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The MPAA Thinks You're Stupid

avclub.com — For years, the MPAA has prohibited weapons from being pointed at the “viewer” in advertising, presumably for fear that it will freak them out. That's why they told the director of Watchmen, Zack Snyder, that he couldn't have a guy pointing a gun at the audience in the trailer. Snyder replaced the gun with a walkie-talkie. Good job, MPAA.

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  • rearlgrant, on 07/18/2008, -3/+27I recommend "Cecil B. DeMented."

    If I were God, er, President, the MPAA would be gitmo'd.
    • zyklon, on 07/19/2008, -0/+6No need. Just put them on a barge, float it out to international waters, scuttle it. SINK THE MPAA
      • pendrachken, on 07/19/2008, -0/+9ughhh, I thought we wanted to cut back on pollution...
    • Tyrghast, on 07/19/2008, -4/+2God, President, both titles seem mutually exclusive nowadays.
      • BRENTON8907, on 07/19/2008, -1/+8Mutually exclusive means you both cannot occur at the same time... I think the phrase are looking for is "the same."
    • dizzythegreat, on 07/19/2008, -3/+11If God EXISTED, the MPAA would be gitmo'd.

      Along with the FCC, the IRS, the Federal Reserve, Exxon Mobil, Dubya, and whoever is actually responsible for 9/11...assuming the last two are, in fact, different people.
      • lbdinh, on 07/19/2008, -2/+3He does exist, he just has a hell of a sense of humor.
      • dizzythegreat, on 08/13/2008, -0/+1Or maybe, just maybe, he doesn't give a ***** about us.
    • Swordman554, on 07/19/2008, -0/+2Cecil's ending rant in "Sunset Boulevard" was one of the most chilling scenes I have seen. It was one of the first ones to break the fourth wall. I loved it.
  • chrispchiken, on 07/18/2008, -10/+1What about Agent Smith in the Matrix?

    The training program where Morpheous tells Neo anyone can be an agent for those who don't know.
    • supermanred, on 07/19/2008, -0/+11...that's a movie, not an advertisment. Read the article...hell...read the title. :)
    • redheadguy719, on 07/19/2008, -0/+1well, I guess the MPAA was right about you at least...
  • supermanred, on 07/19/2008, -10/+49Anyone who would be in a theatre and freak out from seeing a character on the screen point a gun in their direction should be immediately taken into custody (forcibly...very forcibly) and taken outside the theatre and shot dead. Furthermore, their bodies should be incinerated to avoid any chance of their tissues being used for cloning, and therefore continuance of their genetic branch.
    • redslash, on 07/19/2008, -12/+2I can tell you have never known anyone who has ever had a gun pointed at them. It can cause people with PTSD to freak out and have seizures. It'd be like a woman who's been forcibly raped watching a forcible rape scene in a movie. It just would create a lot of problems.

      Bravo, MPAA. (It's strange to be able to say that.)
      • prophetpimp, on 07/19/2008, -3/+19People suffering from PTSD shouldn't be watching movies that might contain gun violence. Its like being allergic to to Peanuts and the stuffing yourself with peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
      • redslash, on 07/19/2008, -4/+7Dude, it's a trailer. It's not the actual movie. It's the trailer. That could be shown in any number of movies. Should someone with PTSD avoid Finding Nemo or something because there might be a trailer with gun violence before the feature film?
      • Stormwern, on 07/19/2008, -4/+2Truthiness strikes again, MPAA does something and therefor it must be bad.
      • DixonPro, on 07/19/2008, -1/+3I can tell that you're a ***** pussy. PUSSY!!!
      • supermanred, on 07/19/2008, -1/+4Here we go again... If you have been through a traumatic episode and can't stand having a gun pointed at you, even one that isnt real and happens to be on a ***** movie screen in front of you, then perhaps you shouldn't go to the theatre to watch a ***** movie that involves people shooting at each other. If you do, you are a ***** moron and deserve the heart attack you get from being there.

        Just to clarify: Having that phobia or mental condition due to a past event isn't you're fault. it's okay, really. Just don't go to the ***** movies that involve guns.

        Stay the ***** home, and let the rest of us watch the ***** movie the way the director wanted it to be...with Dirty ***** Harry pointing that chrome widow maker straight in our face!

        Stay the ***** home.

