Jack Valenti - Dead at 85
Anyone who can hold ONE job for 38 years gets my respect. But to be the top dog at an organization as controversial as the MPAA - Motion Picture Association of America - for that long has GOT to be a tough job.
CNN says:
Jack Valenti, the longtime head of the Motion Picture Association of America, died Thursday of complications from a stroke he suffered in March, his family announced. He was 85.He died in Washington, less than a month after being hospitalized for a stroke, the MPAA announced Thursday evening.
Valenti spent 38 years as president of the U.S. movie industry’s trade association, serving as its top lobbyist and spokesman until his retirement in 2004.
The guy was central to the 1968 creation of the modern MPAA move-ratings system — now G, PG, PG-13, R and NC-17. (In the US)
As a parent I have more respect than ever for the ratings system instituted on movies, and though not a perfect system, it is far better than censorship. Movies get to be whatever they want to be, and they just stick a warning label on them so you know what you are getting yourself into.
Despite the traditional distaste people get when the MPAA is mentioned, there is a lot of good coming out of it too. This guy was a part of a LOT of it. Good and bad.
At least now he gets to rest.
1. Mr Stay Puft replies at 28th April 2007, 8:26 am :
“Without the ratings system, Valenti said, Hollywood could be faced with a labyrinth of local censorship boards with conflicting standards.”
I think that is why Hollywood should respect him. For creating a system they can work with nationwide.
2. Sydney replies at 28th April 2007, 5:56 pm :
Very True. He did a great job, even if 5 year old kids would’ve hated him if they even knew him. Well done Jack. Just one thing. Keep the ratings the same in Canada and the US, don’t go from PG-13 to R.
3. Sydney replies at 28th April 2007, 5:57 pm :
Oh and Giohn, I remember listening to one of your older podcasts where you were talking about AA ratings and A, but it’s 14a and 18a here in Canada, and then R if necessary.
4. JaySmack replies at 28th April 2007, 9:36 pm :
Valenti also tried to block the development of the VCR. He felt it would put movie theaters out of business. Instead VCR’s saved the industry by doubling studio profits with a home-video release, instead of just the theatrical release only.
He was not an evil man, but he was corporate greed and blindness personified.