Motion Picture Association Of America Research Articles

Кино как инструмент «мягкой силы» государства на примере кинематографа Испании и США

The article considers cinema as an instrument of soft power of states, using the example of cinema in Spain and the USA. Different approaches are shown. On the one hand, the United States, which uses universal concepts, on the other hand, Spain, which uses stereotypical ideas and recognizable images about its country. In American films, most often, universal topics are used that are understandable to all people: the struggle between good and evil (moreover, evil is universal, threatening the whole world, and good is the United States), love, happiness, compassion. Even if purely national issues are raised in American films (for example, African-American racism), these problems are presented as universal, as a problem of human dignity, honor, etc. In Spanish cinema, well-established stereotypes about Spain and its culture are actively used: bullfighting, flamenco, Andalusian folklore, traditional cuisine and clothing (for example, the matador costume), as well as typical, recognizable images of the Spanish man and woman (Spanish macho - Antonio Banderas and swarthy, passionate, beautiful Carmen - Penelope Cruz). All this forms the concept of ‘españolada’. The United States does not officially support its film production, but coordinates and consults with the film productions and directors through unofficial resources, primarily the Motion Picture Association of America, whose leadership includes many former White House officials. Spain, on the contrary, actively supports its filmmakers, helps to promote Spanish films in the international arena, develops joint film production, stimulates the shooting of films at the state level, including foreign ones, using Spanish locations, etc. Thus, one can see two different approaches to cinema as an instrument of soft power, and although American cinema certainly dominates the world market, the obvious success of Spanish cinema, which is becoming increasingly popular, should be noted.

Watching intense movies increase IOP of primary open angle glaucoma patients: A prospective study

To investigate intraocular pressure (IOP) changes while viewing smartphone movies under artificial intelligence (AI) monitoring. In all, 48 subjects were recruited from the glaucoma clinic of Xianyou maternal and child health hospital from January 2018 to March 2020. The research consisted of three parts. In part 1, movies rated by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) were viewed via smartphones of various screen sizes under AI supervision for 90minutes, at a distance of 40cm. IOP and biological parameters including anterior chamber angle, Schlemm's canal (SC) cross-sectional area, heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressures (SBP and DBP) were measured and analyzed. In part 2, blue-blocking glasses (BB glasses) were worn to repeat the above experiments. In part 3, the efficacy of AI in decreasing attention loss was analyzed. In addition, results were analyzed to determine whether interval breaks, prompted by AI, prevented IOP from rising. In part 1, the mean IOP of primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) subjects' right eyes significantly increased by 4.828 and 4.974mmHg after watching R and NC-17movies, respectively. In their left eyes, it increased by 2.876 and 5.767 after watching R and NC-17movies, respectively. The maximum IOP difference was also increased by 4.782 and 4.510 on right and left eyes, respectively, after viewing NC-17 movies on a 6.1-inch screen. Furthermore, the SC became narrower, whereas heart rate, DBP and SBP increased in the POAG group. In addition, maximum IOP difference was significantly correlated with SC cross-sectional area, DBP and SBP in the POAG group. In part 2, symptom scores were improved by BB glasses; however, IOP was not decreased. In part 3, attention loss was significantly decreased by AI monitoring. On the contrary, AI also prevented IOP from rising via promoting interval rest. Watching adult movies (NC-17) can significantly increase the IOP of POAG patients. AI can prevent IOP from rising by promoting interval rest when viewing NC-17 movies.

Building a Timeline for LGBTQ+ Global Cinemas (1910–2019): Movie Production Trends from a Collaborative Internet Cinema Database

Building a Timeline for LGBTQ+ Global Cinemas (1910–2019): Movie Production Trends from a Collaborative Internet Cinema Database

‘We’ll Have No More Grapes of Wrath:’ The Origins, Rise and Impact of a Dubious Cinematic Anecdote

Eric Johnston, President of the Motion Picture Association of America, supposedly remarked ‘we’ll have no more Grapes of Wrath’ in response to an investigation by the House Committee on Un-American Activities into communism in the American film industry in 1947. Many film historians have employed the quotation as evidence that the investigation had created strict controls that led to fewer politically and socially motivated films in the United States in the 1950s. It has also linked Johnston to the highly conservative Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals. However, the quotation was based on a suspect source and was possibly derived from material said or written by other people. Johnston may well have made this comment, but if so, the context of the comment has been ignored. A more nuanced interpretation is needed to assess Johnston’s views and actions.

