Motion Picture Association film rating system

"R-rated" redirects here. For the "R" rating in other countries, see Motion picture rating system.

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

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 system applies only to motion pictures that are submitted for rating. Other media (such as television programs and video games) may be rated by other entities. A voluntary system not enforced by law, it is one of various motion picture rating systems used to help parents decide what movies are appropriate for their children.

In the U.S., the MPAA's rating systems are the most-recognized guide for parents regarding the content of movies, and each rating has been trademarked by MPAA so that they are not used outside of motion pictures. The MPAA system has been criticized for the secrecy of its decisions as well as for perceived inconsistencies.

Contrary to popular belief, MPAA ratings carry no force of local, state, or federal law anywhere in the United States. The MPAA's rating system is administered by the Classification & Ratings Administration, which is not a government agency. MPAA ratings only serve 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 the section entitled "Commercial viability of the NC-17 rating" below).

Ratings

Since 1990, the MPAA movie ratings have been as follows:

Rating symbol	Meaning
G rating symbol	G- General Audiences All ages admitted (1968–present)
PG rating symbol	PG- Parental Guidance Suggested Some material may not be suitable for children (1972–present)
PG-13 rating symbol	PG-13- Parents Strongly Cautioned Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13 (1984–present)
R rating symbol	R- Restricted Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian (1968–present)
NC-17 rating symbol	NC-17- No One 17 and Under Admitted (1990–present)

Key

  – Used for G, PG and PG-13 for trailers

  – Used for NC-17 for trailers and also used for Internet trailers

  – Used for R-rated movie trailers, and also M-15, R-17 and AO trailers

  – Used for all movies

  – Used for [UNRATED] only

If a film is not submitted for rating, the label NR (Not Rated) or Unrated is used. However, It is not usually used due to parents not knowing the difference NR is Not yet rated and UR is Unrated but sometimes professional use only but all must be over 21 used for graphic "unnecessary" even bloody violence; hardcore sex/pornography; extreme language; illegal drug use; or colorful behavior

History

Replacement of Hays Code

The Hays Code, in place since 1930, was deemed by Jack Valenti, who became president of the MPAA in May, 1966, as hopelessly out of date and no longer appropriate for the current film and cultural environment. He felt compelled to this position by the release of major studio films such as Blowup, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, and others 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, but 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", and on November 1, 1968 the voluntary MPAA film rating system was established, with three organizations: MPAA, the National Association of Theater Owners (NATO), and the International Film Importers & Distributors of America (IFIDA), as its monitoring and guiding groups.

The original movie ratings were:

• G: General Audiences – All Ages Admitted.
• M: Mature Audiences – Parental Discretion Advised, But All Ages Admitted.
• R: Restricted – Children Under 16 Not Admitted Without an Accompanying Parent or Adult Guardian.
• X: Adults Only - No One Under 18 will be Admitted.

NOTE: From 1967 to 1996, the R rating's logo was supposed to represent an angry cougar.

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: any producer not submitting a movie for MPAA rating could self-apply the "X" rating (or any other symbol or description that was not an MPAA trademark).

With 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"-rated films or "R"-rated films had more intense content. This led to the "GP" rating in January 1970.

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- and X-rated movies was raised from 16 to 17. It was changed back from 17 to 18 for X to stop underage kids from seeing pornography. However, the age on the X rating varied per the jurisdiction.

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 1984 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 18 Admitted.

By late 1978, the PG rating was reworded, with pre-teenagers being replaced with children.

Adoption of PG-13 rating

In 1984, explicit violence and gore in the films Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom 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 movies 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 on July 1, 1984, introduced the PG-13 rating indicating that some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

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 Suggested – Some 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.

X is replaced by NC-17

In the rating system's early years, X-rated movies, such as Midnight Cowboy (1969), Fritz the Cat (1972), and Last Tango in Paris (1973) were understood to be non-pornographic films with adult content. 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.

This association led many newspapers and television stations to refuse advertisements for X-rated movies and some cinema owners refused to exhibit them. Such policies led to the distributors' compromise with George Romero's horror film Dawn of the Dead (1978). Participating NATO cinema owners agreed to enforce the audience restriction rating, but the letter X would not appear in advertising. Instead, the following content warning advisory message was displayed: "There is no explicit sex in this picture; however, there are scenes of violence, which may be considered shocking. No one under 17 will be admitted."

