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| TARGETING CHILDREN | |
 September 28, 2000  |
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Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Association of America, and Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) discuss yesterday's congressional hearings on marketing R-rated movies to children.
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JACK VALENTI: Well, as a grammarian, I find the sentence awkward, as
did the chairman. But what it means is, for example, not going to middle
school or grammar school and handing out passes to a theater showing
an R-rated movie, not including the Girl Scouts or the Boy Scouts or
those genuinely young people's organizations… any kind of advertising.
I think what we need to understand is that, in today's avalanche of
available programming, 100 channels on cable, 300 channels on satellite,
1,000 plus RAY SUAREZ: Senator Hutchison, those guidelines that Mr. Valenti's been talking about, those voluntary codes that the industry wants to enter into got a pretty rough ride from your committee. What did you find lacking about it? |
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RAY SUAREZ: Well, during the hearing, you said, "I'm sending a signal across the bow that if you don't try to make this really work, then you're going to see legislation." What can the Congress of the United States do in this matter?
RAY SUAREZ: Was this voluntary code, Mr. Valenti, drafted just to avoid that eventuality that the senator's talking about? |
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RAY SUAREZ: Senator? SEN. KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON: Well, let me say that I have high regard
for Jack Valenti, just as he has spoken. He represents his industry
well. But in fact, a parent can also give a 15-year-old child a cigarette.
We know that that is going to happen. But just because we can't control
every single action that a young person might be exposed to, we can
make an effort to bring down the mass marketing, the actual targeting
to young people of inappropriate material. And in fact, the FTC study
showed that 80 percent of the PG-13 and R-rated for violence movies
were specifically targeted to children. And I think |
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RAY SUAREZ: Well, the two of you are talking at a little bit cross-purposes about the same thing. You're, Mr. Valenti, talking about things that you can't control once they're off your lot and out of your distributors' hands, like what parents do and what exhibitors do. Senator, you've noted that the FTC report found that the movie industry itself, in its marketing practices, were looking for these audiences.
RAY SUAREZ: Well, let me quickly go to the senator because - SEN. KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON: I want to ask a question. Why would you want a nine-year-old in a focus group if you weren't trying to market that film to a nine-year-old? JACK VALENTI: They're in focus groups because sometimes these are unrated pictures, and they might want to have... to see what young people think about it so that they could put this picture out maybe as a PG or a PG-13 or whatever. I already acknowledged, senator, that I think that was an ill-considered idea, and it's not going to be done anymore in the 12-point initiatives we have. There are specifics in there that address the three broad recommendations of the Federal Trade Commission. I'm not saying that is lapidary, written in concrete. But I do believe this is a large step forward, and I would hope the Congress would find this a useful first step. RAY SUAREZ: Well, the Congress has promised to continue looking over your shoulder. Senator, Mr. Valenti, thank you very much. |
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RAY
SUAREZ: Hollywood executives testified on Capitol Hill yesterday about
their voluntary plan to limit the marketing of R-rated films to children.
The Motion Picture Association of America released the plan earlier
this week in response to a Federal Trade Commission report that accused
the industry of selling inappropriate material to children. The industry
plan sets a goal of "not inappropriately specifically targeting
children" in advertising R-rated movies. It also calls for theater
owners not to show ads for R-rated films during G-rated movies, and
for studios not to include people under age 17 in focus groups for R-rated
movies without a parent. Here to debate the issue: Jack Valenti, president
and chief executive officer of the Motion Picture 
Association
of America, which represents seven major film studios; and Republican
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, a member of the congressional
committee that held yesterday's hearings. Mr. Valenti, that phrase,
"not inappropriately specifically targeting children" came
in for a lot of attention and a lot of criticism at yesterday's hearing.
When your industry says that it accepts that as an undertaking, what
do you mean by that phrase? 
over-the-air
television stations, it's almost impossible, if you're going to advertise
on television, to find a program that doesn't have some children watching.
It's one of the anomalies and the unsuitableness, I guess, of this modern
audio/visual world. But we are not going to specifically target children.
