Does the MPAA Rating System Need An Overhaul?
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- Опубликовано: 28 июн 2024
- Vince and Captain Logan discuss the long-standing MPAA rating system. Is it outdated? Do the movies deserve the ratings they're getting? Why are most films PG-13 now when G and PG still exist?
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One of my favorite of your discussions guys.You made awesome points.
That is so true.
I had a nephew watch Jaws when he was 5 or 6 and he was terrified of the water ever since. Whereas I thanked my parents for not letting me see Jaws when I was a child after seeing it as a teenager.
There is also family films still made for G and PG ratings like movies from Disney, Dreamworks, Ice Age, Escape from Planet Earth, The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole and Hotel Transylvania.
Agreed! I understand The Wolverine movie was filmed for an R-rating but edited down to PG-13 so we might get an uncut DVD!
21:57 Vince does his random impression of I Dream of Jeannie
I also remember the MPAA will rate things because of the context in the movie even if there is no blood or gore. The Spawn movie was film for a PG-13 rating and it got a R rating because the MPAA rated the movie because of the context in the film. New Line finally edited the movie down for a PG-13.
I'm on the opposed end of this as a 25 year old with no children I want more movies that were meant for me and not for everyone and their kids. A lot of horror movies have been ruined for me because of theater experiences!
According to the filmmakers (in, I believe, the audio commentary), the Spawn movie director's cut was rated R because they the fact that Spawn came from hell meant that they couldn't get away with much in the PG-13 cut.
I was 5 years old when my parents let me watch Who Framed Roger Rabbit and it is a PG movie. I wish it was more like that.
Love the ampersand between you two!
The documentary you two were talking about sounds like "This film is not yet Rated." In that documentary, it mentioned American Psycho and how that film initially got an NC-17 rating, due to the tone of the film. The group rating it did not like the overall tone of the film, and my question is, how is that a valid way of judging a movie? That tells me they are arbitrarily rating films based on what they think a film should be, versus what it is.
I completely agree, Cap about the Transformers films. I think that was a perfect example. They throw completely unnecessary adult-themed things into films that were originally based on kid-friendly concepts.
If you can always get people to focus so much on you that they forget what they were saying, you'd win so many more arguments.
The thing that bugs me about PG films is they are usually "family films". Now I wouldn't mind family films done right eg Pixar, some of Dreamworks and Disney, but most family films I see are NOT made for the whole family. Most are kids films which are absolute torture for anyone over the age of 12 to sit through.
Here in Canada we get:
-G (US G and soft - mediocre PG)
-PG (mediocre - hard PG, soft - mediocre PG-13)
-14a (hard PG-13, soft - mediocre R)
-18a (hard R)
-R (NC-17)
Just listen to the commentary track for the Spawn movie on the DVD and Blu-Ray.
There are also movies from the 70s and 80s that have a PG that if were released today would get PG 13 or perhaps R ratings, like Beetlejuice and Gremlins would have to be PG13 today but are PG, and Jaws would be an R today but still has a PG.
That's my Superman jacket :)
Batman Year One is rated PG13 and I can watch it with my siblings, but the Catwoman short that comes with it is another story.
Maybe they should better display why each property has their ratings.
I guess the MPAA should have a rating system similar to my countrys BBFC, in which the rating is a little different since it really hasn't been much of a big deal, but not too much.
U - All ages
PG - It is suitable for general viewing, but some scenes may be unsuitable for younger children
12A - Now this interesting, in the cinema if you are under that age you have to watch it with an adult
15 - You have to that age or older or you can't go and see it
18 - Same as the above except a little older
IT WAS?!!!
We need a director's cut.
Part 2
c. By fifth grade, everyone was talking about things more; By sixth grade, Everyone, the boys especially, talked about things; Kids had reached puberty. And Everyone was starting to use harsher language. I never did because I was(is) a ridiculously moral kid. I thank my parents I've never sank that low. By 11 you've heard every word in the book.
Movies are way less violent. Sure, more people die, but there is a difference between a guy getting shot and blood exploding out of their chest and a modern film with bunch of guys just falling after being shot with no blood anywhere.
Just compare the original Red Dawn to the remake.
Should be like Australian-
G- General for Everyone
PG - Parental Guidance
M- Mature; essentially PG13+
MA15+ - What the vast majority of USA R movies are here & would seriously help deal with extreme censorship in US films due to restrictions need for PG13+ in USA in order get larger audience
R18+ - Adults
X - basically pornography
There's serious problem (Watch 'This Film Not Yet Rated') when they literally count the number of 'thrusts', & r harsher on females & gay ppl with sex and sexuality
I don't see much purpose in the MPAA except as a final vestige of a studio system. There doesn't seem much purpose in needing a registry for film titles, their rating system has always been of limited use, and they have a history of involvement in propaganda, censorship, and intellectual property violations.
Did you guys know that the PG-13 rating wasn't invented until 1984? That's why a movie Vince saw with the PG rating had nudity in it. I think if anything PG and PG-13 movies are mostly tame compared to PG-13 movies when people our age were kids. Spaceballs and Beetlejuice use the F word and it's PG, post 1984.