The Ratings Game: Asymmetry in Classification

Categorization processes are generally treated as consistent mappings of the underlying characteristics that they group. Yet, in many cases, the identities of actors influence these processes. When identity matters, high status actors often obtain more favorable classifications. We examine these processes in the context of the Motion Picture Association of America’s parental guidance classifications of movies (G, PG, R, NC-17). We find that, conditional on a given level of content, films distributed by MPAA members, and those that involve more central producers and directors, receive more lenient classifications than those carried by independent distributors and involving more peripheral personnel. Conversely, and again conditional on content, films involving directors with a history of producing R rated features receive more restrictive ratings. We discuss the mechanisms that might account for these effects. Regardless of the mechanism, however, since ratings influence revenue and consequently profitability, the movie certification system in the United States places independent distributors and peripheral individuals at a disadvantage relative to their larger and more central rivals.

АМЕРИКАНСКИЙ КИНЕМАТОГРАФ КАК ИНСТРУМЕНТ ПУБЛИЧНОЙ ДИПЛОМАТИИ США

In this article author tries to verify the hypothesis about systemic collaboration between the American film industry and the US government. Specifically the author questions the statement made first by J. Nye about the pop-culture and cinema being one the main resources of the American soft power. The author challenges this vision by offering to regard cinema not as a passive resource but rather as an actively exploited instrument of American public diplomacy that operates in favor of the US national interests constructing and maintaining positive, attractive and inspiring image of the US abroad. In order to achieve this goal author explores various sources: statements made by American officials, information available on the official websites of US state institutions, statistical studies conducted by the Motion Picture Association of America, the European Council and independent researchers. In addition, the study of works dedicated to the topic of the relationship between American cinema and politics conducted by both Russian and foreign researchers has also contributed to the findings of this article. Chronologically the research made in this article covers the period from 1940s until nowadays. The starting point marks the first famous case of close cooperation between the US government and American film industry. However, the factual evidence of the study, which indicates government involvement in film production, refers to the period of the Cold War, since part of the archives of that time was made public, rather than to the last decades due to the lack of open sources about such processes today. While studying and analyzing the sources and the opinions of experts, the author identifies the reasons of Hollywood’s success: vicious circle of blockbusters’ supply-demand, backed by the fame and the fortune of the biggest studios, as well as the “symbiotic relationship” between those studios and the US government. She illustrates the processes of state-film industry collaboration through the examples of cooperation between the biggest American film studios and Pentagon, as well as their cooperation with CIA. This article reveals in which ways movies are able to influence the public opinion and perception. Namely: create a generally positive image of the US abroad by showing American lifestyle in the idealized way in movies; weaken the ability of wider audience to criticize the US and consequently their foreign policy as well as the US-centered world order; occasionally shape public opinion on specific matters or events in order to encourage people to act or to think in the favorable for the US national interests ways. The author makes the following conclusion: while it remains up for discussion to what extent symbiosis between cinema and politics is “conscious”, whether both parties truly realize in which position they are (the one of systemic collaboration), one can certainly argue that there is indeed a well-developed system. The system in question creates a particular environment in which American film industry is working within the framework of self-restriction, self-censure and self-control. Because of this system the production of Hollywood (with occasional exceptions), especially the mass-oriented production, is bound to end as a tool of influence, shaping the public perception of the US both inside and what is more important – outside of its borders.

Of Letters and Lists: How the MPAA Puts Films Recommended for LGBTQ Adolescents Out of Reach

ABSTRACTThe film ratings system employed by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has been criticized by LGBTQ critics who claim the system discriminates by holding queer content to a higher ratings standard than content in other films. The MPAA argues the constituency for its ratings system is parents in traditional families who may find queer themes inappropriate for their children. Paradoxically, a number of organizations serving adolescents identifying as LGBTQ or as questioning their sexualities have created lists of recommended films, many of whose MPAA ratings make them virtually off-limits to teens unless their parents approve. Cyberspace is also populated with lists of films recommended for teens regardless of their sexuality and gender identity. This article compares ratings distributions for lists of films recommended for queer teens and those recommended for mainstream teens and finds evidence of negative impact on access by queer teens to potentially helpful film content.