In 1989, two critically acclaimed art films, The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover and Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, were released featuring very strong adult content. Neither was approved for an R rating, thus limiting their commercial distribution. Director David Lynch suggested an RR rating for such adult-oriented films.

The last film rated X by the MPAA was the 1990 horror film sequel Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III.

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 the late 1990s 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 the late 1990s the NC-17 rating age limit was changed 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 movies. In addition, large video distribution businesses such as Blockbuster Video and Hollywood Video refused to stock NC-17 movies. Nevertheless, some stores with this policy stocked unrated films that would otherwise receive the NC-17 rating.

NOTE: The X rating is still in use, but less than 1% of movies are X because most pornographic movies are UNRATED.

Re-released films

Some films, if re-submitted when re-release, are given a revised rating by the current MPAA. Midnight Cowboy, for example, was rated X when released in 1969, but re-rated (unedited) R in 1971. Films which predated the ratings system (and thus originally had no rating) are sometimes rated when re-released. An example is the "approved" (under the pre-1968 MPAA) The Manchurian Candidate which was re-rated PG-13 in 1988.

Additional information for parents

Since September 1990, the MPAA added brief explanations of why a particular film received an R rating, allowing parents to know what type of content the film contained. Sometime later, the MPAA began applying rating explanations for PG, PG-13 and NC-17 films as well. As of May 2001, 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 audiences.

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 movie with any rating.
• Yellow band: approved for age-appropriate audiences; Internet trailers only.
• Red band: approved for restricted audiences; can be shown before R, NC-17 or unrated films.

Rating process

The MPAA does not release specific guidelines as to what content will receive which rating. However, they do state that many factors are considered including content such as sex, violence, nudity, language, adult topics and drug use. Some guidelines can be derived based on patterns in the MPAA's actual rating decisions. Ratings criteria are intended to reflect changing norms and compromises between the diverse needs and rights of various interests in a large and complex modern society. Inevitably, the private views of the Ratings Board members will affect what is deemed acceptable for children to watch, determined in part by the culture of the time. Therefore, an evaluation of ratings criteria must specify what year or approximate period of time is being referred to, when modeling the standards relevant to each film classification. For example, according to This Film Is Not Yet Rated, films depicting homosexual sex scenes have been treated much more harshly than those depicting similar heterosexual scenes.

Language

• If a film uses "one of the harsher sexually derived words" (such as fuck) one to four times, it is routine today for the film to receive a PG-13 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 complains about the movie industry.). Both Back to School and Away from Her contain four uses of "fuck" in non-sexual context. An example of a film that might suggest this criterion is Waiting for Guffman, which contains mostly PG-13 content, yet is rated R (brief strong language) because a man auditioning for a role uses fuck in a sexual context while quoting Raging Bull (the only time it is spoken in the movie). Also, some films are rated R but contain minimal use of the word, such as Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Run Lola Run, 88 Minutes, and Frost/Nixon. In addition, if a film has PG-13 content, yet uses fuck many times in one scene, then it generally gets an R rating (for example, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles and The King's Speech). Exceptions may be allowed, "by a special vote of the ratings board" where the board feels such an exception would better reflect the sensibilities of American parents. A couple of exceptions were noted: rare films such as Guilty by Suspicion were allowed as many as nine uses of the word; probably because of the precedent set in the 1970s by politically important films such as All the President's Men. All the President's Men was once rated R but then re-rated PG on appeal. It is a common misconception that if a movie uses fuck in a nonsexual context more than once, it will automatically receive an R rating. In reality, PG-13 movies have been allowed two or three uses. Some movies such as Valkyrie, I, Robot, The Social Network, and The Sum of All Fears each have fuck said more than once, but still received the PG-13 rating. There have been two extreme circumstances so far: Gunner Palace has 42 uses of the word, 2 used sexually, and The Hip Hop Project has 17 uses. Both films were rated PG-13 on appeal from an R rating. Another example of a film not getting an R rating, despite having a sexual use of fuck, is "The 6th Day". The film is rated PG-13 (for strong sci-fi violence, brief strong language, and some sensuality), yet contains a scene in which Arnold Schwarzenegger tells the villain to "go fuck yourself". The possible reason for this is that this is the only use of the word in the film. Precedent for this dates back to the early days of the system, in which an independent film called Saturday Morning (a documentary including interviews with youth) was allowed many extra uses of the word to accommodate its documentary nature without restricting its primary audience. (See Farber's book, described below, for documentation of the Saturday Morning fact.) The word cunt, while rarely used in American films, has warranted an NC-17 on at least one occasion, in the film Tropic of Cancer, although the MPAA has allowed the term pussy to be used in PG-13 films, such as Super 8.

