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Weinstein To Take On MPAA ‘Bully’ Rating
The Weinstein Co won its appeal of the MPAA’s rating for Blue Valentine last year, but the distributor missed this one today. The filmmakers and Harvey Weinstein were looking for a PG-13 rating so they could show the documentary about bullying to middle schools and high schools.
LOS ANGELES — The Classification and Rating Appeals Board today upheld the R rating given to the movie Bully. The Classification and Rating Administration (CARA) had assigned the movie the R rating for “some language.” In the appeal brought by The Weinstein Company, LLC, the Appeals Board heard statements on behalf of Bully from Harvey Weinstein, Co-Chairman of the Weinstein Company and Alex Libby, one of the boys in the film. The Classification and Rating Administration was represented by Chairman Joan Graves.
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So this film will not be shown to students who may be suffering or may be causing others to suffer on a daily basis because it contains “some language” they most likely use and hear every day?
Go America!
Completely agree. Heaven forbid this movie actually be shown to its intended audience!
Another example of how the MPAA is no longer culturally valid.
Let me say right off that I am not a big fan of Harvey. Still, as an undercover documentary on the MPAA has shown, these people are fools. Their opinion on sex, language, violence in movies varies from film to film and certainly doesn’t reflect the current state of the country. The MPAA might have been a good idea at one time, but it is completely out of touch with what SHOULD be deciding factors in rating a film.
The ‘R’ rating seems unnecessary. I recall, before the PG-13 rating, seeing numerous PG films that had ‘bad’ language, nudity, extreme violence, etc. Any kid below 17 that wants to see an R rated movie (or NC17 or adult for that matter) can and will these days, just as earlier generations did, and now- can do so when it comes out on VOD or DVD-whether it be at their own home, or sneaking off to see it at a friends house when the parents are away. The only think that an ‘R’ rating does is at times lower theatrical sales, which hurts American business, and let those entities such as the MPAA feel a sense of holiness as if they are the guardians of moral decency. Joseph Breen would be proud.
How long will the MPAA keep it’s head in the sand by excluding films for ‘Language’ from certain ratings? This goes to show how out of touch they are with society.
This generation of kids have grown up with the internet from day one, and therefore are Generation Porn; swearing stopped being the final frontier long ago.
Because it’s the kids over 17 who have the biggest problem withs with bullies.
Shame MPAA – this is a public service announcement, not a snuff film
MPAA, really, a high school anti-bullying movie not fit for students because of Language? Is this just another excuse to exclude any material that has any same-sex protagonists from being seen by teenagers? I wonder what rating Glee would get from the MPAA? This might be a blessing in disguise, since forbidden fruit will attract more controversy (read: publicity. Good one Harvey!) and therefore make it more desirable to be bootlegged by teens online.
Meet the new bully same as the old bully: ladies and gentlemen, the MPAA.
As the mother of a child who was bullied starting in middle school (and whose bullying was ignored by teachers and admin), i find this decision to be idiotic at best. And at worst? If I say it, the MPAA will slap my hands – if they bother to pull their heads out of …. the very dark place in which they must keep them.
IT DOES GET BETTER.
To all schools that want to show this –
1. Get permission from the parents.
2. Show it anyway.
Kids need to see this.
Can we just abolish the MPAA and establish a new, more relevant rating system? That would really be the best option. They are no longer valid or in-touch with society.
Shame on you, MPAA.
The MPAA has become the equivalent of a dusty old cobweb covered dress form in Grandma’s attic. Completely out of touch and irrelevant in today’s world. The average network prime time television show would get an “R” rating from the puritanical MPAA, and I can only assume most cable fare would receive the dreaded “NC-17″. Being treated like a sophisticated adult is among the many reasons I find myself more and more satisfied these days by what is flickering from my T.V. screen than what is flickering from my local movie theater screen. The only service the MPAA continues to provide is a disservice. They usually just smack of censorship, this “Bully” move is actually disgraceful. What a bunch of Luddite boneheads…sigh!
Such a disgrace. I realize it is a tough subject matter, but kids needs to see this documentary. Agree with the above. Shame on MPAA.
I remember back when my sister was about 13, she wanted to see an R-rated movie and my mother objected. And she pointed out, “Mom, I go to middle school, that’s at least an R-rated movie.”
That joke seems less funny now.
Time to add some material, make that version Unrated, distribute it day and date via online venues, make that unrated DVD available a month later, at a bulk purchase educational discount, and make an effort to show it in a school assembly style gathering in every elementary school, middle school and high school once a year.
Not every kid has parents who encourage their kids to fight back like I did. 35 years ago, fighting back worked for me, and I also stood up for my little brother as well. But these days, with how easily kids find ways to bring guns to school, I’m not even sure fighting back can help.
It’s time for a lot of people to stop burying their heads in the sand and stop thinking that their kids are little angels and realize that most of them can be devils until they get old enough to really think about what they are doing… or into a new situation where someone bigger treats them the same way.
Why is there no legal recourse? Isn’t this a monopolistic restraint of trade? Get a judge involved and see how long the MPAA can withstand scrutiny.
So the MPAA figures that a kid hearing the F-word is worse than a kid being viciously assaulted. Wow.
MPAA are the REAL bullies! See = This Film Is Not Yet Rated
I agree with the comments here, but on the other hand, why couldn’t the filmmakers/producers/distributors just bleep the bad words? Do we really need to hear them in order to understand/get the movie?
Why doesn’t the director just take the cussing out?