Jack Valenti, (dies) 85; former Hollywood lobbyist pioneered film ratings system

[Cooley Hurd]

Source: LA Times

Jack Valenti, the urbane Washington lobbyist who served as Hollywood's public face for nearly four decades and was best known for creating the film rating system, died this afternoon, according to Warren Cowan, his longtime friend and publicist for the MPAA Warren Cowan.

Valenti had been in ill health since suffering a stroke in March. He was treated several weeks at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore but was released Tuesday and returned to his home in Washington, where he died.

For 38 years until retiring in 2004, Valenti headed the Motion Picture Assn. of America, guiding the trade organization from a clubby group of movie studios led by autocratic moguls into a collection of global media conglomerates involved in television, the Internet and an array of other media businesses.

To the moviegoing public, however, Valenti's legacy will always be the ratings system he fathered in 1968, which now labels movies G, PG, PG-13, R or NC-17. Valenti defended it for years against attacks by critics. Today, it remains largely intact as the self-policing vehicle he envisioned.

"It's the end of an era," said industry veteran Sherry Lansing, former Paramount Pictures chairwoman. "He was one of the greatest leaders our industry ever had. He was one of those unique individuals who could build consensus."
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Read more: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-me-valenti27apr27,0,912061.story?coll=la-home-headlines

[originalpckelly]

1. Tom Brokaw on MSNBC TV said he knew of Valenti's condition 48 hours ago...

Valenti had a stroke and he was removed from his vent.

[babylonsister]

2. Film Lobbyist Jack Valenti Dies at 85

Source: AP

Film Lobbyist Jack Valenti Dies at 85
Apr 26 06:54 PM US/Eastern




View larger image

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Jack Valenti, the former White House aide and film industry lobbyist who instituted the modern movie ratings system and guided Hollywood from the censorship era to the digital age, died Thursday. He was 85.

Valenti had a stroke in March and was hospitalized for several weeks at Johns Hopkins University Medical Center in Baltimore.

He died of complications of the stroke at his Washington, D.C., home, said Seth Oster of the Motion Picture Association of America.

Read more: http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8OOIRR81&show_article=1&catnum=0

[no_hypocrisy]

3. The first rated film I can remember is "Butch Cassidy", rated "M" for Mature Audiences.

[LTR]

4. He also served in LBJ's White House

He was one of his top aides.

[ryanmuegge]

7. Yeah, like that's something to brag about.

[Cooley Hurd]

8. Civil Rights Act of 1965...

I'd brag about that...:shrug:

[ryanmuegge]

16. No, I totally agree about that. Escalating Vietnam? Reckless spending that destroyed our country?

We began running massive unnecessary deficits under Johnson and have done so ever since. Besides he showed he was not at all against US military imperialism.

I still can't figure out why he pushed the Civil Rights Act so hard. I have a hard time believing it was based on moral principle (which it clearly was the moral thing to do) given what history has revealed about Johnson. That took some stones, no doubt, but there had to be some cynical political motive. After all, Johnson commonly referred to black people as "niggers," according to people in congress at the time.

[ikojo]

5. My condolences to his family and those

who cared about him...but I wont miss his influence.

He supported the Digital Millenium Copyright Act which brought about DRM and all of its ills.

[Ignacio Upton]

9. If he had his way 25 years ago, the VCR would have been illegal

And thus, setting judicial precedent for banning things such as mp3 players:

http://www.wombatnation.com/2002/09/jack-valentis-1982-testimony-on-the-vcrs-assault-on-life-as-we-know-it


That said, my condolences as well. While he did some good as LBJ's aide,...ah, I better not elaborate because it will turn into grave pissing.

[Rhiannon12866]

6. K&R. A sad day, since another witness to such history is now gone...

on edit: He's in the back on the left, on that sad return to D.C. ;(

[Xithras]

10. No loss IMO.

This is the guy who wanted CD and DVD burners outlawed. This is the guy who initiated the practice of suing people for thousands of dollars for sharing a single file. This is the guy who pushed through the DMCA, and argued that Fair Use laws should be eradicated. This is the guy who wanted the government to levy a tax on every VHS tape, blank DVD, and every other record-able media format, and have the funds shunted to the movie and record industries. Heck, he even proposed taxing COMPUTERS at one point, arguing that they were essentially piracy devices. You know all the complaints about the draconian new copyright restrictions in the new version of Windows? This is the guy who championed their inclusion. This is the guy who also supported the original DIVX video format, to replace the DVD, which would have made video media self-destruct and would have required you to pay to watch DVD's that you ALREADY BOUGHT. He believed, and said flat out on several occasions, that Americans should be forced to pay for a movie every time we watch it. This is the guy who fought to ban the frigging VCR!

Sympathy? Not from me.

[Ignacio Upton]

11. Flags will be lowered at half staff at MPAA headquarters

And the RIAA will honor him by drinking the blood of a 7 year old girl. He was the MAFIAA don indeed (and no, not because he's of Italian descent for those who might be offended...it's just that the RIAA/MPAA employs tactics similar to the mafia.)

[Xithras]

12. Only after they sue her grandmother into poverty.

n/t

[Merlot]

18. If you haven't seen "This Film Not Yet Rated"

I highly recommend it as a way to understand more about Mr. Valenti and his rating system.

(and that's all I'll say so as not to speak ill...)

[onager]

19. Thanks for reminding me!

I'll D/L it ASAP.

:rofl:

That seems like a fitting tribute to Jack Valenti.

And so is the Clarence Darrow quote I always drag out at times like this...

"I have never wished anyone dead. But I occasionally read the obituary column with a smile."

[jollyreaper2112]

21. As quoted on slashdot

Posterity will ne'er survey
A nobler grave than this:
Here lie the bones of Valenti:
Stop, traveller, and piss.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Stewart,_Viscount_Castlereagh

[Cooley Hurd]

20. Great documentary! Highly recommended...

:thumbsup:

[bettyellen]

13. is a Vanity Fair profile the kiss of death? first Kitty, now Jack, both in the March issue...

[Name removed]

14. Deleted message

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[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

15. I'll watch an out-of-region DVD on Linux in his honor. -nt

[Name removed]

17. Deleted message

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