The Rise and Fall of the MPAA

In the late 80s, Harvey Weinstein perfected the art of capitalizing on Trumped-up battles with the MPA. In 1990, Miramax decided to release Peter Greenaway's The Cook, The Thief unrated rather than accept an X-rating. Pressure on the MPAA to sort out a rating for adult-themed films intensified after the Cannes Film Festival in 1990. David Lynch acknowledged that he and distributor Goldwyn Pictures expected to have to make cuts to the version of the movie that won the top prize at the most prestigious film festival in the world.