And that's a pledge that all eight companies made. These 12 initiatives,
which were presented to the Senate Commerce Committee, represent a platform
on which all these eight companies stand. Now, many of these movie companies
will leap beyond this and do more than the 12 initiatives are accountable,
and that's fine. I have no problem with that at all. And this is not
to say that, over the next six months, we won't even do more. But keep
in mind we also are going to give reasons for ratings -- in almost every
forum you can possibly think of, in print ads, in posters, in television
and Web sites. So that a parent whose ultimate responsibility it is to
guide the movie-going or the schools or the reading or the friends of
their children will have ample opportunity to find out what's in a movie
before they make the crucial decision of whether or not they want their
children to see it. 
SEN.
KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON: Well, certainly we are glad that there is some
effort being made and that some of the people representing the movie
industry seem to be getting the point that there is a frustration level
out there about the kind of material that young people are seeing. But
let me tell you the biggest problem I have with the 12-point program,
and that is when I go to a movie that is a PG-rated movie and I see
an advertisement, a preview of an R-rated movie, even if it's not the
violent part of that R-rated movie, it entices me to want to see it.
And of course it entices young people especially to want to see it.
What they have said is that they will ask movie theater owners not to
put an R-rated preview into a G movie. But it doesn't say anything about
a PG movie, a movie that most young people probably will be in the audience
to see. So I think they haven't gone nearly far enough even in their
voluntary measures to really try to stop enticing young people to go
to movies that are not appropriate for people 17 and under. 
SEN.
KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON: Well, I think we can take a page from the tobacco
issue where we don't outlaw tobacco in this country, but we do say that
you can't sell it to people 17 and under and you can't market it to
people 17 and under. None of us wants to tamper with the First Amendment.
I wish these movie industry people wouldn't make movies that are mindlessly
violent. I really do wish that they wouldn't, but I'm not going to pass
a law that prevents them from doing it. But I think we could look at
passing laws that say, you really can't have a 17-year-old go into a
movie that is rated R for violence. And I think that this is not a step
we want to take. We really don't want legislation because all of us
revere the First Amendment. But we are really frustrated with the movie
industry because they've talked a good game for a long time, but we
still get trash in our young people's hands, and these young people
are not ready to be able to make the judgments that this is trash. 
JACK
VALENTI: Well, I'm a Texan, so I count Senator Hutchison to be my senator.
And I'm always reluctant to debate with her because I admire and, as
I said, she's a senator from Texas. I don't know how you make judgments
about this. The R rating specifically says, Mr. and Mrs. Parent, we're
sending up an advance cautionary warning. You may take your child to
this R-rated film if you accompany them or have an adult guardian go
along with the child. So children 14, 15, 16, 13, aren't barred from
seeing an R-rated movie. So I think it would be very difficult to pass
a law saying you can't go in there when the rating system says the parent
must make that judgment. What we're doing... the ratings system is built
on parental responsibility. If parents have a casual regard for movies
their children are watching or what schools they go to or what books
they're reading, what music they're listening to, then this ratings
system is feckless, it has no meaning. It's built on parents exercising
their solemn duty, which no one else has the power to wield the authority
to shape the conduct of their children. Now, I'm not for one moment
suggesting that, of the 443 films that were released last year, that
all of them are above reproach and none of them -- all call universal
comfort of those who watch -- of course not. But that's part of what
happens in this society. You must make judgments about what you want
your children to do. 
we
can take some better steps. I think we could say, you aren't going to
try to entice people under 17 to come to an R-rated movie for violence.
And yes, there will be parents who will make the decision that they
want their children to go in. But you at least could keep young people
from going into a movie, if we have to take these kinds of steps. Now,
I would like to see the movie industry truly settle this voluntarily.
But we have been talking about this for a long time. We have tried every
way to cajole the movie industry to be more responsible. I wish they
would be more responsible in the kinds of movies they make. It's just
there is no appropriate reason to make a movie like "Natural Born
Killers." I mean why would you want to make a movie like that?
But nevertheless, they have the right to do it under our Constitution.
I just wish they would exercise more discretion. 
JACK
VALENTI: Well, Ray, I will tell you this: I think the FTC report caused
me and others to want to take a fresh look at how some of these pictures
were marketed. Long before this hearing, when I read the report, I said,
having 11- and 12-year-olds in a focus group I found unacceptable. And
we're saying that we're not going to have any young people in any kind
of a focus group unless the parents approve and the parents are there.
And we're trying to do what is right. Keep in mind that, while eight
companies were at that witness table, there are 72 other distribution
companies, smaller, that will put out 243 films last year. So it's very
difficult to corral, as it were, in this fragmented and very disparate
kind of industry.
