"Parents Strongly Cautioned": The MPAA is taking your jobs

I have always been heavily interested in film. Ever since I was in elementary school, the movie theatre was my safe haven and a place of heavy self-reflection. As I grew older, I attempted to expose myself to a variety of films that have garnered critical acclaim and historical recognition. But there was a monster that stood in my way, a vague, distant, and overbearing committee of conservative, irrationally concerned people that took the form of the Motion Picture Association of America. The MPAA's supposed goal was for the welfare of the nation's youth, myself included. Thanks to the MPAA, I was free from the moral atrocities that films such as Sideways, Little Miss Sunshine, and Brokeback Mountain--all films that I was forced to overcome countless obstacles to see in theatres--contain. I was free from the "gratuitous" violence. I was free from the "crude" language. I was free from the "overwhelmingly offensive" expression of sexuality. But, most importantly, I was free from the right to see the films that I so desire.

The truth is that no prudish committee can be aware of my personal level of maturity. There are full grown adults who cannot handle certain films. That said, there are certain teenagers who can see a fleeting moment of violence and a love scene between a caring couple without a sudden loss of innocence. It was this frustration that drove me to hate the Motion Picture Association of America. I cringed at the sight of their seal of approval prior to every preview of coming attractions. I lamented the plainly stated, "Rated R," that shook my television following a commercial for an interesting film. Though I am now a seventeen-year-old, I refuse to let another teenager with a need to quench some strange creative thirst be stolen from his or her right to do so.

Thus, I decided to begin researching and writing in favor of the alteration or, even, abolishment of the current ratings system in America. Partly motivated by the need to hear both sides and partly motivated by the justification of so many years of resentment, I hope to gain a full understanding of the Motion Picture Association of America and how we Americans can improve upon it. The need for a change is not to be overlooked. Now, that, MPAA, would be immoral.