I found a person who is willing to be interviewed for my paper- Professor Stephen Vaughn from UW-Madison, a communications professor who has done extensive research on film ratings.
However, I'm still stuck with some elements of my paper; I wrote some history components, but that's not really the point. I'm supposed to answer my why question, and I think I need a better thesis to keep moving forward. Here's a couple ideas;
MPAA ratings protect the film industry from government censorship and help parents shield their children from immoral content.
MPAA film ratings classify films by what is morally appropriate and what is not, and are instated in order to teach americans appropriate moral behavior.
My introduction is in an inadequate draft form, and needs revision, and most of my current history components will probably not be used. However, I'm very excited about the interview, and am hoping that will help point me in the right direction.
I know this is a short post, and i'll say more at another time. Thanks for reading!
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Second Junior Theme post
So far i've been reading from some books and on the internet, and I feel that I have a basic understanding of when and how the MPAA ratings system has been created. However, I am not sure why yet- and that's the most important part, so I'm a little stuck.
I've emailed Northwestern's Film/TV/Radio division of their communications department, asking if any professors would be willing to be interviewed. I'm going to wait until monday or tuesday, and if I don't hear back, I will call the MPAA office in Los Angeles.
I haven't written very much of my paper yet, so I'm in that transition point, and I think I'm going to write down a bit of the history component as I understand it, and hopefully I can add the why parts later as I come to a conclusion. I feel i've been doing a decent amount of work, but i'm concerned that I will have a really rough crunch time if I don't make some more progress.
Additionally, I'm not sure how to go about answering my why question yet (as in how to map the paper out) so that's adding to my general uncertainty. Do I start with what the rating system is currently, and then describe how we got there? Do I start with when the hays code was first instated, and then say how it progressed to our current system?
I'll keep posting as I start writing components, and i'll let you know how my interview search is coming. Thanks for reading!
I've emailed Northwestern's Film/TV/Radio division of their communications department, asking if any professors would be willing to be interviewed. I'm going to wait until monday or tuesday, and if I don't hear back, I will call the MPAA office in Los Angeles.
I haven't written very much of my paper yet, so I'm in that transition point, and I think I'm going to write down a bit of the history component as I understand it, and hopefully I can add the why parts later as I come to a conclusion. I feel i've been doing a decent amount of work, but i'm concerned that I will have a really rough crunch time if I don't make some more progress.
Additionally, I'm not sure how to go about answering my why question yet (as in how to map the paper out) so that's adding to my general uncertainty. Do I start with what the rating system is currently, and then describe how we got there? Do I start with when the hays code was first instated, and then say how it progressed to our current system?
I'll keep posting as I start writing components, and i'll let you know how my interview search is coming. Thanks for reading!
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
First Junior Theme Post
Hello Readers!
I'm not exactly sure how the posting about junior theme thing is supposed to work, but all I know is the function of this blog is shifting gears for a bit, and i'm just going to roll with it.
For those who don't know, Junior Theme is the big paper of junior year- the uber paper, the head honcho, or whatever you want to call it. For the next month, i'm focusing on one topic and writing a paper on it.
Thankfully, I have an approved topic- film ratings. I knew I wanted to write about film, but I didn't know what I wanted to focus on and how I would keep the focus on American films. Doc OC asked me if I knew what the Hayes code was, and I didn't. A google search later, I realized I knew little about and would be interested in writing about film ratings. My current why question is;
Why are films rated by the Motion Picture Association of America's (MPAA) standards?
As I learn more about my topic, I can refine the question, but that's what I have. And here's what i've learned so far:
The Hays code was enforced starting in 1934, and was a strict set of rules prohibiting subjects in films such as nudity, the ridicule of laws or religious officials, drug use, and interracial marriages. After that was abolished in the late sixties, the letter rating system was created, starting with G,M,R and X. M then switched to GP and again to PG, PG-13 was added in 1984, and soon after that, X was changed to NC-17.Then they added explanations for why a film got a rating, which takes us to our current rating system.
So, that's about where I am now, and I'll post more at another point. If there's anything you'd like to hear more about, comment and let me know.
I'm not exactly sure how the posting about junior theme thing is supposed to work, but all I know is the function of this blog is shifting gears for a bit, and i'm just going to roll with it.
For those who don't know, Junior Theme is the big paper of junior year- the uber paper, the head honcho, or whatever you want to call it. For the next month, i'm focusing on one topic and writing a paper on it.
Thankfully, I have an approved topic- film ratings. I knew I wanted to write about film, but I didn't know what I wanted to focus on and how I would keep the focus on American films. Doc OC asked me if I knew what the Hayes code was, and I didn't. A google search later, I realized I knew little about and would be interested in writing about film ratings. My current why question is;
Why are films rated by the Motion Picture Association of America's (MPAA) standards?
As I learn more about my topic, I can refine the question, but that's what I have. And here's what i've learned so far:
The Hays code was enforced starting in 1934, and was a strict set of rules prohibiting subjects in films such as nudity, the ridicule of laws or religious officials, drug use, and interracial marriages. After that was abolished in the late sixties, the letter rating system was created, starting with G,M,R and X. M then switched to GP and again to PG, PG-13 was added in 1984, and soon after that, X was changed to NC-17.Then they added explanations for why a film got a rating, which takes us to our current rating system.
So, that's about where I am now, and I'll post more at another point. If there's anything you'd like to hear more about, comment and let me know.
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