Film School Rejects » Fightin’ Words

Protest Watch: Blind People Offended by Blindness

Brian C. Gibson — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 17:38:40 +0000

I have to start by saying that I have great respect for people who work past disabilities and afflictions to lead healthy, rewarding lives. I have nothing against blind people, just ignorant people. So I apologize early if I offend any of our blind readers out there – wait, can blind people read?

News has hit that the National Federation of the Blind plans to protest Miramax and director Fernando Meirelles’s film Blindness. The film is set to release October 3rd in a limited run of about 75 screens across the country. The film is based on Jose Saramago’s 1995 novel of the same title. The film is about a mysterious epidemic that causes blindness, and consequently hysteria and chaos. So what’s the problem? It would seem that someone who actually saw the film, told the NFB what the film is about. Apparently the NFB doesn’t appreciate the depiction of blind people in the film. The quarantined blind are kept in a mental institution and travel to several extremes such as trading sex for food and fighting each other for survival.

I will take this one as delicately as possible. It isn’t the NFB’s fault for not being able to see… that this is simply a metaphor. Some people just cant see beyond their reach. This is a movie. Movies are meant to do a few things such as entertain, inform and explore. Some films do all of these, some do none. Some films explore the present political and social climate of the world, and become a powerful allegory for people to relate with. Some films inform viewers, and provide a mostly factual view of a subject matter. So why is it that some people are just too blind to see the line between fact and metaphor?

Blindness is simply a metaphor for a chaotic breakdown in communication and basic societal behaviors. the metaphor is not a vehicle that has not been seen in cinema. Everyone knows that James Cameron’s Titanic wasn’t about a sinking ship, it was a metaphor for the looming economic crisis to be expected at the turn of the century. It is a well known fact, in many circles, that I Am Legend was a brilliant social commentary on the energy and fuel crisis. So enough bragging about my film knowledge. Let’s get back on point and turn to a statement from Miramax regarding the protest, “We are saddened to learn that the National Federation of the Blind plans to protest the film Blindness.’”

You know what saddens me? The fact that the National Federation of the Blind, can not see their own ignorance. You didn’t see people running around and caging apes after the release of Planet of the Apes out of paranoia that we would be overthrown by primates. No, we used them as butlers. Little monkey butlers. We didn’t see everyone running out and caring about the environment because of that crazy Gore flick An Inconvenient Truth now did we? We don’t actually think that blind people are chaotic and void of common sense of order. I’m not sure about the whole soiling themselves, and trading sex for food thing though. I better google that.

What do you think of the National Federation of the Blind’s outrage over Blindness?

‘Max Payne’ Receives R Rating, Director John Moore Calls MPAA Nazi Cockgobblers

Rob Hunter — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 05:00:34 +0000

Max Payne has been hit with an ‘R’ rating by the Motion Picture Association of America, and director John Moore is more than a little irked. The 20th Century Fox film stars Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis, and is based on the M(ature)-rated video games of the same name. It’s scheduled for release on October 17th.

Moore recently spoke with dasgamer.com and voiced his dissatisfaction with the MPAA’s structure, guidelines, and decision. Oh, and he also strongly inferred that the aged MPAA dropped to its arthritic knees and fellated the collective suit-wearing phalluses at Warner Bros. over that little bat man movie.

“We’re suffering from what I call Batman blowback. The Motion Picture Association of America gave The Dark Knight a PG-13 rating and basically sucked Warner Bros. cock. I have a serious amount of issues with the MPAA. Did you know it was made up of volunteers? As if that somehow excludes them from some type of wrongdoing. You can’t serve on it if you’re a homosexual or if you didn’t grow up in a shared parenthood home. Go to their website and read their charter about what gives a fair and balanced view for typical parents. We’re still strangled by an association that’s straight out of the House Un-American Activities Committee.”

Yeah, he’s upset. Max Payne had long been rumored to be aiming for a PG-13 rating, even though the games are rated M for Mature. Moore did claim at this year’s Comic Con however that he wasn’t shooting with a rating in mind, saying that “if it’s an R, it’s an R.” Obviously the money men at Fox would prefer a PG-13 as the general argument states that a wider potential audience will result in higher box-office. Most video game to film adaptations are rated PG-13 or below, with the exception of the Resident Evil films and Fox’s own Hitman. It was probably Hitman’s lackluster domestic box-office ($39 million) that led Fox to demand a PG-13 cut for Max Payne, but Hitman grossed $100 million worldwide… not bad for a film budgeted at $24 million and with no big name actors. Wahlberg is an international star and can open a film with an R rating.

