The Paula Carmicino sex video

Oh my God! A student filmmaker intends to shoot graphic sex!

Also, the sun rose in the east this morning!

Because NYU junior Paula Carmicino planned to become the 112,472nd film student to shoot naked people doin' it, New York University, whose administrators forbid Carmicino to make her film, will now formally require its film students to adhere to MPAA guidelines.

New York Times:

In October, a film student at New York University pitched an idea for her video-making class: a four-minute portrayal of the contrast between unbridled human lust and banal everyday behavior.

Her professor approved. The student, Paula Carmicino, found two actor friends willing to have sex on camera in front of the class. The other students expressed their support. But then the professor thought he should double-check with the administration, which immediately pulled the plug on the project.

What's more, university officials said they would issue a written policy requiring student films and videos to follow the ratings guidelines of the Motion Picture Association of America, with nothing racier than R-rated fare allowed, according to Ms. Carmicino and her professor, Carlos de Jesus. The association says R-rated films may include "nudity within sensual scenes."

Memo to the NYU film department, which apparently is a tad ignorant when it comes to film history: The MPAA ratings were created to help parents decide what movies to take young children to see. And an NYU classroom is, oh, I don't know, maybe the one place where you can pretty much count on everyone being over eighteen.

But spokesman Pierce just couldn't stop putting his foot in his mouth (emphasis mine):

Defending the university, [Pierce] said N.Y.U. was considered very broad-minded on questions of artistic freedom, but had to draw the line at videotaping real sex before a class of students. He compared that to a filmmaker committing arson for a movie about firefighters.

Memo to Pierce: Arson is illegal. (You can let him know about this fact at 212-998-6796 or richard.pierce@nyu.edu.)

Kudos to film student Carmicino for ridiculing NYU administrators in the film she made instead: "In the end, Ms. Carmicino made another video for her class. It consisted of two characters having a conversation in which every word was bleeped out."

NY Times: Keep the Sex R-Rated, N.Y.U. Tells Film Students

[Crossposted to Blogcritics, where you can comment.]