Motion Picture Association of America film rating system

"PG-13" redirects here. For the wrestling team, see PG-13 (professional wrestling). For the Sharon Needles album, see PG-13 (album).

"R-rated" redirects here. For other uses, see R rating (disambiguation) and Rated R (disambiguation).

The Motion Picture Association of America's film-rating system is used in the U.S. and its territories to rate a film's thematic and content suitability for certain audiences. The MPAA rating scheme applies only to films submitted for rating. The MPAA rating system is a voluntary scheme not enforced by law; and films can be exhibited without a rating, though many theaters refuse to exhibit non-rated or NC-17 rated films. Non-members of MPAA may also submit films for rating. Other media (such as television programs and video games) may be rated by other entities. The MPAA rating system is one of various motion picture rating systems used to help parents decide what films are appropriate for their children.

In the United States, the MPAA rating scheme is the most-recognized guide for parents regarding the content of films and each rating has been trademarked by MPAA so that they cannot be used by other organizations. The MPAA system has been criticized for the secrecy of its decisions as well as for perceived inconsistencies.

The MPAA's rating system is administered by the Classification & Ratings Administration (CARA), which is not a government agency. MPAA ratings serve primarily as a consumer suggestion by a group of corporate analysts. After screening films, their personal opinions are used to arrive at one of five ratings. Theater owners voluntarily agree to enforce corporate film ratings as determined by the MPAA, which in turn facilitates their access to new film releases.

Films are often released with different versions and different ratings, as versions that may be unprofitable in theaters may have better success in the home entertainment market (see "Commercial viability of the NC-17 rating" below).

Ratings

MPAA film ratings

Since the late 1990s, the MPAA film ratings have been as follows:

Rating symbol	Meaning
	G – General Audiences All ages admitted. This movie contains nothing that would offend parents for viewing by children. Such films may contain only mild fantasy violence or crude humor. Such films have no nudity, sex or drugs of any kind. Alcohol and tobacco may be used in small amounts by adults in the movie, but not by minors, especially in older G rated films. The violence must be cartoonish in nature and/or minimal in quantity.
	PG – Parental Guidance Suggested Some material may not be suitable for children. Parents are urged to give parental guidance as the motion picture contains some material that parents might not find suitable for younger children. Such films may contain only mild violence, language, drug references, brief nudity and/or implied or inferred sexual activity.
	PG-13 – Parents Strongly Cautioned Some material may be inappropriate for children 13 and under. Parents are urged to be cautious and contain some material that parents might not find suitable for their pre-teenagers. Such films may contain moderate to strong violence, some suggestive material and nudity, some sexual situations, brief strong language and/or soft drug use.
	R – Restricted Under 17 requires an accompanying parent or adult guardian. This movie contains some adult material and parents are urged to learn more about this film before taking their young children with them to see it. Such films may contain rough and/or persistent violence and suggestive material, hard language, strong horror, strong crude sexual content, sexually-oriented nudity, and/or hard drug use. Admittance to these films is prohibited for anyone under the age of seventeen unless accompanied by a parent or guardian. Children under 17 or those who do not have ID (including state IDs and drivers' licenses) are not allowed to attend R-rated movies unaccompanied by an adult. In addition, in some theaters, children 6 and Under cannot see any R-rated films after 6:00 PM.
	NC-17 – No One 17 & Under Admitted This film is patently adult and children are not admitted. Such films may contain brutality/pervasive extreme non-stop graphic violence, explicit sexual content, sexual assault, extreme horror, strong graphic non-stop language, strong graphic drug use, and/or aberrational behavior.

Other miscellaneous film ratings

If a film is not submitted for rating or is an uncut version of a film that was submitted, the label NR (Not Rated) or UR (Unrated) is often used. Uncut/extended versions of films that are labeled "Unrated" also contain warnings saying that the uncut version of the film contains content that differs from the theatrical release and may not be suitable for younger children or minors. Examples include the version of Live Free or Die Hard and the extended edition of Rango. If a film has not yet been assigned a final rating, the labels THIS FILM HAS NOT YET BEEN RATED and THIS FILM IS NOT YET RATED are used in trailers and TV spots.