Drugs

• A reference to drugs, such as marijuana, usually gets a movie a PG-13 rating at a minimum. A well known example of an otherwise PG movie 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."
• A graphic or explicit scene of illegal drug use will earn a film at least a PG-13 rating (such as Ray, where Ray Charles is depicted using heroin and marijuana, and Walk the Line, where Johnny Cash consumes pills throughout and at one point, overdoses) and, especially in the case of hard drugs, even an R rating. In rare cases, extremely graphic scenes of hard drug use will get a film an NC-17 (see Bad Lieutenant, rated NC-17 "for sexual violence, strong sexual situations & dialogue, graphic drug use.")
• In May 2007, the MPAA announced that depictions of cigarette smoking would be considered in a film's rating.

Walt Disney Pictures no longer allows smoking in its movies, or at least in its newer movies, as at least one older movie, 101 Dalmatians, was released uncut on DVD after Disney banned smoking in its films despite the fact that it portrays Cruella de Vil as a fanatic smoker. The 2011 animated film Rango caused some controversy over its PG rating among anti-smoking advocates. It was argued that the movie showed over sixty depictions of characters smoking in the film, and was therefore inappropriate for the child friendly PG rating.

Sexual content

• If a film contains strong sexual content, it usually receives at least an R rating. The film Lost in Translation contained a scene in a strip club that had brief topless nudity while the song "Fuck the Pain Away" by Peaches played in the background. The scene was brief and the rest of the film had PG-13 level content, but the film still received an R rating. In general, films containing strong female nudity in a sexual manner could receive an automatic R rating. In the case of I Capture the Castle, a shot of a topless woman got the film an R rating "for brief nudity". In many other countries with a similar ratings system (such as the UK, Australia, and Canada), the film received an equivalent of G or PG.
• Shirtless men are allowed in G-rated films, while topless women usually earn at least a PG-13. Before the adaptation of the PG-13 rating, topless women could be seen in several PG-rated films such as some of the ones mentioned below. Even after the PG-13 rating had been implemented, topless women have been featured in PG-rated films, generally if the film depicts it in a cultural or scientific context, such as in the documentary film Babies or if the nudity is not meant in a sexual manner. If a film contains male rear nudity, it is more likely to be given a lower rating than if the nudity were female. Male nudity is generally regarded as ribald (i.e. mooning) or natural, while female nudity is generally regarded as sexual. Though if a film doesn't depict the nudity in a sexual way, it can get a lower standard in the film's rating. When it comes to exposed genitalia, there appears to be a double standard that allows male genitals to be shown much more often and more graphically than female genitals. Some films containing full-frontal male nudity have received PG and PG-13 ratings, such as The Cider House Rules (PG-13), in which a male migrant worker takes a shower and his genitalia are visible for a few seconds, though the scene is very brief and not in a sexual context. Films containing male or female full-frontal nudity usually earn an R rating, or possibly NC-17 if depicted in sexual situations. Some R-rated films have male frontal nudity such as Boogie Nights, Jackass: The Movie, Sideways, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, The Life of Brian and many more. While many films show female full-frontal nudity, in nearly every case, it is mostly the pubic hair that is seen and the actual vulva varies from being not visible to very visible. The end result is that male genitals are far more prevalent than female genitals in R-rated films. As of 2010, the MPAA has added a descriptor of "male nudity" to movies featuring said content.
• The film The Cooler contains a scene implying cunnilingus. However, the makers were forced to remove a shot of female pubic hair (not genitals) to receive an R rating. A similar situation occurs in an infamous scene in Black Swan, in which one woman clearly performs cunnilingus on another, but all that is shown is the woman's expression. In the same year Black Swan was released, the film Blue Valentine displayed a slightly more explicit scene of cunnilingus performed on a woman by a man, as she is viewed from the side and his head is clearly buried between her thighs. Blue Valentine was initially rated NC-17 for this, but re-rated without any cuts on appeal.
• There are many films including buttock and/or breast nudity (and in some cases, genital nudity) that are rated PG-13 or less:

