Posted by Adam H. Kerman on 03/25/07 17:38

At 7:01am -0400, 03/25/07, Jay G. <Jay@tmbg.org> wrote:
>On Sat, 24 Mar 2007 21:40:25 -0500, Adam H. Kerman wrote:
>>At 9:13pm -0400, 03/24/07, Jay G. <Jay@tmbg.org> wrote:
>>>On 22 Mar 2007 14:36:21 GMT, Fred Garvin, Male Prostitute wrote:
>>>>Jay G. sprach forth the following:

>>>>>If there is really film "censorship" in the US, it's a voluntary
>>>>>censorship agreed upon by the studios and driven by the free market.

>>>>You need to watch 'This Film Is Not Yet Rated'.

>>>I do, but I doubt it's going to change what I wrote. I'm not saying the
>>>MPAA system isn't without its problems, and may even be corrupt, but it's
>>>still a voluntary system that only has power because the free market
>>>system gives it so.

>>In the strictest sense, it's voluntary only on the part of producers and
>>distributors. It's definitely mandatory on the part of exhibitors.

>No, in the *strictest* sense, it's voluntary on the part of everyone,
>including distributors. In a practical sense, exhibitors are compelled to
>adhere to the ratings system by parent and religious groups exploiting free
>market methods to impose their will.

My congratulations. Despite my best effort, you refuse to recede from your
position misrepresenting what a free market is.

>>It exists because movie studios fear backlash from those who do not believe
>>that the free market should determine which movies people see and instead
>>would impose something much worse.

>That doesn't change the fact that it's voluntary. If I gave my employees
>raises as a preventative measure against them demanding even more, the
>raise was still voluntary because I chose to do so.

Your employer isn't afraid that you could lobby Congress to force him to
give you a raise; that analogy sucks.

>>Quite frankly, the fact that exactly one rating system exists and that
>>producers are compelled to use it by exhibitors....

>Not all exhibitors require the use of the rating system.

The preponderance will not show unrated films. We have discussed this and
discussed this and discussed this. There isn't going to be a blockbuster
movie that's unrated.

>>Monopolies are not free markets.

>Monopolies are totally a product of a truly free market. The reason we
>don't get monopolies in our market is because of federal laws that actually
>*limit* the free market at work.

The Sherman Anti-Trust Act is a limit on the freedom of the marketplace? You
have utterly bizarre ideas.

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