        My dad died of cancer, rather horribly and a lot of blood was involved on his last day... For almost two years I couldn't stand to watch a horror movie or movies that involved too much blood. That doesn't make me a pussy, it makes me human.

        On the other hand, if I went around trying to get them to remove blood from all movies because I couldn't personally stand to see it then I would surely deserve an officially recorded, goverment issue "***** Pussy" identification card and corresponding permanent tatoo on my forehead.

        In closing, if you can't stand the heat stay out of the ***** kitchen you dip *****.
      • supermanred, on 07/19/2008, -0/+2Why cant she just stay the ***** home instead of going to watch movies that involve rapes?

        If we ban everything from movies that bothers 1% of the population....well quite frankly there wouldn't be any movies.

        Why don't you people stay home and get in touch with your feminine side instead of ***** up my movie watching experience. Seriously. Play some ***** Scrabble instead you dip *****.
    • grimward, on 07/19/2008, -2/+7Amen brother supermanred, AMEN I say!
  • feureau, on 07/19/2008, -5/+76OH YEAH?! Well! We'll see about THAT!

    /me goes to thepiratebay.org.

    Who's stupid now, MPAA? MWHAHAHAHAHA!
    • pagno, on 07/19/2008, -0/+7Sad to say, your days are numbered.
    • aceslick911, on 07/19/2008, -0/+1crazy kids...
    • calenerd, on 07/19/2008, -3/+1they'll appear on your doorsteps in less than 3 days.
    • cjpluta, on 07/19/2008, -0/+3I havn't seen someone use /me since old IRC days...
  • Murrabbit, on 07/19/2008, -5/+72Let me be the first in this comments section to say

    ***** THE MPAA (and RIAA too)!
    • pagno, on 07/19/2008, -2/+2Yes. ***** them. Right in their stupid asses.
    • RlAA, on 07/19/2008, -2/+4Obligatory "***** me? Well ***** you too."
    • Xalorous, on 07/19/2008, -0/+1It's practically obligatory no?
  • twiztidsinz, on 07/19/2008, -0/+3Wasn't there a movie with Jet Li where the poster showed him pointing a gun... I swear it was split red and white (almost scarface style) and he had sunglasses on, but I can't recall the name of it.
    I know Hero had a picture of him pointing a sword outward.
  • RyeBrye, on 07/19/2008, -1/+12What about all the James Bond "back up a barrel of a gun" images? I'm sure I've seen those in trailers or on posters...
    • Abomonog, on 07/19/2008, -0/+3The audience also gets "shot" in many Bond trailers. This even includes blood trails or red shading trickling down the screen.
      • supermanred, on 07/19/2008, -0/+3***** right they do. They should have the ushers pick up semi-automatic theatrical blood squirt guns and cover us in the *****... and anyone who has a problem with it can stay the ***** home.

        Stay the ***** home!
      • Abomonog, on 07/20/2008, -0/+1Dugg because I would love to see it happen.
  • maxgoedjen, on 07/19/2008, -2/+37Anyone that is scared by the image of a gun being pointed at them DESERVES to be scared by seeing an image of a gun pointed at them.
    • redslash, on 07/19/2008, -18/+4Let me guess: you've never had a gun pointed at you.
  • Totz83, on 07/19/2008, -2/+6Part of me is happy that the MPAA is looking out for those afraid of every ***** thing,
    only a small part of me,
    like a toenail
    • calenerd, on 07/19/2008, -1/+1a toenail?! you mean a strand of hair right.
  • mrinsanity, on 07/19/2008, -6/+16Look, I hate the MPAA and their douchebaggery, but isn't it possible that there's someone out there with some kind of PTSD or something that could be triggered by an image like that? Such people should go to the movies knowing what to expect and use their judgment, but it's hard to know what the trailers are gonna have in them. Bury me if you want, but just try an realize that it could very well be a disturbing image for certain people if they're not expecting it.

    • Tryptomine, on 07/19/2008, -2/+4I was thinking of something similar too, actually, but more along the lines of some little kids being scared by it instead. Don't all the trailers have to pass for a "G" rating or something anyways?