History

Replacement of Hays Code

Jack Valenti, who had become president of the MPAA in May 1966, deemed the Hays Code – in place since 1930 and rigorously enforced since July 1, 1934 – as hopelessly out of date and no longer appropriate for the current film and cultural environment. He felt compelled to take this position by the release of major studio films such as The Pawnbroker (1965), Blow-Up (1966), and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), which were among the first to feature nudity and profanity.

Valenti felt action was required on the part of the respective studios to edit their films appropriately, but that having to deal with each film one at a time in this manner was awkward and inefficient. The Code was revised in 1966 to include the "SMA" (Suggested for Mature Audiences) advisory as a stopgap measure. However, Valenti realized that a new approach to film rating was needed in response to "the irresistible force of creators determined to make 'their films'", and to avoid "the possible intrusion of government into the movie arena".

On November 1, 1968, the voluntary MPAA film rating system took effect, with three organizations serving as its monitoring and guiding groups: the MPAA, the National Association of Theater Owners (NATO), and the International Film Importers & Distributors of America (IFIDA).

The ratings used from 1968 to 1969 were:

• Rated G: General Audiences – Suggested for General Audiences – All Ages Admitted
• Rated M: Mature Audiences – Suggested for Mature Audiences (Parental Discretion Advised)
• Rated R: Restricted – Persons Under 16 Not Admitted Unless Accompanied by Parent or Adult Guardian
• Rated X: Adults Only – Persons Under 18 will not be Admitted

This content classification system originally was to have three ratings with the intention of allowing parents to take their children to any film they choose. However, the National Association of Theater Owners urged the creation of an adults only category, fearful of possible legal problems in local jurisdictions. The "X" rating was not an MPAA trademark and would not receive the MPAA seal: any producer not submitting a film for MPAA rating could self-apply the "X" rating (or any other symbol or description that was not an MPAA trademark). In 1969, the "G" rating was reworded to "General Audiences – All Ages Admitted."

With the MPAA's introduction of its rating system, the U.S. was a latecomer as far as film classification was concerned. Countries such as Australia and the United Kingdom had begun this practice earlier in the 20th century.

From M to GP to PG

The M rating was changed because parents were confused as to whether M- or R-rated films had more intense content. This led to the introduction of the "GP" rating in 1969, a rating that was then changed in the 1970s to "PG".

The ratings used from 1970 to 1972 were:

• Rated G: All Ages Admitted - General Audiences
• Rated GP: All Ages Admitted - Parental Guidance Suggested.
• Rated R: Restricted - Under 17 Requires Accompanying Parent or Adult Guardian.
• Rated X: No One Under 17 Admitted.

Also in 1970, the ages of viewers admitted to R-rated films was raised from 16 to 17, while X-rated films were lowered from 18 to 17.

By 1972, parents perceived the "GP" rating as not indicative of a film's true content. In 1971, the MPAA added content advisories such as: Contains material not generally suitable for pre-teenagers. In February 1972 the MPAA replaced the GP rating with the new PG rating.

The ratings used from 1972 to late 1978 were:

• Rated G: General Audiences – All Ages Admitted.
• Rated PG: Parental Guidance Suggested – Some Material May Not be Suitable for Pre-Teenagers.
• Rated R: Restricted – Under 17 Requires Accompanying Parent or Adult Guardian.
• Rated X: No One Under 17 Admitted.

By late 1978, the PG rating was reworded, with pre-teenagers being replaced with children. This was largely due to confusion over parents whether they were able to watch PG-rated films under the age of 13.

The ratings used from late 1978 to 1984 were:

• Rated G: General Audiences – All Ages Admitted.
• Rated PG: Parental Guidance Suggested – Some Material May Not be Suitable for Children.
• Rated R: Restricted – Under 17 Requires Accompanying Parent or Adult Guardian.
• Rated X: No One Under 17 Admitted.

Adoption of PG-13 rating

Until 1984, explicit violence and gore in the films Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Poltergeist, Clash of the Titans and Gremlins caused an uproar among parents over their PG rating. Their complaints led Hollywood figure Steven Spielberg, director of Temple of Doom and producer of Gremlins, to suggest a new rating to MPAA president Jack Valenti for films that have too much adult content to be rated PG, but not quite enough to be rated R. Spielberg's suggestion was for an intermediate rating of PG-13 or PG-14. On conferring with cinema owners, Valenti and the MPAA introduced the PG-13 rating on July 1, 1984, indicating that some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. The Spielberg films were never re-rated.

