-system overhaul
By Phillip Taylor
Special to
The Freedom Forum Online
09.19.00
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Hollywood directors are urging the Motion Picture Association of
America to craft a "simple, clean and detailed rating" system that
can be applied to all entertainment media.
Last week's call came on the heels of congressional testimony on
a Federal Trade Commission report that said the movie, video game and music
industries aggressively market violent products that carry adult ratings to
children.
"We advocate a system or systems that would give parents and
other consumers the most detailed information possible regarding the true
nature and content of a film or other media and the reason for its rating, so
that they can make informed decisions for themselves and their children,"
the Directors Guild of America wrote in a
statement.
The directors said they've been meeting with MPAA chief Jack
Valenti, urging him to make considerable changes to the rating system he
crafted more than 30 years ago.
Valenti, through a spokesman, declined to comment on the DGA's
statement.
But in testimony before Congress last week, Valenti said the MPAA
rating system enjoys its highest approval from parents ever. He told senators
that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to create a single rating system
to gauge the suitability of movies, television programs and the like.
"What some account to be unwholesome and unworthy, others may
judge to be innovative and inventive," Valenti said. "There is no
all-seeing, elite, self-designated authority in art, movies, music, literature,
TV programs, etc., who can, with Olympian clarity, say, 'This is
suitable, this is not, this is all right, this is not.'"
The directors' statement came less than a week after the release
of the FTC report. The commission said that even movies rated R — which
require an adult to accompany children under 17 to the theater — and
video games that carry an M rating for 17 and over are routinely targeted
toward younger people.
Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore, in particular, embraced the
issue, demanding a voluntary ceasefire from the entertainment industry in
marketing inappropriate material to children. He also threatened federal action
if the industry failed to do so.
Gore and running mate Sen. Joseph Lieberman have since softened their
tone, with the Associated Press reporting that Lieberman told leaders of the
entertainment industry: "I promise you this, that we will never, never
put the government in the position of telling you by law, through law, what to
make. We will nudge you but we will never become censors." The AP
reported that the assurance was delivered to applause at a Beverly Hills
fund-raiser last night.
Republicans charge Gore and Lieberman with hypocrisy, according to the
AP, saying they criticized the entertainment industry's conduct and then
accepted campaign funds from Hollywood.
Meanwhile, the directors union statement said its efforts are hardly a
reaction to threats, noting that the group formed a 25-member Task Force on
Violence and Social Responsibility in June 1999. The task force includes such
filmmakers as Rob Reiner, Sydney Pollack, Michael Mann, Wes Craven and John
Carpenter.
"We believe in freedom of speech and expression as social values
of the highest order," the directors said. "At the same time, as
responsible members of the community, we believe that there are steps we as an
industry can take to ensure that our movies are seen only by the audiences for
whom they are intended."
The DGA also urged theater owners to adopt a
"zero-tolerance" policy against selling tickets for adult movies to
underage moviegoers. The directors suggested, too, that the industry adopt a
code of conduct governing the marketing of mature movies as soon as
possible.
"Such a system will allow us filmmakers to tell our stories to
the audience for which they are intended," the statement said.
The guild attacked the MPAA's NC-17 rating specifically, tagging
the adults-only rating as an "abject failure." It said that many
films that should not be seen by minors are re-cut so they become
"hard" R's instead. "This has the effect of not only
compromising filmmakers' visions but also greatly increasing the
likelihood that adult-oriented movies are seen by the very groups for which
they are not intended," the guild said.
Free-speech groups critical of the FTC report found it curious that
the DGA should make such an announcement so soon after the report and the
subsequent congressional hearing.
But David Horowitz of the Media Coalition compared the guild's
statement to executives at Wal-Mart having the right to refuse to stock record
albums with warning labels on them.
"And I would say that if this is indeed voluntarily then
that's the prerogative of the directors and that's a private
business decision," Horowitz said.
The directors insisted that their efforts are geared toward
self-regulation and are not supportive of efforts to enforce a rating system
through civil penalties or criminal prosecution.
"We believe that it is ultimately the obligation of parents and
legal guardians to protect their children from exposure to material they deem
inappropriate," they said.
Previous
McCain wary of Gore proposal to sanction entertainment industry
'Before we embark on censorship, we'd better make very sure where this all leads,' says Sen. John McCain.
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