Movie	Year	Rating	Content	Prior to PG-13?
The Abyss	1989	PG-13	When Bud is trying to revive Lindsey, who seems to have nearly drowned, and her shirt is opened up, exposing her breasts, as he uses a defibrillator.	No
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen	1988	PG	A live-action depiction of Botticelli's painting The Birth of Venus in which the title subject is portrayed nude. Her genitalia are not visible, though her breasts and nipples are.	No
Airplane!	1980	PG	During a moment of panic and confusion aboard the jet airliner of the title, a topless woman runs close to the camera, briefly faces it, then continues running. Only her nude torso and breasts are shown; her face is not visible.	Yes
Airplane II - The Sequel	1982	PG	A nude girl (genitalia are covered, but not her breasts) poses for a painting. Also on a monitor you see X-Rays only when women run by, revealing their breasts on the screen.	Yes
The Andromeda Strain	1971	G with the text "may be too intense for younger children"	A deceased woman's bare breasts.	Yes
Back to School	1986	PG-13	Rodney Dangerfield accidentally walks in on a showering co-ed.	No
Barbarella	1968	PG	During the opening credits, Jane Fonda changes her outfit, and her nipples are visible. Later, she wears a semi-transparent top, and near the end, her character is put in a sexual torture device.	Yes
Beowulf	2007	PG-13	While fighting Grendel, Beowulf is naked and his buttocks are shown many times; Later, Grendel's mother emerged from the water, though her breasts are covered, but not her genitalia.	No
Clash of the Titans	1981	PG	A few scenes with nudity, briefly showing either the breasts or buttocks.	Yes
Critters 2: The Main Course	1988	PG-13	Bounty hunter Lee chooses a human form to transform into, and the result is him morphing into a model from an issue of the Playboy magazine. As he transforms, his new female form is seen topless.	No
The Animatrix	2003	PG-13	In a glass tub there are nude people. Though it's from far away, you see their genitalia	No
Date Movie	2006	PG-13	As Andy takes off her bikini (shown from behind) there is one very brief shot where you can see her breasts. Also, Julia rips off her breasts in a dream sequence, but the nipples are not shown.	No
Diamonds Are Forever	1971	PG	Bare female breasts are visible several times throughout the movie.	Yes
Doc Hollywood	1991	PG-13	Female nudity is seen when Julie Warner emerges from a lake nude.	No
The Fifth Element	1997	PG-13	Milla Jovovich's nipples are briefly visible in two scenes, the first when her character is created in a medical chamber, and again later in the film, when she changes out of a wet shirt in behind Bruce Willis and Ian Holm.	No
Godzilla vs. Megalon	1973	G	Inside a container truck pornographic material is barely visible on the back wall.	Yes
Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes	1984	PG	Tarzan doesn't wear clothes until his late teenage years, leading to 5 minutes of full frontal nudity.	Yes
Hair	1979	PG	You see a woman's breasts as she goes for a swim and a man's penis as he is at the army (Very brief and hardly visible).	Yes
Howard the Duck	1986	PG	Howard is propelled out of his apartment and crashes through the wall of a female duck with human-like breasts in her bath.	No
The Living Daylights	1987	PG	James Bond exposes a woman's breasts to distract a guard. Later, a men's washhouse is rolled over in a camp in Afghanistan revealing male rear nudity.	No
The Rescuers	1977	G	In a window in the background a naked woman can be seen. Later, this scene was edited	Yes
Monster in the Closet	1986	PG	Margo is in the shower and she gets interrupted, her breasts are briefly shown.	No
National Lampoon's European Vacation	1985	PG-13 (on appeal; previously R)	A brief scene where a woman unbuttons her shirt, revealing that she is not wearing a bra. Both nipples are exposed.	No
Octopussy	1983	PG	Bare breasts and buttocks are visible throughout the opening credits. A woman later emerges from a pool unclothed.	Yes
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves	1991	PG-13	Robin is shown swimming naked in a lake; his bare buttocks are briefly seen; this is fully viewed by several characters, one of whom is Maid Marian.	No
The Simpsons Movie	2007	PG-13	Several shots of Bart's penis censored as he skateboards naked through the town. Suddenly there is no censorship and his genitalia are clearly visible.	No
Sixteen Candles	1984	PG (on appeal; previously R)	Shower scene shows middle distant view of female breasts and buttocks.	Yes
Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi	1983	PG	In Jabba's throne room where, as a dancer is being dropped into the Rancor pit, her top comes off and her breasts are shown for a split second.	Yes
Superman: The Movie	1978	PG	When infant Kal-el steps out of the rocket and sees Jonathan and Martha Kent for the first time, his penis is clearly visible for a few seconds.	Yes
Titanic	1997	PG-13	Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) draws a nude portrait of Rose (Kate Winslet), while the actress lay nude in her pose.	No
Trail of the Pink Panther	1982	PG	Two women are shown in a grape vat nude and their breasts are shown (very briefly).	Yes
Weekend at Bernie's II	1993	PG	Bernie, who is being dragged by a parasail, pulls the bikini tops off of two women on a beach. Bernie drops them while airborne, and they fall into a man's hands. One of the women snatches the tops back from the man, and her breast is seen for a split second.	No

