Since I last wrote about Bully, two boards in Canada have classified the film. British Columbia and Alberta both rated it PG, with various warnings. BC’s decision, coming earlier, got media coverage in the United States – a chance to show off the more enlightened boards here. It has always been my belief that our boards are better than the MPAA, as they are part of the government, and therefore ultimately accountable to the population, whereas the MPAA is private and only accountable to the film industry.
The other development has been the more or less admission that the ratings controversy has been great publicity. As this article states, a “well-oiled Weinstein publicity machine has landed the issue on network TV and talk shows” and according to the director, the petition to decrease the ratings has been “a miracle and a dream come true. … I can tell you straight up though, we couldn’t have dreamed this up.”
Yeah, sure. Disney should have hired these folks to promote John Carter. If nothing else, they would have come with a less bland title.
Tim Covell 