The first film distributed with a PG-13 rating was Red Dawn (1984). Dreamscape and The Woman in Red were released on the same day the following week. The Flamingo Kid (1984) was the first film to receive the rating, but was not released until December 1984.

The ratings used from 1984 to 1986 were:

• Rated G: General Audiences – All Ages Admitted.
• Rated PG: Parental Guidance Strongly Suggested – Most Material May Not be Suitable for Children.
• Rated PG-13: Parents Are Strongly Cautioned to Give Special Guidance for Attendance of Children Under 13 – Some Material may be Inappropriate for Children Under 13.
• Rated R: Restricted – Under 17 Requires Accompanying Parent or Adult Guardian.
• Rated X: No One Under 17 Admitted.

In 1986, the PG-13 rating's wording was changed to: Parents Strongly Cautioned – Some Material May be Inappropriate for Children Under 13.

The ratings used from 1986 to 1990 were:

• Rated G: General Audiences – All Ages Admitted.
• Rated PG: Parental Guidance Suggested – Some Material May Not be Suitable for Children.
• Rated PG-13: Parents Strongly Cautioned – Some Material May be Inappropriate for Children Under 13.
• Rated R: Restricted – Under 17 Requires Accompanying Parent or Adult Guardian.
• Rated X: No One Under 17 Admitted.

X is replaced by NC-17

In the rating system's early years, X-rated films, such as Midnight Cowboy (1969), A Clockwork Orange (1971), the animated Fritz the Cat (1972), and Last Tango in Paris (1973) were understood to be non-pornographic films with adult content that were nonetheless mainstream films intended for the general public. However, pornographic films – if rated at all – sometimes self-imposed the non-trademarked X rating. Thus, the X rating (along with the hyperbolic "XXX", typically for hardcore pornography) soon became a synonym for pornography in American mainstream culture.

In late 1989 and early 1990, two critically acclaimed art films featuring very strong adult content, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer and The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover, were released—neither was approved for an R rating, thus limiting their commercial distribution.

On September 27, 1990, the MPAA introduced the rating NC-17 ("No Children Under 17 Admitted") as its official rating for adult-oriented films bearing the MPAA seal. Henry & June was the first film to receive the NC-17 rating.

The ratings used from 1990 to 1996 were:

• Rated G: General Audiences – All Ages Admitted.
• Rated PG: Parental Guidance Suggested – Some Material May Not be Suitable for Children.
• Rated PG-13: Parents Strongly Cautioned – Some Material May be Inappropriate for Children Under 13.
• Rated R: Restricted – Under 17 Requires Accompanying Parent or Adult Guardian.
• Rated NC-17: No Children Under 17 Admitted.

In 1996, the NC-17 rating age limit was raised to 18 by rewording it from "No Children Under 17 Admitted" to "No One 17 and Under Admitted". In practice, media that refused to advertise X-rated films also refused to advertise NC-17 films.^{[citation needed]} In addition, large video distribution businesses such as Blockbuster Video and Hollywood Video decided not to stock all NC-17 films. Though these stores carry such titles with the exception of the stores including Blockbuster, Best Buy, Redbox and Hollywood Video which they had policies on not selling NC-17 movies.

A film that was originally rated X under the original MPAA rating guidelines usually will be re-rated NC-17 (or, less commonly, R) if submitted for re-certification to the MPAA since the original X rating and the current NC-17 rating are basically interchangeable.

The ratings today

Even though X was changed to NC-17, some people still call it "X". Some films are now re-released, mainly due to changing the rating it received when it was released to a different rating.

The ratings used from the late 1990s to this day are:

• Rated G: General Audiences – All Ages Admitted.
• Rated PG: Parental Guidance Suggested – Some Material May Not be Suitable for Children.
• Rated PG-13: Parents Strongly Cautioned – Some Material May be Inappropriate for Children Under 13.
• Rated R: Restricted – Under 17 Requires Accompanying Parent or Adult Guardian.
• Rated NC-17: No One 17 and Under Admitted.

Re-released films

Midnight Cowboy was rated X when released in 1969, but re-rated R in 1971.

