The American Spectator

p> RATINGS ABUSE br> After the Motion Picture Association of America slapped Michael Moore ‘s film Fahrenheit 911 with an “R” rating late last week, and it became clear that the MPAA would not budge, Moore and his distributors hired one man they think can change the MPAA’s mind: former New York governor Mario Cuomo . /p>

According to an MPAA staffer in Washington, Cuomo is being paid a five figure fee to make appeals all the way to the top of MPAA. That would mean former Lyndon Johnson staffer Jack Valenti.

On Wednesday, on the “Today” show, Moore revealed that the scenes of abuse that appear in his film had been in his possession last year but that he told no one about the abuse, out of fear that “mainstream media” would not use his evidence properly. Moore apparently also didn’t share any of his footage with Democrats on Capitol Hill or with influential friends in Hollywood and New York. It is the footage of abuse in part that is responsible for the “R” rating, which insures that anyone under the age of 16 cannot get into the theater without being accompanied by an adult. An “R” rating will mean not only less exposure — but a smaller gate.

“We were surprised when we heard that Cuomo was going to bat for this thing,” says the MPAA staffer. “We usually don’t have someone of this stature lobbying on behalf of a movie, especially one this controversial.”

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