The Current Rating System in the United States Essay

The film industry was like a toddler learning to walk. The community found it necessary to guide that walk according to its beliefs and values. Above all, a concerted effort was made to protect children. That was perhaps the good thing that arose out of the censorship of the early film theaters content. It is easy to understand the logic and the need to monitor content that would have an impact on children

Since film director, Steven Spielberg, introduced the PG-13 rating in 1984, ratings creep has infected films. Ratings creep allows material such as perverse language or mature content that would appear in an R rated film to make its way into films rated PG-13 (Hansen 273). In a content analysis that was conducted by three researchers they found that “[recent] studies of movie content have indicated that movies with ratings of G, PG, and PG-13, which are unrestricted for child audiences, have included increasing amounts of adult content . . . across the past decade” (Potts and Belden 267). In PG-13 rated films more material that is objectionable is appearing in the films. In an article for the Journal of Adolescent Health, the author writes, “[despite] the criterion that [‘] rough or persistent violence is absent [’] in PG-13 films, studies indicate that PG-13 contains equal, if not more, violence than R films” (Nalkur, Jamieson, and Romer 4). Ratings creep is something that can happen over time. The Production Code of the early Hollywood years saw a digression of censorship during the late 50s and early 60s when the committee started to make compromises allowing more elements that were objectionable to creep into films of that era. Because of the digression of the Production Code the MPAA president, Jack Valenti, decided to change the Production Code to the current rating system.

In their journal article of “Hetero-Romantic Love and Heterosexiness in Children's G-Rated Films,” Karin Martin and Emily Kazyak discussed how the animated Disney films as well as G-rated movies construct heterosexuality to young viewers – children, as they should not contain any of heterosexual scenes. According to the authors, young children are seemingly involved deeply in media world as it is a fruitful chapter of their sexual socialization; animated Disney films or other G-rated movies are what they are oftentimes engaged and attracted. It is always plotted as a stunning, beautiful lady waits for a brave, handsome guy to come to her life, then they would live happily ever after since the movies mark relationships between opposite sex repeatedly,

This film highlights the flaws of humanity in a western world. The films ability to touch on topics of classism, prostitution, and alcoholism makes the content mature and unlike typical western films. This revolutionary and innovative western created a foundation for many future films. The sophistication of the content, and lack of adherence to the production code makes this film an “adult”

From the The Godfather to The Last Airbender, classic and forgettable movies alike all had to go through the MPAA to receive the glory or infamy they are remembered for today. During Jack Valenti’s 38 year reign over the MPAA, he set the standards of how movies would be rated for years to come. The MPAA’s rating system has become outdated when compared to America’s constantly changing societal standards which has allowed filmmakers to push the boundaries with their films while still getting the ratings they want.

The magazine article describes the stark contrast in the portrayal of female sexuality between pre-Code and post-Code movies. Pre-Code movies are flagrantly sexual; although some contemporary film critics believe that women were simply embracing their sexual freedom through these pre-code films, the marketing for many of these brazenly sexual films often included derisive comments from males, suggesting that the intent of overt sexuality in films was more crude. Post-code films often used screenwriting strategies to stay within bounds of the Code. Denby argues that this censorship actually created a net benefit for women, who were given stronger personalities and more interesting plot lines instead of simply being sexual objects. The article suggests that censorship led to the inception of the screwball comedy genre, which was forced to “create sex without sex.”

This Film is Not Yet Rated is a documentary directed by Kirby Dick, and produced by Eddie Schmidt about the Motion Picture Association of America (or the MPAA) and their often-unjust rules in rating movies. The MPAA’s rating system is as follows: G and PG are the same as they are in Australia, M is called PG-13 in America, MA15+ is R, and R18+ is NC-17, the latter being the strongest rating. The difference between an R movie and an NC-17 movie can be as wide as hundreds of millions of dollars, and is factored by disparities between Hollywood and indie filmmakers, straight and gay sex, male and female sexual depictions and violent and sexual content.

