It’s impressive to think about the effect some important documentary films have had lately. Following Morgan Spurloch’s Super Size Me, McDonald’s and other fast food chains started offering healthy menus. (A decision they will of course tell you was in no way influenced by the movie.) After 8 years as Vice-President, purportedly working behind the scenes to do whatever he might for the environment, it was with An Inconvenient Truth that Al Gore brought global warming to the front burner. It’s insane to think that public opinion might have swayed more by an obscure film than by actual policymaking, but it sure feels like that has been the case. And Gore the Filmmaker has a much higher approval rating than he ever did as a politician. (Just watch him declare his presidential candidacy from the podium as he accepts the Oscar. You heard it predicted here at screenwriterguy.)

I was greatly impressed as I just watched This Film Is Not Yet Rated. This doc will make you think a little deeper about the hows and whys of the little letter that gets tagged at the bottom of a movie poster, and what filmmakers must compromise to get a market-friendly letter. I have always suspected that America was somewhat alone in the world in its tolerance of violence yet restriction of sexuality in media, but here’s a film that puts concrete support behind that idea. It’s interesting to note that the MPAA is instituting a round of changes. Much like McDonald’s, their decision had nothing to do with a film that was critical of them.

Side note: This film managed to avoid using one of my biggest movie pet peeves. Have you ever looked through a pair of binoculars? Inside, you’ll see a single circle. This is because the human brain is used to taking images through each of two sensory organs, our eyes, and combining them. So does the brain take the information from each barrel of the binoculars and combine them. But studio movies love to put a silly mask on binocular POV shots, as if two connected circles of visibility are afforded. Kudos to TFINYR for getting it right. Now that’s truth in filmmaking.

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