Obscenity

One of the standards for something being obscene is that it has to be sexual. This means that no matter how violent an image is, it's not obscene unless it's sexual in nature. Problems with what is and is not considered appropriate don't end with institutions like the American ratings board, they're ingrained into the actual law.
I think this is a shame, because suggesting that the one thing that people should absolutely and completely not be exposed to is sex is such a horrible thing to do. People can have sex and still be healthy. But can they torture people the way they're tortured in the Saw movies and still be healthy? More and more, movies remind me of the movie Winston saw in 1984, which was incredibly violent, but was supposed to be funny. Meanwhile, the way sex is treated in movies is deplorable. Movies like Deuce Bigalow: European Gigalo are able to get R-ratings and fundings while movies with real discussion of sex are underfunded or saddled with NC-17 ratings.
Adult movies in America are a sad joke. Look how many erotic films from other countries are nominated for awards and appear on people's lists of the year's best films. Meanwhile, American erotic movies all seem to be things like "Pool Hall Bitches 4."
I don't see how our views on sex will ever become more enlightened as long as it's ingrained that anything sexual (besides Rob Schneider taking out a girl with a penis for a nose) is a bad thing.