Tuesday, November 1, 2011

HTM: Movie Ratings

I feel as though the movie rating system is deeply flawed. It is both sexist and heteronormative. As a feminist I am offended by some of the implications made by the MPAA movie rating decisions. For one, female nudity is fine and dandy but a cock shot gets everyone riled up. What this suggests is that it’s okay for a woman to objectify herself but if it a man does it, it’s a travesty. I’m sorry but where in actual reality is there sex happening where only the woman is sexually exposed? Nowhere. Then there is this idea that a woman’s orgasm is more offensive than a man’s orgasm. Really, that doesn’t make any sense. It’s a double standard imposed upon us a patriarchal society. Furthermore, female rape is okay to show but if a man gets raped it is an attack on common decency. That’s ridiculous. No wonder males are less likely to report rape. Even our movies want to pretend like it doesn’t exist. These kinds of decisions show exactly how deeply rooted sexism is in our society.

Another flaw I find with the rating system is that it’s heteronormative. The idea that heterosexuality is the norm and that homosexuality is wrong is proven by the NC-17 ratings given to movies that show homosexual intercourse. The scenes of intercourse are of the same graphic level as those of their heterosexual counterparts. The MPAA reasoning is that the board is made of everyday American families. If that is the case, how are these movies being denied the same R ratings of their heterosexual c counterparts when 8-10 million children are being raised by gay parents here in America? It’s because they are not being represented on the rating board.

I would venture to say that the problem with the ratings board is that they don’t truly represent America. Maybe they represent the WASP ideals of the America of the ‘50s but today it’s new territory. All this board does is pushing back the sense of equality in both gender issues and sexuality. I’m sorry but the Westboro Baptist Church is doing a good enough job of that on its own. They don’t need help from the MPAA.

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