      Though I'm not sure if there's anyone, child or traumatized, that would be that scared of a gun pointing AT the screen but not by them just being waved around regularly.
      • btschul, on 07/19/2008, -1/+3Kids are smart. I am almost sure that the age where they find out what a gun is and the age that they realize that movies are fake overlap, at least by a couple months.
    • wexmajor, on 07/19/2008, -1/+17It's not a COMPLETELY insane concern but it's hardly justification for prohibiting it in any capacity.
    • arjie, on 07/19/2008, -1/+17The trailer shows a man using a flamethrower on another, a man being ripped apart, and simply pointing a gun is the traumatic bit? Come on!
    • Mononuclear, on 07/19/2008, -1/+5I can see what you are saying but if someone has PTSD then there are much worse things in trailers than a gun pointing at camera. Watch the trailer of any action or war movie and a gun pointed at camera is the least of your worries.
    • aronnyc, on 07/19/2008, -0/+2A legit point, but where does it stop. People have phobias of all sorts of things. Where does it stop?
    • aethelberga, on 07/19/2008, -0/+1I'm sure this is a holdover from the days of the Hays Code http://www.classicmovies.org/articles/blhayscode.h ...
      where you couldn't show certain things, most of which seem a bit stupid now (nipples, smoking, etc.)
      • btschul, on 07/19/2008, -1/+1VIII. Religion
        1. No film or episode may throw ridicule on any religious faith.

        2. Ministers of religion in their character as ministers of religion should not be used as comic characters or as villains.

        3. Ceremonies of any definite religion should be carefully and respectfully handled.

        HAHAHAHHAHA I wish the douche that wrote this could see South Park.
  • arjie, on 07/19/2008, -1/+11So now we know who watches the Watchmen. It's the MPAA.

    - "Okay, then who watches you?"
    - "Oh that's easy. We do."

    Of all the bloody stupid rules.
  • wettestwillie, on 07/19/2008, -1/+12I'm glad the feeling is mutual.
  • Tyrghast, on 07/19/2008, -2/+5The image of the walkie talkie is barely visible, but the image of him flying into a fountain with a gun in hand is much more clear. Great job MPAA, thanks for letting us know your marbles are still lost and you aren't close to finding them...
  • btschul, on 07/19/2008, -1/+6The MPAA /RIAA are both living in some sort of weird time warp. They just recently discovered the interweb, and they think that someone who is at a theater seeing a PG-13 movie might be worried for a second that bullets will come out of the screen. I would love to see some MPAA ***** try to explain the origin of this policy.
  • gs68, on 07/19/2008, -1/+36MPAA, say hi to every James Bond movie ever.
  • shithitinthefan, on 07/19/2008, -3/+9That's what happens when you hire "Soccer Moms" to rate films!
  • redslash, on 07/19/2008, -7/+2Umm, can I say that maybe it's a good idea not to have guns pointed at the viewer? A lot of shell-shocked veterans or anyone else who's been shot at might have a really really bad reaction.
    • Mononuclear, on 07/19/2008, -1/+5the sound of gunfire on screen wouldn't be worse? A gun pointed at camera will have much less of an effect than other things shown on trailers.
    • SSXDRN, on 07/19/2008, -1/+2What about those movies that exploited common phobias? You know, the ones that are out of fashion nowadays because they all sucked balls. Like that one with bats, spiders, ants, worms, etc?
  • pagno, on 07/19/2008, -12/+7Imagine this was the Vietnam era. Lots of soldiers coming back from war. Theyve seen ***** you cant even imagine. PTSD, or SHELL SHOCK, is no laughing matter. Veterans are a growing demographic, really, theres more and more everyday. I still get flashbacks just driving down the highway(convoy security in Iraq, lots of driving).

    ***** I dont want to defend the MPAA, but they have a valid point here, I think. Besides, pointing a gun at the audience is wholly cheesy and unnecessary. I refuse to watch a movie in 1st Person. Its as if youre talking down to me, but I cant fight back, because youre a ***** movie. Go away. I dont even want it if it Tarrentino.
    • D14BL0, on 07/19/2008, -1/+3Too bad. Cloverfield was a great movie.
    • ArchangelZLT, on 07/19/2008, -0/+2You would hope it's a ***** movie next time someone points a gun at you...
    • pagno, on 07/20/2008, -0/+1Opps, meant to say,"I dont even want it if it ISNT Tarrentino."
      Dont drink and digg, kids.
  • notoneofus, on 07/19/2008, -0/+6There are no hard and fast rules for this. Sometimes they allow it, other times they don't. Since the MPAA exists to represent the 6 major studios, smaller and ostensibly more independent studios are more likely to run into trouble with their rulings. It's interesting that Watchmen is under Warner Bros., which is one of those 6.