Where East-meets-West meets Asianization: Aesthetics, regionality and Frank Capra’s Lost Horizon

Abstract As a term of description, ‘Asianization’ characterizes the impact of aesthetic and narrative influences from Asian cinemas on co-produced or American films since the late twentieth century. The ‘flexible citizenship’ of filmmakers and aesthetic traditions stemming from East Asian cinemas are seen to have transformed the global action cinema, in particular. Analyses of the orientalism of self/other relations inscribed in Asianized western films permeate reception, in spite of the problematic nature of the paradigms of Orient and orientalism. This article problematizes Asianization by referring to the Asian masquerades in Hollywood cinema in the pre-Second World War era, and the orientalism and ‘East meets West’ mythos that underpins a number of these films. The main case study, Lost Horizon, a blockbuster produced by Columbia Pictures in 1937 and directed by the Italian American filmmaker, Frank Capra, is a prototype imagining of ‘Asia’. It is a simulacra instilled through the trappings of costume, set, acted masquerade and elliptic narrative geographies, and facilitated by the racial proscriptions of the Motion Picture Association of America (Hays) Code of the era. The aesthetic discourse is marked, I argue, by duality whereby Asia is presented as both threat and paradise, a duality that resonates, if disparately, in the aesthetics of contemporary and twentieth-century Asianized films.

In the name of the nation: Media classification, globalisation, and exceptionalism

This article examines the relationship between exceptionalism and nationhood in media classification. The history of age-ratings is an international one, and the present challenges associated with digital media circulation are similarly international. We argue that the nation nevertheless provides an appropriate frame for understanding age-rating by attending to the ways national agencies have struggled to articulate the specificity of their work based on the specificity of domestic constituencies. Drawing on archival and ethnographic research, our central examples include the resistance of the Motion Picture Association of America to age-based film classification, the British Board of Film Classification’s examination of American films in the 1980s, contemporary Japanese videogame regulation, and the emergence of the International Age Rating Coalition. We argue that national exceptionalism is itself generalised and that media content regulation is less about producing national culture than about laying claim to a nation by differentiation.

Parental Restriction of Movie Viewing Prospectively Predicts Adolescent Alcohol and Marijuana Initiation: Implications for Media Literacy Programs

Youth are heavy consumers of media, and exposure to mature media content is associated with initiation and progression of substance use. Parental restriction of such content has been shown to be an effective mechanism to reduce negative consequences attributed to exposure to mature media content. This study assessed the influence of parental restriction of movie watching across Motion Picture Association of America rating categories on subsequent alcohol and marijuana initiation at 1- and 2-year follow-up. Using data from a longitudinal study of adolescent substance use (N = 1023), we used logistic regression analyses to determine the odds of alcohol and marijuana initiation across movie rating categories, within R-rated restriction categories in particular, and based on changes in parental restriction of movies over time. All analyses controlled for important parental, personality, and behavioral correlates of adolescent substance use. Results suggest that restriction of R-rated movies is protective of both alcohol and marijuana initiation. Important differences among parental restriction of R-rated movie categories emerged such that being allowed to watch them with adult supervision was protective of substance use, while those who reported watching R-rated films despite parental restrictions were at heightened risk for alcohol initiation. Changes in parental movie restrictions were not predictive of substance use initiation over the subsequent year. Implications of these findings for media literacy program prevention strategies are discussed.

No laughing matter: film advisory boards’ evaluations of award-considered comedies

ABSTRACTHumor research has not addressed the treatment of comedy movies by film advisory boards, the panels informing local moviegoers of the inappropriateness of contents in these comedies. This is especially true for films subsequently nominated for best comedy of the year by various organizations. The assigned age classifications and their justifications by the Motion Picture Association of America, the British Board of Film Classification and the Australian Classification Board (ACB) for films nominated by voters of the Teen Choice Award (TCA) and the Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA), as best comedy movies of the year were analyzed. Three findings stand out. First, there is very little agreement among the voters on these panels of films they consider prime examples of comedies. Second, the majority of TCA and BFCA chosen comedies are evaluated more leniently by the ACB in terms of age restrictions. Finally, the film boards consider profanity and sexual references, but hardly mention humor as a justification for their decisions, regardless of the type of award considered.