A Clockwork Orange was slightly edited when the film was re-rated R in the early 70's. DVD and Blu-ray versions of the film contain the original X-rated version but still retain its R rating.

Pink Flamingos and Beyond the Valley of the Dolls were re-rated NC-17 when those films were submitted for re-classification by the MPAA (25th anniversary re-release for Flamingos, and video release for Dolls after the creation of the NC-17 rating).

Additional information for parents

Since September 1990, the MPAA has added brief explanations of why a particular film received an R rating, allowing parents to know what type of content the film contained. For example, Martin Scorsese's 2006 film The Departed was rated R for "Strong Brutal Violence, Pervasive Language, Some Strong Sexual Content, and Drug Material". Around the late 1990s, the MPAA began applying rating explanations for PG, PG-13 and NC-17 films as well.

As of October 2011, most, if not all, films assigned with an official MPAA rating provide reasons as to why they were rated because of said content. Some pre-1990 films may contain rating explanations if re-released for home video.

Advertising materials

The MPAA also rates film trailers, print advertising, posters, and other media used to promote a film. Trailers are commonly referred to as "green band", "yellow band", or "red band" based on the rating given to the trailer by the MPAA. Green, yellow, or red title cards displayed before the start of a trailer indicates the trailer's rating.

• Green band: approved for all or appropriate audiences; can be shown before a film with any rating. Until 2009, this band read "The following preview has been approved for all audiences by the Motion Picture Association of America, Inc."; in 2009, "all audiences" was changed to "appropriate audiences."
• Yellow band: approved only for age-appropriate audiences; Internet trailers only.
• Red band: approved for restricted audiences only; can be shown before R, NC-17 or unrated films, but it cannot be shown in unrated films that are released in theaters with a PG-13 rating.^{[citation needed]} This band reads, "The following preview has been approved for restricted audiences only [or 'mature audiences only'] by the Motion Picture Association of America, Inc.".

Rating Components

Violence

• The violence in the G-rated film must be cartoonish and minimal at all times. If the violence is little more than minimal, it requires a PG rating. If the violence is stronger than mild, it requires a PG-13 rating. If the violence is too rough and persistent, it requires an R rating. If the violence is extreme and exaggerated, it requires an NC-17 rating.

Language

• G rated films usually can have language beyond polite (i.e. "darn", "dang", and "heck"), but never with profanity. PG rated films may have mild profanity (i.e. "ass" and "shit"). PG-13 rated films may contain up to four "harsher sexually derived words". However, if a character in a film says a "harsher sexually derived word" (such as fuck) five or more times, it is routine today for the film to receive an R rating, provided that the word is used as an expletive and not with a sexual meaning (this was mentioned in Be Cool, when Chili Palmer (John Travolta) complains about the film industry).^{[citation needed]} There have been two exceptions noted so far: Gunner Palace, a documentary of soldiers in the Second Gulf War, has 42 uses of the word, 2 used sexually, and The Hip Hop Project has 17 uses. In addition, the word "motherfucker" is apparently not allowed to be used even once in films not rated R, as when it is used, the expletive part is always cut out, usually by a loud sound (e.g., Live Free or Die Hard and Alien vs. Predator). Any explicit and grotesque sexual dialog will require an NC-17 rating.

Additionally, some notable PG films contain uses of the word fuck, including Big, Beetlejuice, Sixteen Candles, Terms of Endearment, and All the President's Men. The former two were released in 1988, four years after the PG-13 was introduced, whilst the latter two were originally rated R for language, but their ratings were overturned on appeal.

Drug use

See also: Product placement#Tobacco

• A reference to drugs, such as marijuana, usually gets a film a PG-13 rating. An example of an otherwise PG film getting a PG-13 for a drug reference (momentary, along with brief language) is Whale Rider. The film contained only mild profanity but received a PG-13 because of a scene where drug paraphernalia were briefly visible. Critic Roger Ebert criticized the MPAA for the rating and called it "a wild overreaction." Having more illegal drug use and/or abusing drugs as well as onscreen drug overdose, requires an R rating. Constant and graphic drug use requires an NC-17 rating.
• In May 2007, the MPAA announced that depictions of cigarette smoking would be considered in a film's rating.

Usually, if smoking is listed as one of the factors for a film's rating, the DVD and Blu-ray will contain an anti-smoking commercial that plays just before the main menu of the disc itself.