    The MPAA has no legal power here, but can withhold a rating until past the announced release date, keep your film out of some major theater chains, and limit where and when you can market.
  • wampalord, on 07/19/2008, -5/+5This is so messed up. Why the double standard? I remember not too long ago watching Daniel Craig fire a bullet AT THE SCREEN in Casino Royale's intro. Which was a PG-13 film.

    Don't BS me about PTSD or crap like that. Any person who honestly gets frightened into a heart attack by moving-picture bullets probably would have gotten killed by a horror film years earlier.
    • redslash, on 07/19/2008, -3/+3This isn't a movie... this is a TRAILER. So let's say I'm a vet with PTSD, I'm watching a football game, and I see a gun fired at me. What am I gonna do? Freak out!

      That's what the problem is. People don't know it's coming.
      • pendrachken, on 07/19/2008, -3/+4SHUT THE ***** UP YOU RETARD!


        stupid asshat, all you do is repeat yourself like a broken record.
      • maxgoedjen, on 07/19/2008, -1/+1Yeah, redslash, thanks, we've got the idea. You don't like guns. Thank you for your opinion, and now, on behalf of the entire digg community, please shut your mouth.
  • mphree, on 07/19/2008, -0/+5I think a lot of you are missing an important piece of the article...

    "For years, the MPAA has prohibited weapons from being pointed at the “viewer” ***in advertising***, presumably for fear that it will freak them out. That’s why you always see guns pointed at angles on ***movie posters and in film trailers.***"

    However, I'm still pretty certain that a lot of James Bond advertising has their signature introduction.
  • SSXDRN, on 07/19/2008, -0/+5If the trailer scares you *****, regardless of whatever the hell it is... then don't watch the movie. Or do watch it if you like to get scared. The end!

    Title of this article is wrong, it should be "The MPAA is stupid" period.
  • redslash, on 07/19/2008, -2/+1Dude, they aren't censoring the movie. They're censoring the TRAILER.
  • rmeddy, on 07/19/2008, -1/+1Well I like when people think i'm stupid, it means they underestimate me.
    • vNES, on 07/19/2008, -0/+2I think the joke you're looking for here is "misunderestimated."
  • tyeh26, on 07/19/2008, -1/+1007?
    • DestroyFascism, on 07/19/2008, -0/+1HE does too! In the opening part with all the naked chicks...
  • TheCash, on 07/19/2008, -3/+1Actually, this is a documented problem with certain people suffering from PTSD, usually veterans. There have been documented cases where an actor on stage pointed a prop gun at members of the audience, and someone freaked out, in some cases jumping onstage and attacking the actor.

    I know it sounds like crazy *****, but it does happen and is something stage performers who use guns onstage are made to be wary of.
  • unfinite, on 07/19/2008, -1/+3http://www.popartuk.com/g/l/lgpp30934+there-is-no- ...
    http://www.toxicshock.tv/news/wp-content/uploads/j ...
    http://www.amoeba.com/dynamic-images/blog/10101952 ...
    http://www.maryamdabo.net/JAMES_BOND_POSTER_copy.g ...
    • D14BL0, on 07/19/2008, -2/+1Trailers. Not posters

      THIS is why the MPAA thinks you're stupid.
      • unfinite, on 07/19/2008, -2/+1"That’s why you always see guns pointed at angles on movie //posters// and in film trailers."

        THIS is why I think you're stupid. RTFA
    • talkingwires, on 07/23/2008, -0/+11.) Not a movie poster.This is dorm room "wall art" from the UK. Remember, Motion Picture Association of AMERICA.
      2.) International poster. Remember, Motion Picture Association of AMERICA.
      3.) Not a movie poster. This is a publicity shot of an actor.
      4.) The gun is pointed at the woman, not the "viewer".

      You're getting warmer, though. Keep trying!
  • ambion, on 07/19/2008, -1/+3SUCK THE MPAA!!!

    no wait...
  • D14BL0, on 07/19/2008, -0/+13Dude, this trailer is looking awesome. I'm totally going to go see this mo-HOLY ***** TAKE MY WALLET OH MY GOD PLEASE DON'T SHOOT

    Oh, it was just a trailer. Not cool, man. Somebody should totally do something about that!
  • damien6669, on 07/19/2008, -0/+2I may hate them, but they have a point. I am pretty stupid.
  • xZeddx, on 07/19/2008, -0/+2MPAA, we need to have a word.

