Dear Sirs

To: contactus@mpaa.org
Subject: regarding the Trance trailer

Dear Sirs and Madams,

At the movie theater the other day, I saw a preview for the new thriller Trance and, among your helpful descriptors of the justifications for the film's 'R' rating at the beginning, I noticed the phrase "some grizzly images." That's an odd thing to include there, isn't it? Usually you employ far more vanilla cautions such as "bloody violence" or "naughty language" or "sideboob"--you know: neat, lucid info that assists us filmgoers with our viewing selections down the road. Contextually speaking, "some grizzly images" raises more questions than it answers and I've had trouble suppressing my curiosity about it.
 
I'm guessing, first of all, that you're referring to grizzly bears, as "grizzly" in the sense of being greyish doesn't make much sense as a content descriptor. (Sure, it's helpful to know a movie's color palette before stepping in--I wish somebody had clued me in about Minority Report; too gloomy, I say--but we can more or less get the idea from the trailer itself.)  Now, the official synopsis for Trance suggests a plot mainly about art theft and hypnosis. I'm not some Freytagian drama savant, but it's difficult to wonder in any abstract way where the grizzlies might come in. Does Rosario Dawson's hypnotherapist have a side gig as a Timothy Treadwell-esque radical naturalist? Does Vincent Cassel face off against a growling ten-footer in the streets of London? Perhaps James McAvoy's subconscious depths are triggered via the smell of fresh salmon? It is about art auctioneers; could a series of neo-impressionist sketches of bears in repose factor in somewhere? I suppose it's a fool's errand to guess wildly, but this is fun, isn't it? 

I'm assuming you've seen Trance, having settled upon the final declaration of its suitability for the American public and everything, and you're not gonna give up the secrets just as it sees wide release. Why, then, even mention the grizzly images? Wouldn't it be more sensible to let audiences discover for themselves the picture's quirky turns? It is helpful to know as much as possible about a movie before heading in insofar as that info limits the possibility of one's being offended in any conceivable manner, but apart from that unpleasantness it's best to keep the experience fresh, wouldn't you say? Would it have been right to festoon the promotional images for Citizen Kane with notices of "sled memories" or announce Chinatown's "orange grove action" ahead of time? (If only we'd known about the incest thing, though--where were you guys on that one?) I suppose one must account for the odd wrinkles in viewer sensibilities, but we can't cover everybody's hot buttons, can we? It might interest you that, at least upon a cursory Google, it seems there is no official term for "fear of bears." Perhaps not a real affliction, in truth of fact? Something to keep in mind.

I'll be sure to see Trance when it opens, but I can't help but feel oddly melancholy, as I doubt anything in the movie could equal the mystery of your "grizzly images" warning. I'll be disappointed by some pedestrian ursine cameo, where you briefly got my hopes up for some full-on claws-and-fangs action, abstract hibernation montage, or what have you. Oh, MPAA, you contemptible tease! What'll you do next, attune us to the next James Bond adventure with word of "international settings"? Call out the "passable accents" of Edward Zwick's next Oscar-baiting period piece? If only our time permitted a relinquishing of such noble institutions as yours, and filmmakers could be trusted to deploy entertainments that viewers could judge on their own merits after experiencing them free of prior elementary-style gradings based upon blanket committee evaluations of their moral propriety! I've wrung my hands about this grizzly business but I know that, until that time comes, you're fighting the good fight, and don't let anyone tell you different.

Best, Ezra Riemer

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Dear Mr. Riemer,

I want to say a genuine thanks for your good-natured comments about this grizzly-grisly preview mistake. It should serve as a cautionary tale to all who rely on automated spell-check resources but neglect context. More to the point, the rating descriptor for TRANCE includes the word "grisly" but somewhere along the journey to its rightful place on the preview green card, it morphed into "grizzly."  The TRANCE distributor caught this typographical error, but a few previews had already shipped. They tried to replace the offending grizzly previews with newly minted grisly ones, but alas, some theaters were missed. Human error being what it is, we may encounter other such word transformations from time to time, but I venture to say, none quite so amusing.  

Best Regards, 

Linda Vitale
Manager, Advertising Administration
Motion Picture Association of America, Inc.
15301 Ventura Boulevard,  Building E   Sherman Oaks, CA 91403
D: 818.935.5713  F: 818.285.4405  E: linda_vitale@mpaa.org