The MPAA is in dire need of an overhaul, and Harvey Weinstein is lawyering up to take the ratings board to task. The Weinstein Company announced today that a high-profile legal team (including David Boies of Bush v. Gore and Perry v. Schwarzenegger fame) has been assembled to fight the R rating given to The King’s Speech for language and the NC-17 rating Blue Valentine was slapped with for a single, sad sex scene. A noble crusade? Certainly, since the MPAA has relaxed its restrictions on violence, yet still treats language and sex as though its ratings board were made up of Victorian schoolmarms. But is it also a teeny bit self-promotional? Well, sure: Even with a PG-13, The King’s Speech isn’t going to entice any teenagers to watch it until a bored substitute teacher puts the DVD on for the duration of her English class, while the Weinsteins seem to be actively encouraging the hard-to-sell Blue Valentine’s sexual notoriety, to judge from the frisky new poster. Still, the MPAA is ridiculous, so whatever works. [Deadline]
