New Documentaries

Hey all, I have two new documentaries I'm encouraging you all to see. One called,
"This Film is Not Yet Rated" and another called "Jesus Camp." Check out the trailers above.

The first one I just saw and it was pretty interesting. It's about the MPAA (the organization responsible for giving movies their ratings) and who this organization is made up of and how they control what we can and cannot see in movies. It also touches on a bigger issue of who controls media in this country and how powerful they are. My one complaint about this one is that for all the probing they go through to prove the point that this organization is facist and doesn't represent average American parent's best interests they don't interview anyone that represents average America. I guess they alliviate this need by saying that there is no such thing as an "average American parent" but all the people who say this are in the film industry and live in LA (which isn't exactly what most American's lives are like). That being said, it brings up a lot of good points about how childish adults can be about cusswords, sex, and nudity in movies when it's perfectly okay to show horrendous acts of violence and get lower ratings. The biggest issue with these ratings is what falls into NC-17. Basically an R rating and an NC-17 are both meant for adults, however if a movie gets the latter rating many studios won't release it, it can't get TV spots and most chain department stores won't carry it on DVD. So a lot of movies that take artistic risks in trying to do something different get marginalized and virtually unseen by American audiences based on the moral judgement of the MPAA. In my opinion this is just another element in why America is all but devoid of good art.

The second, I have not seen but sounds outrageous. I'm sure it will rile some emotions on either side. It's about fanatical Christian camps that are trying to rival religious fanatics in other parts of the world by teaching their kids to militantly follow Jesus. The trailer is disturbing enough. I'll give a full critique after I see it.

I don't know what kind of outlets you have for seeing these films. I'm guessing most cities have at least one theater that shows more obscure docs and films. Keep an eye out. I'd love to hear what everyone thinks.