The 2011 Nickelodeon-animated film Rango caused some controversy over its PG rating among anti-smoking advocates. It was argued that the film showed over sixty depictions of characters smoking in the film, and therefore the child-friendly PG was inappropriate.

Sexual content

As of 2010, the MPAA has added a descriptor of "male nudity" to films featuring said content. A brief scene of nudity will require a PG rating. More than a brief nudity will require a PG-13 rating. Sexually-oriented (full frontal) nudity will require an R rating. An explicit or violent sex scene, including scenes of rape or sexual assault, will require an NC-17 rating. The animated 2009 film, Coraline caused controversy over its PG rating, because of a scene showing two women half naked dancing.

Effects of ratings

During the last decade PG ratings have begun to be associated with children's films, and are widely considered to be commercially bad for films targeted at teenagers and adults. For example, the 2004 film Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, which was not targeted at children, received a PG rating, which some believe caused it to underperform at the box office as preteens and teenagers may have brushed it off as a "kiddie flick".

Commercial viability of the NC-17 rating

In its initial years of use, few films with the NC-17 rating were profitable. Today, the NC-17 rating is found primarily in art house films where patrons are less likely to have a positive or negative impression of the rating. During the controversy about the MPAA's decision to give the film Blue Valentine an NC-17 rating (the Weinstein Company challenged this decision, and the MPAA ended up awarding the same cut an R rating on appeal), star Ryan Gosling noted that NC-17 films are not allowed wide advertisement and that, given the refusal of major cinema chains like AMC and Regal to show NC-17s, many such films will never be accessible to people who live in markets that do not have art house theatres.

In 1995, United Artists released the big-budget film Showgirls (1995). It became the most widely-distributed film with an NC-17 rating (showing in 1,388 cinemas simultaneously), but a financial failure that grossed only 45% of its $45 million budget. This helped establish the perception that the NC-17 rating was commercially untenable.

When the horror film Scream was submitted, it received an NC-17 rating for its graphic violence. However, Miramax Films, which funded the film, refused to release a film with this rating, so director Wes Craven fought long and hard, making many cuts to attempt to get an R rating. In the end, it took a second showing, with the members having an open mind toward the humorous subject matter, to get the wanted rating. Ironically, when the film was released to video, the version shown was the original, uncut version, though that was fixed in subsequent releases.

Requiem for a Dream (2000) was given an NC-17 rating. When Darren Aronofsky refused to edit the film for an R rating, Artisan Entertainment backed him up by releasing an unrated final cut. An R-rated cut was released later.

Some modest successes can be found among NC-17 theatrical releases, however. Fox Searchlight Pictures released the original NC-17-rated American edition of the European film The Dreamers (2003) in theaters in the United States, and later released both the original NC-17 and the cut R-rated version on DVD. A Fox Searchlight spokesman said the NC-17 rating did not give them much trouble in releasing this film (they had no problem booking it, and only Mormon-owned Deseret News refused to take the film's ad), and Fox Searchlight was satisfied with this film's United States box office result. Another notable exception is Bad Education, a NC-17 foreign-language film which grossed $5.2 million in the United States theatrically (a moderate success for a foreign-language film).

With the growth of the home entertainment market since the late 1990s, a successful marketing vehicle for NC-17 films has emerged. Since R ratings are preferred for theatrical exhibition, filmmakers often cut films to meet the requirements. The "uncut" (either unrated or NC-17) version is sometimes released in limited engagements, other formats (such as DVD or Blu-ray), and in foreign markets. This practice has become commonplace as an enticement to sell the films for home entertainment use.^{[citation needed]}

As of March 2007, according to Variety, MPAA chairman Dan Glickman had been made aware of the attempts to introduce a new rating, or find ways to reduce the stigma of the NC-17 rating. Film studios have pressured the MPAA to retire the NC-17 rating, because of its likely impact on their film's box office revenue.

Legal scholar Julie Hilden wrote that the MPAA has a "masterpiece exception" that it has made for films that would ordinarily earn an NC-17 rating, if not for the broader artistic masterpiece that requires the violence depicted as a part of its message. She cites Saving Private Ryan, with its bloody depiction of the D-Day landings, as an example. This exception is troubling, Hilden argues, because it ignores context and perspective in evaluating other films and favors conventional films over edgier films that contribute newer and more interesting points to public discourse about violence.