Violence

• Films that have legitimate historical or educational value are often granted leniency. Some have argued that the level of violence in Saving Private Ryan merited an NC-17 rating, but that the film was given leniency because it was a historical war movie (However, in both the UK and Ireland the film received a 15 certificate, in New Zealand the film received an R16 rating and in Australia an MA15+ rating after an appeal against the initial R rating). This argument also came up when The Passion of the Christ was released without cuts, with an R rating.
• Violence which includes bloodshed will usually receive a PG-13 or R rating, though in extreme cases bloodshed violence may receive an NC-17 rating. The film Scream was originally rated NC-17 for "graphic horror violence and gore" but under appeal by director Wes Craven, it was changed to R with some overly graphic content cut out. It does depend on how long the blood is actually shown and how much of it. Bloodless violence will usually be rated PG or PG-13 (e.g. Alien vs. Predator was intended to get an R rating based on violence and gore, but because the gore was Alien blood and not human, the film was rated PG-13. Because of this, the unrated version contains the same content as the PG-13-rated version in terms of violence. However, every violent scene includes human bloodshed. The same thing happened with Pearl Harbor, in which explicit gunshot wounds and violence were added to get an R rating on the director's cut DVD.) The anime Appleseed has PG-13 level violence. However, there was a scene of a mecha crushing a man's head, with resulting blood. The MPAA rated it R for "some violence", but the scene was rather undetailed compared to other films of its type, like The Matrix. (In the UK, Appleseed was rated 12A and in Spain it was rated 13.) There Will Be Blood had no explicit violence, but the MPAA also rated this film R for "some violence". There is a scene in which a man is beaten with a bowling pin and a small pool of blood is shown onscreen as a result.

Early use of the G rating

From the adoption of the system through the mid-1970s, mildly adult mainstream films such as Airport, Planet of the Apes, The Green Berets, The Odd Couple, Tora! Tora! Tora!, Star Trek: The Motion Picture and 2001: A Space Odyssey were commonly released with G ratings. During this time, adult content such as mild cursing, tame nude scenes, and gory (for the time) scenes of violence were sometimes found in G-rated films (besides the previously mentioned The Andromeda Strain, The Green Berets, Planet of the Apes, and Tora! Tora! Tora!, some other examples of the period would include The Battle of Britain, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Dracula Has Risen From the Grave, Julius Caesar, and Sweet Charity, among others; as well as some older movies still showing in the theaters, such as Ben Hur, Gone With the Wind, Hotel Lawrence of Arabia, and The Ten Commandments). By the later 1970s, however, the G rating became strongly associated with children's films. Many G-rated adult films have since been re-rated PG.

MPAA Ratings Board

Members of the MPAA's Classification and Rating Administration, which the MPAA claims consists of a broad, demographically representative panel of parents, view the movie, discuss it, and vote on the film's rating. The age of a panel members' child(ren) does not affect the eligibility of participating in the parental panel. Further information about members is difficult to obtain, as they operate in secret. The only publicly known member is chair Joan Graves. If the movie's producer is unhappy with this rating, he or she can re-edit the film and resubmit it, or can appeal to an Appeals Board. Appeals generally involve a film which was rated R for which the producer is seeking to have the rating changed to PG-13, or a film rated NC-17 for which the producer is seeking to have the rating changed to R.