Rethinking PG-13: Ratings and the Boundaries of Childhood and Horror

THE FILM RATING SYSTEM, ESTABLISHED in 1968 by Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), has remained remarkably consistent in structure throughout its history. Apart from some minor tweaks, first-and to date, onlymajor change came in 1984, when string of controversial features led to creation of PG-13: Parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. This new classification was intended to bridge gap PG and restricted R classification. If system is intended to reflect current sentiment of parents and mirror contemporary concern (Why: History of Ratings), can this amendment suggest important changes in society, particularly in relation to views of horror and childhood?Regrettably, importance of PG-13 has been systematically downplayed, often even ignored, in academic context. In Stephen Vaughn's critical account of system's history, for instance, author frames introduction of PG-13 around several cases of controversies of early 1980s, most of which surprisingly refer not to PG or PG-13 films but to R and classifications and their clearly flawed appeals process (109). The importance of restricted side of ratings spectrum is so overpowering that author concludes his analysis of PG-13 with caveat there was still nothing to categorize area R and X (120). In any case, Vaughn does subtly hint at why PG-13 may be important on its own: violence and horror in Spielberg's family films such as Poltergeist (1982, dir. Tobe Hooper) and Indiana Jones and Temple of Doom (1984, dir. Steven Spielberg), which were awarded PG with minor struggle; films were key to creation of PG-13 (Vaughn 114-15) and prompted debates around distinction between teenagers and preteens (Vaughn 117).This is point worthy of much deeper consideration, particularly given heated controversy generated by Temple of Doom upon release. Its violence and gore surprised viewers and upset parents, prompting Paramount to insert warning in its advertisements for film (This film may be too intense for younger children) and leading Spielberg to clarify that he would not let ten-year-old see one of film's most violent sequences (Harmetz 48). But if Temple of Doom was the last straw . . . that broke back of support for single PG rating (Goodman C5), its critical reception was, like that of Poltergeist, mostly positive. The issues around PG-13 become more complex when third PG-rated, family-friendly film, Gremlins (1984, dir. Joe Dante), is considered as part of group of PG-13 instigators. Unlike its predecessors, Gremlins provoked strong critical ambiguity and an eruption of anxieties over not only film's violence but also its tone and ideology, which seemed to be closer to horror than family film. That PG-13 would then be perceived as a sop to pressure, not as an initiative (Champlin 77), suggests early to mid-1980s as period of transformation in social and cultural perceptions in which PG-13 surfaced as marker of new boundaries for childhood as well as horror genre.Debates about film system have been preoccupied mainly with topics of censorship and child protection, usually discussed separately. Discussions over censorship tend to limit themselves to restricted end of ratings spectrum and detail problems surrounding and NC-17 ratings, and authors who focus on child protection largely discuss system's scope and competence of its classifications, sometimes defending change from age-based ratings to detailed content descriptions.1 Although debates differ, concerns raised on each side often meet specifically in questioning of system's integrity and MPAA's right to moral authority, as well as consequences of power it wields in Hollywood. …

The Continuing Rise of Gun Violence in PG-13 Movies, 1985 to 2015.

* Abbreviations: PG-13 — : parental guidance for children under age 13 years R — : restricted to age 17 years and older unless accompanied by an adult The Motion Picture Association of America created the parental guidance for children under age 13 years (PG-13) movie rating in 1984 to “strongly” caution parents about content that may not be suited for children of that age. According to that industry-supported group, “There may be depictions of violence in a PG-13 movie, but generally not both realistic and extreme or persistent violence,” (www.filmratings.com). Unlike PG-13 films, which are open to all, those rated R can only be seen in theaters by those under 17 years who are accompanied by a parent or other adult. In a 2013 issue of Pediatrics ,1 … Address correspondence to Daniel Romer, PhD, Annenberg Public Policy Center, 202 S. 36th St, Philadelphia, PA 19104. E-mail: dan.romer{at}appc.upenn.edu

Measuring Economic Efficiency in the Motion Picture Industry: a Data Envelopment Analysis Approach

The paper studies economic efficiency in the motion pictures industry and its determinants. We use data envelopment analysis (DEA) to assess the efficiency of the movies’ resources (production, distribution, and marketing investments) used to generate outputs (audience and box office revenues). In addition, we investigate the relationship between efficiency and movie characteristics (e.g., genre, ratings, stardom, and reviews). Using a large dataset involving 898 movies and spanning 10 years of box office data, we show that our efficiency scores are reliable and valid. In addition, we find that the most significant drivers of efficiency are academy awards, sequels, genres, critics’ ratings, volume of user reviews, and studios. Other factors are found to have little or no effect on performance, namely user ratings, stardom, Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) ratings, and seasonality.

Hollywood, the MPAA, and the formation of anti-piracy policy

Combating piracy is fundamental to the policy ‘priorities’ of the Motion Picture Association of America, the trade association representing the major Hollywood entertainment corporations. As the MPAA implements a multitude of actions to fight piracy, it is impossible to locate the formation of the Association’s anti-piracy policy in any single source. Instead, this article sees MPAA anti-piracy policy as formed across three fronts: the legal, through anti-piracy litigation; the political, by the MPAA joining with other trade groups from across the copyright industries to lobby for stronger domestic copyright laws and influence US trade policy; and the discursive, seen in the production of statistics to evidence the value of copyright to the US economy and consequent harms caused by piracy. Examining these actions confirms the cultural and economic influence of MPAA policy but the article is also concerned with how Hollywood’s anti-piracy efforts are challenged and contested from various directions.