The 2004 horror film Saw was going to be NC-17, but was rated R instead, as were its subsequent sequels.

Issuance of "R Cards"

Starting in 2004, GKC Theatres (now Carmike Cinemas) had 'R-Cards' that let teens see R-rated films without adult accompaniment. The cards generated much controversy, and Jack Valenti of the MPAA said in a news article: "I think it distorts and ruptures the intent of this voluntary film ratings system. All R-rated films are not alike." The president of the National Association of Theatre Owners, John Fithian, also says that the cards can be harmful. He noted in a news article for the Christian Science Monitor that the R rating is "broad enough to include relatively family-friendly fare such as Billy Elliot and Erin Brockovich (both rated R for language) along with films that push the extremes of violence, including Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill."

Criticisms

Emphasis on sex and language versus violence

The film rating system has had a number of high profile critics. Film critic Roger Ebert argued that the system places too much emphasis on sex while allowing the portrayal of massive amounts of gruesome violence. The uneven emphasis on sex versus violence is echoed by other critics, including David Ansen, as well as many filmmakers. Moreover, Ebert argued that the rating system is geared toward looking at trivial aspects of the film (such as the number of times a profane word is used) rather than at the general theme of the film (for example, if the film realistically depicts the consequences of sex and violence). He called for an A (adults only) rating, to indicate films high in violence or mature content that should not be marketed to teenagers, but do not have NC-17 levels of sex. He also called for the NC-17 rating to be removed and have the X rating revived. He felt that everyone understood what X-rated means while fewer people understood what NC-17 meant. He called for ratings A and X to identify whether an adult film is pornographic or not.

MPAA chairman Dan Glickman has disputed these claims, stating that far more films are initially rated NC-17 for violence than for sex but that these are later edited by studios to receive an R rating.

Despite this, an internal critic of the early workings of the ratings system is film critic and writer Stephen Farber, who was a CARA intern for six months during 1969 and 1970. In The Movie Ratings Game, he documents a prejudice against sex in relation to violence. This Film Is Not Yet Rated also points out that four times as many films received an NC-17 rating for sex rather as they did for violence according to the MPAA's own website.

The 2011 documentary, Bully, received an R rating for the language contained within the film. The decision spawned controversy, as the rating would prevent most of the intended audience, middle and high schoolers, from seeing the film. The film's director, Lee Hirsch, has refused to recut the film, stating, "I feel a responsibility as a filmmaker, as the person entrusted to tell (these kids') stories, to not water them down." A petition collected more than 200,000 signatures to change the film's rating and a version with less profanity was finally given a PG-13 rating.

Tougher standards for independent studios

Many critics of the MPAA system, especially independent distributors, have charged that major studios' releases often receive more lenient treatment than independent films. They allege that Saving Private Ryan, with its intense depiction of the D-Day invasion of Normandy, would have earned an NC-17 had it not been a Steven Spielberg film. The independent film Saints and Soldiers, which contains no nudity, almost no sex (there is a scene where a German soldier is about to rape a French woman), very little profanity, and a minimum of violence, was said to have been rated R for a single clip where a main character is shot and killed, and required modification of just that one scene to receive a PG-13 rating.

The comedy Scary Movie, released by Dimension Films, at the time a division of The Walt Disney Company, contained "strong crude sexual humor, language, drug use and violence," including images of ejaculation and an erect penis, but was rated R, to the surprise of many reviewers and audiences; by comparison, the comparatively tame porn spoof Orgazmo, an independent release by South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker, contained "explicit sexual content and dialogue" and received an NC-17 (the only onscreen penis seen is a dildo). As Parker and Stone did not have the money and the time to edit the film, it retained its NC-17 rating. Adam Carolla's film The Hammer was given an R rating for brief language which prompted him to question why the MPAA would rate the film R, despite there being one to two instances of "fuck", and other minimal profanities, which is mostly considered PG-13 rated fare. A similar incident occurred with the Oscar winning independent film The King's Speech, which had a rough total of 17 instances of "fuck" used over two brief scenes. The film's subsequent R rating was criticized due to the tame content of the rest of the film, as well as the relative importance to the plot the cursing plays. Eventually, an edited, PG-13 rated version was released, but never released on DVD.