    The ideology behind your work is .. well at its base its.. bah ***** it. I can't think of anything nice to say. You're a cancer on the creativity of artists working in a medium that you will never, ever understand. Your rating system is *****, your prosecution of college students is *****, and you as an entity is *****. Please die. Thanks.
  • icndvl, on 07/19/2008, -0/+4Buying MPAA/RIAA product = Helping organized crime
  • jockser, on 07/19/2008, -0/+1Well I am!
  • LeviTheSmith, on 07/19/2008, -3/+1JOKES ON THEM COZ IM WAS A IDIOT BEFORE THAY SAID I WASNT! AHAHAHHA LOOL0OL0OL0O0LLLL0O0L0OL0O
  • eurodele, on 07/19/2008, -0/+2After wondering what could be going through the heads of these MPAA morons and coming up dry, I lit on a far-out but still conceivable explanation. This may be an effort to avoid habituation and desensitization to a key sensory stimulus. Suppose that the cinema were under the control of police state censors. Now, a police state encourages the police to point guns and Tasers at citizens, the idea being that citizens should freeze with fear whenever this happens. But if a citizen has already been cinematically exposed to nearly identical sensory data and emerged unscathed, he or she may no longer react with the desired paralysis. That just wouldn't be good police-state citizenship, would it? Solution: eliminate the cinematic stimulus to preserve the desired reaction! (I know it sounds stupid, but that's what sometimes happens when you start with a stupid explanandum.)
  • dakuda, on 07/19/2008, -0/+1Doesn't the lead actor shoot right towards the viewer in the opening credits of EVERY James Bond flick?
  • flashback99, on 07/19/2008, -0/+1***** the mpaa we got the internet.
  • gkiltz, on 07/19/2008, -0/+0Stupid is as stupid does!
    It's THEIR LOSS!
    If they won't understand decoupling, they will end up like the buggy-makers and blacksmiths of the early part of the 20th century!
  • monkeystick, on 07/19/2008, -0/+1All we need are more excellent online productions like "Dr. Horrible" to make groups like the MPAA obsolete.
  • prax, on 07/19/2008, -0/+1Stupidity rules. The world is full of ridiculous, amazingly foolish and absolutely stupid crap. Duh. People who find themselves here at Digg constantly getting angry about every little thing? Repeat.
  • Lendon2020, on 07/19/2008, -0/+1"The MPAA thinks you're stupid"

    I think it's the other way around.
  • SanTe, on 07/19/2008, -0/+2"For years, the MPAA has prohibited weapons from being pointed at the “viewer” in advertising, presumably for fear that it will freak them out."

    I must have missed something... did the end of one of the best movie trailers of all time, Pulp Fiction, freak somebody out?

    http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=wZBfmBvvotE
    • talkingwires, on 07/23/2008, -0/+1Did you notice the "UK" at the front of that URL? Remember, it's the Motion Picture Association of AMERICA.
  • acharmercoiling, on 07/19/2008, -0/+0Uh, not new at all. I guess we're all pussies now.
    1903:
    http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=a40kfi0WyB0
  • TwwIX, on 07/19/2008, -0/+1This is just the MPAA reminding us what a ***** joke this country is.
  • waluum, on 07/19/2008, -0/+1***** the UN!
  • poptard, on 07/19/2008, -0/+0Snyder replaced the gun with a walkie talkie in tribute/parody of Spielberg, when he did the same in the re-making of ET.

    http://digg.com/movies/EXCLUSIVE_Zack_Snyder_Revea ...
  • MaxFrost1, on 07/20/2008, -1/+0The first narrative film ever made, The Great Train Robbery, in 1903...1903...ended with a man pointing a gun at the audience and firing. It freaked people out then but that was because they'd never seen a movie before. You'd think we would have progressed since then, but I guess not.
  • JLTinPA, on 07/20/2008, -0/+0Hmm-- i never noticed.
  • kirado4, on 07/20/2008, -2/+1here's an idea if you suffer form PSD or whatever.. don't watch movie trailers.. go sit under a rock or something..
  • linuxpenguin, on 07/20/2008, -0/+1Buried - something's wrong with this post. You forgot to link to the story maybe. This one doesn't say anything other than what is said in the title. No explanation or anything.
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