According to This Film Is Not Yet Rated, the members of the board as of December 2005 were:

• Joan Graves, Chair
• Anthony "Tony" Hey, Senior Rater, 61,
• Scott Young, Senior Rater, 51,
• Joann Yatabe, Senior Rater, 61,
• Matt Ioakimedes, 46,
• Barry Freeman, 45,
• Arleen Bates, 44,
• Joan Worden, 56,
• Howard Fridkin, 47,
• Kori Jones, now deceased

and the MPAA Appeals Board members:

• Matt Brandt, President, Trans-Lux Theatres
• Pete Cole, Film Buyer, The Movie Experience
• Bruce Corwin, Chairman & CEO, Metropolitan Theatres
• Alan Davy, Film Buyer, Regal Entertainment Group
• Mike Doban, President, Archangelo Entertainment
• Steve Gilula, CEO Fox Searchlight Pictures
• Frank Haffar, COO, Maya Cinemas
• John Lodigian, Vice President of Sales, Sony Pictures
• Michael McClellan, Vice President & Film Buyer, Landmark Theatres
• Milton Moritz, CA/NV Chapter President, National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO)
• Lew Westenberg, VP of Operations West Coast Division, Loews Cineplex Theatres
• Jonathan Wolf, Director, American Film Market
• Reverend James Wall, United Methodist Minister, National Council of Churches
• Harry Forbes, Representative, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

Effects of ratings

Legally, the rating system is entirely voluntary. However, signatory members of the MPAA (major studios) have agreed to submit all of their theatrical releases for rating, and few producers are willing to bypass the rating system because of the potential effects on revenues. Most films released unrated are independent films, pornographic films, foreign films, direct-to-video films, and other films not expected to receive wide distribution. Specialty format films such as large format films are sometimes not submitted for a rating.

While its intent is debated, ratings are associated with the marketing strategy for a film. Since the 1970s, G ratings have been commonly associated with children's movies and could limit a movie's audience.

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".

For his 1971 film Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, director Melvin Van Peebles came up with a winning ad slogan ("Rated X by an All-White Jury") that proved successful with the urban market.

In the 1970s the East Coast based Century theater chain used its own rating system, with only three categories instead of four: For All Ages, For Mature Audiences, and No One Under 17 Admitted, with most, but not all, R-rated films receiving the middle designation, under which no age limits were enforced.

In 2000, because of issues raised by Senator Joseph Lieberman, the National Association of Theatre Owners, the major trade association in the U.S., announced it would start strict enforcement of identification checks for R- and NC-17-rated movies. Many retailers of videos prohibit the sale of R-rated movies to minors.

Commercial viability of the NC-17 rating

In its initial years of use, few movies 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 rewarding 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 Loews 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 movie with an NC-17 rating (showing in 1,388 cinemas simultaneously), but a financial failure that grossed only 45% of its $45 millon 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 Aranofsky refused to edit the film for an R rating, Artisan Entertainment backed him up by instead releasing an unrated final cut (the MPAA had originally rated the film NC-17, but later released a censored version for theaters that was rated R.)

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 movie 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 a Mormon-owned newspaper in Salt Lake City 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 movies for home entertainment use.

As of March 2007, according to Variety, MPAA chairman Dan Glickman had 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.

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 movies that push the extremes of violence, including Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill."

Criticisms

Emphasis on sex versus violence

The movie rating system has had a number of high profile critics. Film critic Roger Ebert argues 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 argues that the rating system is geared toward looking at trivial aspects of the movie (such as the number of times a profane word is used) rather than at the general theme of the movie (for example, if the movie realistically depicts the consequences of sex and violence). He has 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 has 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 (Public Affairs Press), 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.

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 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 a division of The Walt Disney Company's Dimension Films, 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 movie The Hammer was given a R rating for brief language which prompted him to question why the MPAA would rate the movie R, despite there being one to two uses of fuck, and other minimal profanities, which is mostly considered PG-13 rated fare. To help counter this imbalance, some studio executives and successful producers who had worked with the MPAA have gone on to form companies that work with filmmakers to submit their films. Examples include Dunn Films and Motion Picture Consulting LLC.

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 Kirby Dick) respond this proves only that parents find the ratings more useful than nothing at all.

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 movies 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

Film 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 movie 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

For independent filmmakers

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, Britain
  • The Central Board of Film Certification, India
  • Office of Film and Literature Classification (Australia)
  • Office of Film and Literature Classification (New Zealand)
  • 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
  • Parental guidance
  • 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.

External links

• Classification and Ratings Administration Official Website with ratings database
• MPAA Film Ratings website
• VoMeR (Voluntary Media Rating)