Violence at the Box Office

The negative effects of violent content in movies have recently been a hot topic among both researchers and the general public. Despite growing concern, violence in movies has persisted over time. Few studies have examined why this pattern continues. To fill this gap in the literature, we examine how Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) movie rating descriptors predict ticket sales of 2,094 movies from 1992 to 2012. We test the validity of three theoretical models: (1) the reflective model, (2) the reactance model, and (3) the market model. We find that violent content is linked neither to violence in the broader U.S. culture (i.e., the reflective model) nor to a psychological reactance by adolescents (i.e., the reactance model). Rather, we find, especially among PG-13 (parents strongly cautioned) movies, that violent content leads to increased ticket sales, suggesting that market demand (i.e., audience preferences) is responsible for continued violent content. We discuss the implications of our findings.

PG-13, Ratings Creep, and the Legacy of Screen Violence: The MPAA Responds to the FTC’s “Marketing Violent Entertainment to Children” (2000–2009)

The Federal Trade Commission’s investigation into Hollywood’s marketing of violent content to children spotlighted the Motion Picture Association of America’s self-regulatory Classification and Rating Administration (CARA). Yet the heightened scrutiny coincided with the decline of R-rated blockbusters and an increased level of violence in their PG-13 counterparts. To contextualize such “ratings creep,” this article demonstrates how one PG-13 franchise employs stylistic methods originally developed to satisfy Production Code requirements, including coded, substituted, and displaced violence. Using The Lord of the Rings trilogy as a case study on film violence, ratings creep, and the economics of film ratings, the article examines how Hollywood marshals legitimized means to deliver screen violence to underage groups.

Piracy: The Intellectual Property Wars from Gutenberg to Gates

Since the rise of Napster and other file-sharing services in its wake, most of us have assumed that intellectual piracy is a product of the digital age and that it threatens creative expression as never before. The Motion Picture Association of America, for instance, claimed that in 2005 the film industry lost $2.3 billion in revenue to piracy online. But here Adrian Johns shows that piracy has a much longer and more vital history than we have realized - one that has been largely forgotten and is little understood. Piracy explores the intellectual property wars from the advent of print culture in the fifteenth century to the reign of the Internet in the twenty-first. Brimming with broader implications for today's debates over open access, fair use, free culture, and the like, Johns' book ultimately argues that piracy has always stood at the center of our attempts to reconcile creativity and commerce - and that piracy has been an engine of social, technological, and intellectual innovations as often as it has been their adversary. From Cervantes to Sonny Bono, from Maria Callas to Microsoft, from Grub Street to Google, no chapter in the story of piracy evades Johns' graceful analysis in what will be the definitive history of the subject for years to come.

Swords into Plowshares: A Convergence of Interests in P2P

The paper explores how P2P technologies may transform the entertainment industries.Famous for use in file-sharing communities, peer-to-peer (P2P) technology allows users of networked computers to copy contents from one hard drive to another without routing file bits or metadata through central servers. Although some 90 percent of the content now traded on such networks now appears to be works previously "ripped" from copyrighted CDs or other similar medium, it is improper to associate unreservedly either the underlying technology or file-sharing per se with illegal activity. Indeed, Dean Garfield of the Motion Picture Association of America - certainly not a copyright minimalist - aptly made the point; "the challenge with p2p is not the technology, but the business model of those who have chosen to use the concepts…for their own illicit purposes."

Children and Horror after PG-13: The Case of The Gate

The paper analyses the tensions in the text, production and reception of the children’s horror film The Gate (Tibor Takács, 1987) relating to the sustained ambiguity around the Motion Picture Association of America's PG-13 classification. I suggest that the late 1980s was a moment of transition toward new attitudes about the horror genre and children. To develop this argument, the paper explores the main issues raised in critical opinion about the film at the time of its release: notions on what the horror genre is or should be; the changing assumptions about its audiences (namely the shift away from an adults-only perspective); and moral panics triggered by transitioning social values. These struggles are suggested also in the creative clashes between the writer and director of The Gate: where one wanted to make a traditional R-rated horror, the other was adamant about it being a positive fairy-tale for pre-teens. The paper analyses the way this conflict is reflected in the film’s representations of children and suggests that its resolution in a vision of child empowerment (narratively and critically) indicates a move away from traditional assumptions about the horror genre, as well as childhood. Through this analysis, the paper also seeks to understand how PG-13 was perceived in the late 1980s, particularly in terms of its implied audience and its relationship with the genre of horror. Through this focus on the relationship between ratings, creative choices and conflicting attitudes, the paper proposes the idea of two intertwined cultural shifts: toward a more segmented view of childhood, in the emergence of the pre-teen as a demographic, and a more open definition of horror and its audiences.