Call for publicizing the standards

Many critics of the system, both conservative and liberal, would like to see the MPAA ratings unveiled and the standards made public. The MPAA has consistently cited nationwide scientific polls (conducted each year by the Opinion Research Corporation of Princeton, New Jersey), which show that parents find the ratings useful. Critics such as Matt Stone in Kirby Dick's documentary This Film is not Yet Rated respond this proves only that parents find the ratings more useful than nothing at all. In the film it is also discussed how the MPAA will not reveal any information about who or why certain decisions are made. They will not even reveal to the film maker the specific scenes that need to be cut in order to get alternative rating.

Accusation of "ratings creep"

Although there has always been concern about the content of films, the MPAA has, in recent years, been accused of a "ratings creep", whereby the films that fall into today's ratings categories now contain more objectionable material than those that appeared in the same categories two decades earlier. A study put forward by the Harvard School of Public Health in 2004 concluded that there had been a significant increase in the level of profanity, sex and violence in films released between 1992 and 2003. Kimberly Thompson, director of the study, stated: "The findings demonstrate that ratings creep has occurred over the last decade and that today’s movies contain significantly more violence, sex, and profanity on average than movies of the same rating a decade ago."

Several independent consumer information services have stated that they have perceived a trend in films containing more objectionable material. In September 2000, the ChildCare Action Project published a report with conclusions similar to that of the Harvard School of Public Health's, where they claimed that their findings indicated a "ratings creep" towards more explicit material.

Questions of relevance

Slashfilm.com managing editor David Chen wrote on the website: "It's time for more people to condemn the MPAA and their outrageous antics. We’re heading towards an age when we don’t need a mommy-like organization to dictate what our delicate sensibilities can and can’t be exposed to. I deeply hope that the MPAA’s irrelevance is imminent." Chicago Tribune film critic Michael Phillips wrote that the MPAA ratings board "has become foolish and irrevelvant [sic], and its members do not have my interests at heart, or yours. They’re too easy on violence yet bizarrely reactionary when it comes to nudity and language."

Alternative systems

The MPAA system is not mandatory for films produced outside the major studios and therefore can be bypassed. In 2010, the Voluntary Media Rating (known as VoMeR for short) system was created by US-based filmmakers frustrated with the MPAA system, yet do not wish their films released unrated. The Voluntary Media Rating is a self-rating system for film, music and new-media producers. The system has a key feature of two levels of parental admonishment; with Adult under age [ wA < (age) ] and Restricted content under age [ Rc < (age) ]. The admonishment scale is refined by the age number. There are two informative parts to the voluntary self-rating: a Letter+Age code and disclosure details.

The US feature film Spectrauma was the first to adopt the Voluntary Media Rating system with a wA < 14 rating.

See also

• Production Code
• This Film Is Not Yet Rated, a 2006 film investigating the MPAA rating system
• Richard Heffner longtime head of the MPAA ratings board
• Foreign national equivalents
  • Irish Film Classification Office
  • British Board of Film Classification, United Kingdom
  • Central Board of Film Certification, India
  • Australian Classification Board
  • New Zealand Office of Film and Literature Classification
  • Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle der Filmwirtschaft (Germany)
  • Canadian motion picture rating system (although ratings vary between provinces)
• Examples in other media
  • Entertainment Software Rating Board
  • Marvel Rating System, with which the MPAA had a brief dispute
  • Television rating system
• Related concepts
  • Censorship
  • Strong language
  • Edited movie
• List of NC-17 rated films
• Film Advisory Board, which offers an alternative to the MPAA ratings system
• United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Office for Film and Broadcasting
• ChildCare Action Project A fundamentalist Christian alternative to MPAA ratings.
• MPAA vintage theatrical movie ads
  • 1966 MPAA Julie Andrews "Signs" theater ad (introduces MPAA seal).
  • "What is GMRX?" 1968 MPAA theater ad
  • 1970 MPAA "Symbols" theater ad (explains G, GP, R, and X ratings).
  • 1972 "Charlton Heston on Movie Ratings" MPAA theater ad (explains G, PG, R, and X ratings).

External links

• Classification and Ratings Administration Official Website with ratings database
• MPAA Film Ratings website