MPAA announces
e-mail service

The Motion Picture Association of America is extending its reach. The New York Times announced Thursday that the rating board, which is composed of between 10 and 13 parents, has implemented an e-mail service called Red Carpet Ratings. Subscribers can now receive e-mail updates every Tuesday with ratings for films being released that week as well as films in theatrical release for the next month. Dan Glickman, chairman of the association, is quoted in The New York Times as saying, "The purpose of the rating system is so parents have the kind of information they need to help guide the kids as to what is suitable or not suitable."

Gay and lesbian films have a long and difficult history with the association, whose NC-17 rating includes the phrase "aberrational behavior." The phrase has often been used to include homosexuality. Films have the option of being released without a rating, as Strand Releasing did with Edge of Seventeen, but it is often harder to secure theaters for exhibition without the rating. (The Advocate)