Culture
The MTRCB has interesting things to say about your favorite movies
(YouTube)
Whenever movies delve into NSFW territory or starlets accidentally flash a nationwide audience, the MTRCB always steps in to straighten things out. It may seem like the MTRCB only wants to police safeguard our morals, but the power to choose which shows to screen in the Philippines also falls into their hands.
It’s no surprise that filmmakers and the board have had many disputes over creative license and censorship in the past.
Before movies can be shown in cinemas for an age-appropriate audience, they have to be first reviewed by the board. (They also make weird infomercials with a thirsty dad.) By law, these reviews are to be posted in public places near cinemas where movie-goers can learn more about how the MTRCB arrived at the ratings for a particular movie. These reviews include the justification for the why the ratings are the way they are, with sometimes incredible detail on specific scenes that influence the board’s choice.
If you’re curious about MTRCB’s constructive, er, basic film criticism, just head over to Shit MTRCB Permits Say, a cheeky blog that exhibits the board’s film reviews. It’s an interesting look into the thoughts that go into ratings classification. From the length of a drug scene to when and where the words “fuck” is used, there’s a lot being considered for each movie’s ratings.
From the blog, here’s a review of Monsters University, an animated film:
They had interesting things to say about Spike Jonze’s Her:
This is what the MTRCB had to say about Magic Mike XXL. They seem unsure about it, and did a second review just to make sure they got things right:
Official MTRCB permits are posted in all cinemas. So while waiting for your movie to start, you can entertain yourself by reading MTRCB permits. You can even submit some of these gems to the blog.