“They [MPAA] said to me, the movie feels R. And I said, ‘What the fuck is that, a group therapy session?’ You can’t do that. They’re meant to judge content, not intent. They said the movie felt dark… The MPAA will never publish the rules. They’ll never tell a director, Here’s what’s going to get you an R, Here’s what’s going to get you a PG-13. People might think that’s impossible, but let me tell you, if I’m making a TV beer commercial, I know exactly what the rules are. The MPAA changes their rules willy-nilly and it depends on who’s seeing your actual movie at the time. It’s very difficult to get a hold on what’s acceptable. The only thing you can use is current standards.”

Moore believes his film is being treated unfairly in comparison to those current standards. “So I go and see The Dark Knight and I say, ‘Gee, that’s pretty gnarly for PG-13,’ but I felt good about Max Payne after coming out of the theater. I thought Max wasn’t going to have a problem.” The argument over The Dark Knight’s rating has been raging since the film’s release, with some people saying it should have been rated R for its overall tone and darkness. Unlike Moore, I haven’t seen Max Payne, but from playing the games and watching the trailers I can see some immediate distinctions between the two that may have led to the R rating. For all the apathy, mayhem, destruction, and pencil tricks on display in The Dark Knight, the film was a mostly bloodless affair. In contrast, there were 783 gunshots in the Max Payne trailer alone, and unless all of them made contact solely with windows, doors, and other inanimate objects then there are going to be a shitload of people getting shot to death on screen. Add in the major plot point centering on an illegal drug called Valkyrie, the slaughter of Payne’s wife and child, and the hotness that is Olga Kurylenko (Hitman, Quantum of Solace) and the MPAA may just have a point here. Moore acknowledges this to a degree, saying “If I was a smart member of the MPAA I would turn around and say to the filmmakers, ‘Guys, look at your source material.’ But again, they’re supposed to judge actual content, not intent.”

Moore’s basic complaints are nothing new as anyone who’s seen the brilliant This Film Is Not Yet Rated knows. That documentary both entertained and enlightened the general public as to the clusterfuck that is the MPAA’s rules and regulations, and it validated Moore’s point that the MPAA consists solely of cock-holsters and knob-nibblers. On the flipside, Fox hasn’t exactly been anyone’s favorite studio recently and their quest for a PG-13 rating on a film that really should have been an R won’t change that opinion, but I also don’t think they’ll be losing any sleep (or money) over Max Payne. Moore will undoubtedly make the necessary cuts to reach its targeted PG-13, and just as undoubtedly we’ll be seeing an unrated DVD release alongside the PG-13 cut on store shelves some time next year.

Will you go see a PG-13 rated Max Payne? Do you think The Dark Knight should have been rated R? Should Olga Kurylenko be in every film from this point forward? That last question is rhetorical because I already know the answer.

New Max Payne Trailer Comes with Fightin’ Words for The Dark Knight

Neil Miller — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 10:00:23 +0000

Yahoo has debuted a brand new trailer for the upcoming video game adaptation Max Payne this afternoon, but first, some news you can use. In an interview with MTV, Payne star Mark Wahlberg jokingly issued a challenge to the man at the center of the second highest grossing film of all-time, The Dark Knight. This from the interview:

“Take off the suit and if you want to go one-on-one, two-on-one, and put a couple of you guys together – they all like to put the comic book characters together – come at me,” Mark Wahlberg laughed, issuing a challenge to the Dark Knight to put his fighting skills where his mouth is and face off against his character, Max Payne. “I’m not talking about financial box office, I’m talking about one-on-one with these (puts up fists).”

Of course, while his jovial tone and obvious sarcasm may have some brushing off Wahlberg’s comments, we here at FSR believe it to be important that we take all threats against our favorite superheros seriously. That said, we think Batman, or more specifically Christian Bale, would kick the shit out of Wahlberg’s Payne. We would present some sort of scientific proof, but that won’t be necessary — Batman is just that much of a badass. As for Max Payne though, he seems to be doing alright for himself, as you can see clearly in the trailer below.

Max Payne is in theaters October 24th.

Film School Rejects » Fightin’ Words

Protest Watch: Blind People Offended by Blindness

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‘Max Payne’ Receives R Rating, Director John Moore Calls MPAA Nazi Cockgobblers

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