MPAA..?

Honestly, what has not been criticized in this country? The MPAA is just one of the many things that has been and probably continually will be criticized. However, this does not mean that i don't agree in the MPAA's tendency to be bias. I never really thought about the rating system until this post and the other resources given. But after watching Kirby Dick's interview and seeing segments of his movie, my eyes have been open. The MPAA is homophobic bias in its ratings. Dick's documentary shows that two movie clips -- one being heterosexual and the other being homosexual -- recieved different ratings. The heterosexual clip recieved a R rating while the Homosexual was "awarded" a NC-17 rating. This proves the homphobic bias.
This also brings me to the fact that the MPAA is not a structure organization with educated individuals. It's 13-15 parents from the Los Angeles area. The entire moviegoing population is relying on these 13-15 parents to rate the movie justly. However, this is not happening, obviously. It just doesn't seem logical to let 13-15 parents from one concentrated area judge whether the movie is G or R for the entire world.
Of course as a young adult, I know ratings aren't such a big deal. I'll admit, I've sneaked into rate R movie before i was 17 and i've helped sneak my friends in also. The only difference it really makes is the fact that we have to "sneak in". For some parents it may make a difference. Some parents may live by the ratings. But it seems as if even the most childish, innocent movies are rated with PG nowadays. The recent pixar movie UP was rated with a PG while Disney's Finding Nemo was rated with a G. What's the difference? I have no idea.
The online interview of Dan Glickman states that somethings back 30 years ago was not as harshly rated as things are now. He talked about one thing in specific, smoking. He states that smoking was in all movies a few decades ago but now if smoking is in a movie scene the rating knocks up to PG or whatever. This is probably what happened between Finding Nemo and UP. Finding Nemo, created in 2003 was more leniently rated than UP and they are practically similiar in theme and substance.
The ratings set by the MPAA is very wishy washy. They tend to be very inconsistent with no set of rules to go by when rating a film. This is upsetting to moviegoers and producers. As Bill Clinton said in Dame in the Kimono,"too numerous, diverse and confusing to be really useful to parents". They are rated by different people and not by the same consistent board of parents. The ratings are based on the parents opinion rather than by set standards whhich cause the fluctuations in movie ratings. "We have a group of parents, who are rotated in and out" as Glickman put it in his interview. Even Dick states that ," This is one of the most unprofessional boards today..." and "there are no professionally developed standards.."
In Dick's interview he also talked about how for sexual content the rating is higher compared to violence. Okay, in my opinion, that is totally messed up. Violence would do alot more psychological damage to a younger mind than sex would. Sex is "a gift from god" and a "natural part of life". Violence on the other hand is the total opposite. Dick uses the American Psycho to convey this point.
Are the biases understandable? No. Ratings that affect everyone equally should be fair and justified but the parents who are part of the MPAA operation have failed to do this. Yes, ratings are useful to some extent. I think it's best for the viewers to be educated about what kind of substances they are about to encounter.