It's more than likely that, when he made his documentary (verging more on mockumentary) 'This Film Is Not Yet Rated', Kirby Dick had a precise idea of the changes it would bring. Sure, he did say that he meant to cast some light on the shadowy organization that was the MPAA, that he wanted to drive his point that the MPAA is favoring movie studios in their ratings, to the detriment of the independent sector, all the while claiming that his movie 'might just shake up the world of movies'.

But, from all of the above to actually have the commission members go public and announce that the rating system is about to have a major makeover is a giant's step! The documentary 'This Film Is Not Yet Rated' focused more (in addition to the things listed above) on the fact that the identity of the nine men who actually hold all the reins in Hollywood has been kept a secret from the public, on that they were supposed to be 'young and concerned parents' (which was not the case) and on that 'the appeal' to a rating was a done deal from the very start, with too few movies actually overturning the first ruling.

The MPAA rating was not initially meant to be something like a death sentence. When Jack Valenti founded the system and got government approval to implement it, he said that the ratings were to be taken by parents as guidelines, as indicative signs of what their children should watch or not. However, Kirby demonstrates in his movie that bad ratings (like the dreaded NC-17, the former X) are indeed death sentences for a movie, especially if it's an independent one. A bad rating makes theater chains not want to run it, promoters to back out and financial supporters to claim their money back. And this is all the more accentuated and aggravated when the ratings are given arbitrarily, with no strict (and public) set of rules to justify them.

But it's all going to change from now on and, even if the MPAA claims Dick's movie had nothing to do with the decision, I guess we all know which is the truth... consequently, we'll give the MPAA an 'H' rating, for hypocrisy. I say that because it's exactly those things Dick mentioned in his movie, the arguments he used to make his point, that are about to be modified:

- the size of the appeals board will increase, by adding new members to it and eliminating the possibility of a member voting more than once in case of a tie
- the filmmakers will be given the possibility to cite precedents for an appeal
- the identity of the raters will still remain a secret, but the MPAA vouches to 'release more demographic information about the makeup of the group'
- the names of the senior raters will be made public
- raters whose children are grown will be eliminated from the board
- the MPAA will 'increase its efforts to explain the ratings to the filmmakers and to the public'

If you have seen 'This Film Is Not Rated', you know by now that these were major points in Dick's argument. But, no, the change hasn't been brought over by his movie...