MPAA ratings voluntary and not law, right?

[Hummer]

So yea, me being the revolutionary I think I am, tomorrow I'm going to attempt to fight my way into the rated R movie Saw 3. I am only 16, and my parents really don't care if I watch an R rated movie.

I really hate movie theaters enforcing these ratings that are only a product of a study group's ideas and feelings. I've done some research to find out that the rating system is totally voluntary and that the only reason movie studios go through the system is to get the movie in a theater, as big theaters wont play unrated movies.

Tomorrow I am going into the theater and I'm going to fight (not with violence, but with knowledge of the amendments) until I get in or the cops are called (which is what some guy at the theater told me).

I was just wondering if there is any material I should remember before I go into this thing.

BTW, I am serious about what I'm going to do, but I'm not really that serious about the situation of them not letting me in (which I know they wont as they are just doing their job), I'm just seeing how far I can get with this. It's going to be friday and I want to have some fun. I might video tape it.

 

[beatsme]

well, the studios don't have to submit their films to the MPAA for a rating assessment, but they do because many (most, actually) theater chains won't carry a film that has not been rated.

now, what force of law that rating actually carries, I don't know. But since the theater is private property I think they're within their rights to determine who gets in and who doesn't based on (pretty much...obviously they can't discriminate based on race/religion/creed) whatever standard they choose.

 

[iMeowbot]

The venues are private places, and they do have the right to refuse you entry. Ratings compliance can also be tied into local permits and so on, so it's not necessarily so that the admission limitations are completely voluntary.

The rating systems themselves came about in response to rumblings about legal interference, so on a meta level their adoption wasn't strictly voluntary either…

 

[iMetroid]

Forge yourself an ID. Movie theaters aren't THAT deep with that kind of thing.

 

[dsnort]

This is the most valuable thing you can find to do with your time?

 

[Hummer]

This is the most valuable thing you can find to do with your time?

Yes... Yes it is. I tried getting a job, but no one ever called me back from the applications.

 

[Counterfit]

I really hate movie theaters enforcing these ratings that are only a product of a study group's ideas and feelings.

They do use some guidelines, and they're certainly more consistent and thorough than the ESRB.

Also, I bet the price of a ticket ($10 now?) that Saw 3 is going to suck anyway.

 

[LethalWolfe]

Yes... Yes it is. I tried getting a job, but no one ever called me back from the applications.

Shocker.


Lethal

 

[The Mad Kiwi]

Yes... Yes it is. I tried getting a job, but no one ever called me back from the applications.

You should definately work on those applications then, they're obviously in need some work.

 

[mlw1235]

Take a friend who is old enough and have them buy the tickets...what is so hard about that? That is what I would do before I was "too young".


This is not rocket-science. I mean the people working at the theater are just as old as you are, if only a few years older.

 

[macman2790]

buy a ticket for the grudge 2(it sucks, pg13 though) and just walk into Saw III, this is not very hard to do.

 

[yg17]

Take a friend who is old enough and have them buy the tickets...what is so hard about that? That is what I would do before I was "too young".

Doesn't work. I took my brother to see Team America a couple years ago, I was 18, he was....I forgot, but under 17. The person at the ticket booth refused to sell me 2 tickets because he wasn't 18 So, what did we do? We walked right over to the kiosk where you can buy tickets, bought 2 tickets and went right in

Now, he works at a theater and even though he's still under 17, he has no problem getting into R rated movies there, plus, he gets us in for free which is awesome

 

[Lyle]

buy a ticket for the grudge 2(it sucks, pg13 though) and just walk into Saw III, this is not very hard to do.

That's what I was thinking. It's not like they have armed guards standing outside each of the theatres checking tickets.

 

[savar]

Yes... Yes it is. I tried getting a job, but no one ever called me back from the applications.

Get a job at the theatre and you can see any movie you want to for free.

Edit: more ideas

1) Buy a ticket to something else and sneak in. Just try to buy something close to the theatre that Saw III is in, because some times they have one ticket-taker per half of the theatre.

2) Buy a ticket to something else, then go to customer service and tell them they printed you the wrong ticket. This takes balls but it works.

3) Have an older person buy. We tried this one time, though, for American Pyscho (I was 18 but some of my friends were 17) and they actually checked IDs at the door of the theatre.

4) Buy your ticket at a self-serve kiosk. If they're checking IDs at the door of the theatre, none of these tactics will work and you're probably screwed. Find another theatre that's less uptight.

 

[LethalWolfe]

I think you guys offering suggestions are wasting your breath. The OP doesn't want to sneak into an R rated movie. He just wants to go to the theater, act like a major @sshole and see what happens (gee, wonder why some people don't want teens loitering around their business).

BTW, I am serious about what I'm going to do, but I'm not really that serious about the situation of them not letting me in (which I know they wont as they are just doing their job), I'm just seeing how far I can get with this. It's going to be friday and I want to have some fun. I might video tape it.

Again, why some employer hasn't snatched you up is beyond me.


Lethal