I've been going to BB for quite a few years now. Am I to understand that they have been editing movies? ... unchecked? ... and unannounced? NFW! I mean I think that's what I'm reading here but I need clarification and further evidence if possible.
I wish I could thank and rep myself for responding to my own requests.
Stolen for a Google search:
From "Does Blockbuster edit its movies?" at Salon this past August:
It is true that Blockbuster does not carry movies that the Motion Picture Association of America has rated NC-17; this is a long-standing Blockbuster policy, Cannizzaro says. Blockbuster does carry some unrated films, but only those that the company has determined would not have received an NC-17 rating had the MPAA rated them. Thus even though they weren't rated, you won't find John Cameron Mitchell's "Shortbus," Michael Winterbottom's "9 Songs," nor, of course, Kirby ****'s "This Film Is Not Yet Rated" at Blockbuster.
Blockbuster is clearly refusing to make certain movies available to the general public. Whether that falls under your personal definition of "censorship" is up to you, I guess. To me, refusing to carry NC-17 movies for your adult customers is a no-brainer example of the concept. The article notes Blockbuster's insistence that they do not edit movies,
but this NYT article from 1996 explains why they don't have to:
Retail chains that designate themselves as family stores, including Kmart and Blockbuster, are having a profound impact on pop culture. Like their counterparts in the music industry, film studios are recutting movies, removing scenes and changing video packaging, often without the director's consent, so that Blockbuster, the huge video chain, will put them on its shelves.
I think that's where the "Blockbuster censors movies!" originally came from - the fact that Blockbuster used to refuse to carry certain kinds of movies, which led studios to self-censor to placate the company in order to get their films on Blockbuster shelves. The watered-down version of Requiem for a Dream that showed up in Blockbuster stores a few years back is clear evidence the pressure was still in effect then. It would be easy to call your local Blockbuster and ask if the regular version is available on the shelves today. According to Salon, though, the no-NC17 policy was still in effect as of August.
Why on earth anyone would make that kind of company their regular stop for movie rentals is beyond me.
posted by mediareport at 8:49 PM on November 28, 2007 [2 favorites]
