First- and this is important. This rating system rates only the morality of the film. It doesn't, it can't have anything to do with how "good" or "likable" the movie is. There are three different criteria people use when choosing a movie to watch
- 1)How professional is the Movie? Lord of the Rings near the top of the chain, old Japanese Godzilla movie would be unprofessional.
- 2)How moral is the movie is.
- 3)How well the movie clicks or clashes with you personally.
One quick example: I love the movie Good Will Hunting. Yes it teaches some very good things, its also very dirty and unabashed about it. I still love it though. Artificial Intelligence - very professionally done, good film making, most people hate it though- out of personal preference (I'm undecided).
Onto my Second concern. How am I supposed to apply the JMPA rating to my life? Is there supposed to be a line to draw? There probably should be...The Prophet told us not to watch immoral movies...I'm finding the rating system less useful than I had hoped. The Transporter - I haven't seen it in a while, but it'd probably be a +1 and -3. It still like the movie. Is that bad of me? I know what the 13th Article of Faith says, I know watching immoral movies is bad and dangerous. But there has to be a way to apply the rating to my movie selections, just as there is a way to rate the movie itself. Perhaps its a personal thing. Everyone has to decide and come up with it on their own. I'm still bouncing around a few ideas. There has to be a good method.
Currently in Mormon-dom the R rating is like the kiss of death- the reason Saints and Soldiers was edited down, it was primarily for Mormon audiences, it wouldn't do well with the "evil R" rating. If I dictated and drew the line (as I am about to do)- I would be re-inventing the kiss of death. The Rater would still have the power to include or exclude movies that are bordering on the 'kiss of death' border out of personal preference- which is not the way its supposed to happen.
So far this is my watchable list: +5 or +4(any amount of steps back), +3(must be -3 or less), +2 or +1 (-2 or less).
I'm looking for feedback as well, which I haven't received a whole lot of. Please tell me your thoughts- whatever they are- I want to know them. As long as they aren't "You're the best I love you" or "you're the worse , I hate you." I'm looking for some real advice or feedback. The entire JMPA has only happened because I've surveyed hundreds of people, and is constantly being refined as more people are surveyed.
2 comments:
It may just be that I don't understand your rating system well enough, but that caveat said, I feel that your morality scale doesn't cover content, which I think is paramount. Here's my logic: the rating system always has to debate on the MORALITY of something, right? So it's all about how things are portrayed. Well, what if there's just simply bad content in the movie?
Here's an example. You're watching a movie, and a married couple has sex. There's nothing remotely wrong about a married couple having sex, but do I want to see that? What about a movie where you have some army representing "the good side" and they engage in a bloody and vicious battle with "the evil side"? Does that make the gore acceptable, simply because it's good fighting evil? I saw a movie with such a theme where the gore absolutely turned my stomach - it was way too much for me.
I've also have to say that I've seen great movies where the F-bomb was dropped WAY too many times, and it really bugged me. I don't think it's glorified or demonized - people simply had filthy mouths in the movie.
I'm perhaps doubling back too much on what you dislike of the original MPAA system. I agree that the morality of the movie, which is generally not covered in the scope of the MPAA rating, is very important - you're dead on. This is the reason why content sometimes bugs me more in a PG-13 movie than an R. Often a PG-13 movie has objectionable content thrown in merely for entertainment value - it's like "let's throw in as much sex/violence as we can without making it R". In contrast, an R may often have objectionable content simply because it's treating a subject in a very real way.
A final thought on the morality topic: although what is portrayed might not be moral, does that make the movie bad? Perhaps watching an immoral movie and using my head, I might learn something about life, or realize that I never want what happened in the movie to happen in my life. An example: I once saw a movie who's primary topic was adultery. It was about a woman cheating on her husband with this guy she met. She was always covering it up, etc, etc. Her husband found out towards the end, and in a scuffle with the adulterer, the husband accidentally kills him, and then runs. The movie never resolves the topic or passes any judgment - it simply ends with the husband and wife wondering what to do. In fact, I feel the director left the movie very poignantly void of any judgment. He seemed to be asking you the question, so what do you think? Did each person do the right thing? What should they do now? How do you feel about their actions? One could definitely call the movie immoral - the whole topic was adultery! At the same time, the movie made me reflect and pass my own personal judgments and opinions on what happened. Others may disagree, but I felt it was an excellent movie.
Feedback! YES! thank you and I love you.
I've thought about the content before, I usually try to address it in the review even though its not in the rating itself. I try to include questionable/objectionable content and needed maturity. Perhaps it deserves a place in the rating though? maybe another variable? I'll be thinking about it.
What you said about the Adultery movie, I've already started to notice. Movies that are more subjective than objective are hard to rate. Real life events are portrayed but the film makers take no stance on whether its good or bad. It amazes me that however I try to form the system, there are always films that break it and don't fit in it. Its not a perfect system, I try to leave it as subjective as I can so I have the wiggle room to deal with movies that break the system.
Thanks again for your comment!
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