The story of Clean Flicks and their legal battles with Hollywood over the “right” to edit offensive material out of movies is the subject of Cleanflix, a documentary by Andrew James and Joshua Ligairi.
But behind every good conflict, is another conflict-a deeper trouble, a darker secret. What lies underneath the seemingly clean “Clean Flicks”. That’s what we get into
So-Should people be able to get their movies edited?
We’ll be saving a seat for ya
The Cultural Hall
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Should we be able to re paint famous paintings or scrape over and change paintings?
No, you should not be able to edit films without permission.
Films are a work of art, copyrighted, and have an extreme amount of money and effort put in to them, so the just trim a little here, and cut a little there, when you are not a part of the chain of title, nor involved with any creative aspect of the film, is extremely inappropriate.
Personally I love R-rated movies, even in Australia where R-rated are harder to find or classify. 3 of my 5 favourite films are rated R in your country, and only one of them in my country has an R-rating. Night of the Living Dead of which I speak, is rated R for violence even though the movie is in black and white. No profanity, no noticeable nudity and not a single sexual reference, I was castigated for showing it at a Halloween party in California. While the film was playing nobody thought twice about the content of the film, however, after the end of the party a friend pocked up the case and noticed an R-rating. He told his parents who called me up and told me I was a wayward child who was easily deceived by the devil. Of course this example is more an example than the rule and I’m sure we can all agree that the rating doesn’t always accurately portray the content of the movie, but most people don’t realise that that agreement could be used in favour of R-eyed movies.
As far as copywrite infringement is concerned I don’t think any film should be altered to the degree Cleanflix or even Clearplay does. Movies should be viewed in its entirety as it was intended. I film I wrote recenty went into pre-production down here in Australia, I wholey expect the movie will be rated-R for violence, gore and horror themes. I wanted to make a zombie movie I could watch with my family, so the script has no swears, no nudity and nothing remotely sexual. Actually the Australian rating system only gives R-ratings fo violence. I would be ver upset if people would be censoring my movie which was intended to be as inoffensive as possible. People spend years making movies exactly want they want them to be and if you don’t want a movie to offend you or the spirit then just don’t watch it. Don’t change it. If you are ok with an R on a box then by all means watch it, as far as I am concerned it’s not doctorine.
I watch edited movies.
I was a patron of Cleanflicks and Flicks Club and I currently own a ClearPlay DVD player. I don’t judge others for watching unedited movies and I hope to receive the same non-judgment from others. I believe everyone has their tolerance lines and some people’s lines are drawn further back than others.
I do not have a hard and fast “no rated-R movie” rule. I look at the content in a movie, not the rating, and decide whether I want to watch it or not. Violence doesn’t bother me that much, but I don’t like strong language or nudity. Why is this? Well, I think it stems from the fact that a person being killed in a movie isn’t really being killed – it’s just special effects. On the other hand, someone swearing is really swearing and a naked person is actually naked. This is my personal line and I don’t hold anyone else to the same standard.
I find the argument that you’re “destroying someone else’s art” to be completely ridiculous. First of all, art is subjective, and while some may appreciate certain aspects of an art piece, others do not.
Secondly, CleanFlicks and ClearPlay are in no way altering the artists’ original work. The original work will stay intact for all of those who want to view it that way. Purchasing and viewing an edited movie is like buying a copy of an art piece for your own home. And if I own a replica of the statue of David in my own home, I can put a pair of Bermuda shorts and a beret on David, that’s my right. It doesn’t change the original work.
Additionally, I truly believe that you can enjoy the spirit of a film without having to be subjected to vulgar language, graphic sex or glorified violence. I’ll admit that there are some films that are choppy and confusing when edited, but others don’t change at all if you remove an F-word here or a topless scene there. In fact, I’d say that they appeal to a wider audience.
I will never understand why Hollywood doesn’t release edited versions of films. They make their own edited versions for television and airlines, they would have creative control over the edits, and there is OBVIOUSLY a market for this type of film, yet they still refuse to sell these edited copies. Why? I can only guess selfishness and pride.
I also feel that Hollywood is constantly trying to push the boundaries and see what they can get away with. It used to be that a PG-13 movie might or might not contain an F-word; nowadays, it’s almost mandatory.
I don’t let the MPAA dictate what is right and what is wrong for my family. It bothers me, for example, when they choose to place an R rating on a film that doesn’t deserve it and/or a film that was created before the ratings system even existed (like Night of the Living Dead, referenced above, which is one of my favorite films — although there are two instances of zombie nudity in that film, for the record). On the other hand, some PG-13 movies are worse than R-rated movies. The system is messed up, but it’s all we really have.
In summary, I love movies. I feel that they can inspire us, educate us and enrich our lives. I just don’t feel that all of the profanity, sexuality and violence are necessary for a film to be great. And I will continue to applaud and support companies that choose to edit films.