Hollywood got rid of its self-imposing ‘production code.’ This allowed things like adult language, adult themes, sex, and violence to be put into the movies that Hollywood produced.

The MPAA rating system, which was created and is regulated by the Motion Picture Association of America, was set in place to help determine how old you have to be in order to view different movies (MPAA Ratings). This system is supposed to help determine whether a movie is deemed appropriate for different age levels, but most of the age groups are quite broad and how a person views the level of appropriateness can be biased. The current rating system was created in 1968, which replaced the original system called, “The Production Code” (also known as the “PCA” or the Production Code Administration) (Rocchi). Not all systems are perfect, which is why this one was revised and eventually turned into the more recent MPAA rating system.

The documentary This Film is Not Yet Rated, provides an account about the MPAA and their rating system. The film contends three main arguments against the MPAA rating's prejudice between; sex and violent content, homosexual sex and heterosexual sex, and bloody and non-bloody violence, by their use of side-by-side comparisons. A main argument in the film is how the MPAA differs in its treatment of sexual content versus violent content. The documentary contends that main difference between NC-17 and R is that R would only show missionary position sex; while other type of sexual behaviors is NC-17. Side-by-side examinations of The Cooler and Scary Movie, is used as evidence for this argument.

All it will do is make them want to watch the movie more. Rating and cencering a movie is easy but, stopping underaged people from watching is hard. Just because the rating is put on the movie and a age is applied doesn’t mean kids and teens won’t watch it at all. What adults aren’t seeing is that youth listen to everyone. Youth picks up on things and can easily learn about explicit

In 1968s, a voluntary rating system was set up for keeping the youngster from seeing undesired or unsuitable film. This system is called the MPAA (the Motion Picture Association of America). Based on “This Film is Not Yet Rated” (2006), inside of the MPAA, there is an anonymous group of parents gather to rate films. They give out the final rating result out like: G, PG-13, NC-17, R, and PG. Basically, G means all ages admitted; PG, there are some material may not be suitable for children, parental guidance suggested; PG-13, Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13; R, under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian; NC-17, nobody 17 or under should be admitted. Filmmaker must submit their films to the MPAA, then, MPAA

It contains the following ratings: AL (All), 6, 9, 12, and 16. These number ratings show the age for which the viewer should be. For ratings 12 and 16, certain broadcast restrictions are set for when they can be broadcasted on television. Ratings of 12 can only be broadcasted after 8 PM and ratings of 16 is after 10 PM. Compared to the MPAA’s rating system, all films can be broadcasted publicly without having to worry about the films exposure in the public. Films rated 16 do require adult supervision at theaters. Additional icons are also next to the ratings to indicate reasons for that recommendation. These include violence, fear, sex, discrimination, drug and alcohol abuse, and coarse language. There are also more categories for different child age groups to take into account their developmental process of reasoning compared to the PG and PG-13 rating. The Kijkwijzer only gives a recommendation and gives the parents the final

With reference to relevant cultural theories analyse the representation of sexuality in a film/television text of your choice.

In order to establish a group that censors televisions and movies, the Motion Picture Producers Association (MPAA) was created. Each rating category has a description of the appropriate age at which to view the film and whether or not a parent’s accompaniment is necessary. The Motion Picture Producers Association assesses a film and gives it a rating of G (general audiences), PG (parental guidance suggested), PG-13 (parents strongly cautioned), R (restricted), or NC-17 (no one under seventeen admitted). As the film industry has been changing over time, so have the ratings. More and more parents are having issues with the ratings that some films are issued. “The man behind the ratings, Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), says the system works just fine. ‘Parents use it and trust it, and that's why it's lasted for almost 35 years,’ Valenti says. ‘It warns parents in advance about what's in a particular movie, but ultimately, parents are responsible for the behavior and conduct of their children — not the ratings system’ (Hansen 273).”