The Most Glorious Hack
12-05-2006, 07:19
As a public service, I thought I'd post this for our non-American posters who aren't familiar with the MPAA rating system, and for our American posters who still don't understand what the hell Jack Valenti was yammering about when he made them.
Taken from Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPAA_film_rating_system):
Rated G—General audiences: All ages admitted.
Rated PG—Parental guidance suggested: Some material may not be suitable for young 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 legal guardian.
Rated NC-17: No one 17 and under admitted.
- - - - -
The addition of the PG-13 rating
Prior to 1984, when two films associated with Steven Spielberg triggered calls for yet another addition to the list of ratings, other films had been released that suggested there needed to be a middle ground between PG and R. The summer of 1982 featured Poltergeist, which was highly frightening for a PG-rated film (yet not severe enough for an R). Violent scenes in the 1984 PG-rated films Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (which he directed) and Gremlins (which he produced), were the final straws. Public outcry about the violence led Spielberg to suggest a new PG-13 rating to Jack Valenti, who conferred with theater owners and then introduced the new rating on July 1. The rating still allowed children under 13 to be admitted without a parent or guardian, but it cautions parents about potentially shocking violence or other offensive content. The first movie to gain widespread theatrical release with a PG-13 rating was 1984's Red Dawn (although the first to receive the classification was The Flamingo Kid). It took a year for the PG-13 logo to shift into its current form. The initial rating, instead of using a line of boldface text followed by explanatory description below, bore the wording:
* Rated PG-13: Parents are strongly cautioned to give special guidance for attendance of children under 13.
With the PG rating still being used without a change, it was unclear to some parents at first whether PG or PG-13 films were intended for older viewers. Until 1990, some of the same content that prompted the creation of the PG-13 rating was still being observed in some PG films. For example Big, Beetlejuice, and Nothing in Common were three late 1980s widespread PG releases that contained a sexually-derived expletive in their dialogue (Big and Beetlejuice used fuck while Nothing in Common used dick). The ratings board reacted quickly to parental protests, and over the next couple of years, the number of PG-13 films finally outnumbered the number of PG releases, as standards were tightened for PG classification. Around the turn of that decade, standards were also tightened for PG-13 films, at least for violence, as the ratings board became more likely to issue an R rating for violence that involved bloodshed and/or the slaying of policemen. Except for a brief reversal in 1994, the number of PG-13 films has outnumbered the number of PG films ever since, and the proportion of R-rated films (starting with the boom of home video product in the late 80s) has generally increased at the expense of unrestricted films.
The Most Glorious Hack
NationStates Game Moderator
Taken from Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPAA_film_rating_system):
Rated G—General audiences: All ages admitted.
Rated PG—Parental guidance suggested: Some material may not be suitable for young 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 legal guardian.
Rated NC-17: No one 17 and under admitted.
- - - - -
The addition of the PG-13 rating
Prior to 1984, when two films associated with Steven Spielberg triggered calls for yet another addition to the list of ratings, other films had been released that suggested there needed to be a middle ground between PG and R. The summer of 1982 featured Poltergeist, which was highly frightening for a PG-rated film (yet not severe enough for an R). Violent scenes in the 1984 PG-rated films Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (which he directed) and Gremlins (which he produced), were the final straws. Public outcry about the violence led Spielberg to suggest a new PG-13 rating to Jack Valenti, who conferred with theater owners and then introduced the new rating on July 1. The rating still allowed children under 13 to be admitted without a parent or guardian, but it cautions parents about potentially shocking violence or other offensive content. The first movie to gain widespread theatrical release with a PG-13 rating was 1984's Red Dawn (although the first to receive the classification was The Flamingo Kid). It took a year for the PG-13 logo to shift into its current form. The initial rating, instead of using a line of boldface text followed by explanatory description below, bore the wording:
* Rated PG-13: Parents are strongly cautioned to give special guidance for attendance of children under 13.
With the PG rating still being used without a change, it was unclear to some parents at first whether PG or PG-13 films were intended for older viewers. Until 1990, some of the same content that prompted the creation of the PG-13 rating was still being observed in some PG films. For example Big, Beetlejuice, and Nothing in Common were three late 1980s widespread PG releases that contained a sexually-derived expletive in their dialogue (Big and Beetlejuice used fuck while Nothing in Common used dick). The ratings board reacted quickly to parental protests, and over the next couple of years, the number of PG-13 films finally outnumbered the number of PG releases, as standards were tightened for PG classification. Around the turn of that decade, standards were also tightened for PG-13 films, at least for violence, as the ratings board became more likely to issue an R rating for violence that involved bloodshed and/or the slaying of policemen. Except for a brief reversal in 1994, the number of PG-13 films has outnumbered the number of PG films ever since, and the proportion of R-rated films (starting with the boom of home video product in the late 80s) has generally increased at the expense of unrestricted films.
The Most Glorious Hack
NationStates Game Moderator