If we got an R-rated Wolverine, Deadpool, or Death of the Family movie, life would be soooo good.
I live in New Jersey in the United States. Before 1984, we had four ratings that I'm aware of.
*G*
*PG*
*R*
*X*
From 1984 until 1990, the four ratings above remained the same, but the *PG-13* rating was added. Then, in 1990, the *X* rating was replaced with the *NC-17* rating. Curiously, the description for the *NC-17* rating changed from its original meaning. Between 1990 and 1996, it used to mean: "No Children Under 17", which made sense. But, in 1996, they reworded it to now mean: "No One 17 And Under", which, to me, seems to mean: "No One Under 18". If they want to keep the *NC-17* rating, fine. But, they should bring back the older description that fit the rating exactly. Then, they should make a *NO-18* rating to fit the new description.
Anyway, getting back on track with this topic, several movies have the wrong ratings. Now, I don't watch every movie out there, but for the ones I've seen, several of them seem to either be rated too harshly or not harsh enough. For instance, older films like *Jaws* and *Poltergeist* (1982) have intense violence and a lot of gore, but they're only rated PG. In contrast, a movie like *The Fog* (1980) is rated R, despite that there's *NO* blood or gore in it at all. Violence is intense at times, sure, but most of it is implied and you hear much more than you see on-screen. There aren't any "F-bombs" that I'm aware of and there's also no nudity or sex. So, why is that rated R while more gruesome content in other films is rated PG? I don't understand the logic.
Also, once the PG-13 rating was added in 1984, there were quite a few films that really pushed the envelope. Take *Troll* (1986) or *Critters* (also 1986), for instance. Some of the content in both films is quite graphic at times. The latter is even more graphic than the former in the way it shows a lot of blood and gore when people are being attacked and/or killed by the fuzzy hedgehog-like balls with sharp teeth. How the heck can that get away with a PG-13 rating when a movie with no blood or gore just a few years earlier (see previous paragraph above) gets an R rating? The MPAA is flawed with the way they rate some of their films.
In my opinion, I believe *The Fog* should have been rated PG. In fact, the director was aiming for a PG rating (hence, the lack of blood and gore), but the MPAA gave him an R rating, anyway. Curiously, the remake of it, released in 2005, was rated PG-13 and contained much more violence (not to mention other content) than the original R rated film. Again, I don't understand the logic of why this movie gets an R rating while that movie gets a PG rating and another gets a PG-13 rating. Like I said, the MPAA is flawed.
Now...regarding nudity versus violence, here's my two cents. As long as there's no sex attached to nude scenes, I don't think movies with nudity deserve anything above G or PG ratings at most. Of course, if there's strong language, violence, and gore involved, that's a different matter. Let's say, for the sake of argument, that there was a film that only had non-sexual nudity throughout the course of it. No violence, no sex, no profanity, and no adult themes. Only non-sexual nudity. In my opinion, such a film, should there ever be one like it, should be rated G. Any guesses what the MPAA would rate a movie like that? More than likely, they would either rate it R or NC-17, depending on how much is shown. Again, their system is flawed.
Even the Supreme Court couldn't clearly define differences between ratings (Justice Potter Stewart on Jacobellis v. Ohio).
My ideas:
1. Get rid of G movies completely. I think that parents should always watch movies with their four year olds.
2. Desensitize people to everything. Nudity, Sex, Violence, Language, EVERYTHING.
a. In countries where movies have nudity/sex, I bet teenagers are less... Interested.
b. When I was eight, I knew what rape was; I knew what torture was; I knew there were bad people. I still have a hatred for child molesters, torturers, and bullies.
Continue to part two of this comment.
R is a most useless rating because you hit the threshold of the rating and then there is an ocean of possible content beyond it. So films like Memento and Frantic have the same rating as films like Se7en.
TOPIC: The Disparity Between the U.S. ratings & the CANADIAN ratings. For Example: ROMY AND MICHELE'S HIGHSCHOOL REUNION (1997) is a Solid R in U.S. but PG here is Canada. I remember this causing ALOT of controversy at my house. Same as ONE TRUE THING (1998) Meryl Streep.
Some stuff in Begins may scare him like anytime someones on the fear toxin, I had the mistake of putting on Dark Knight for my nephews aged 4 and 5 and turned off it quickly when i realized that it scared them, mostly it was joker i think. I watched batman returns as a 6-7 yr old and it really freaked me out I still have trouble watching it i'm 26 now.
this was a real interesting video. looking back i would say pg-13 movies are probably ok by the time your 10 or if you have parents around. rated R movies should be for teens when their alone if they are mature or with their friends. i find lots of times it's awkward watching rated R movies with your parents
Boys don't cry Vince
In reality, G and PG used to be, way back in the early days of the ratings system, just kinda like "this is somewhat ok and you probably won't have a problem with it we think." For example, one of the hammer horror dracula flicks was rated G, when you'd think it would get an R rating, especially back then. now those ratings have become reserved for kids films entirely because PG-13 has displaced them
Completely case-by-case basis. I try to stay away from super violent stuff, but content-wise, there's quite a bit that would go totally over his age at 3 and he wouldn't pick up on. I don't want him hearing a million F-bombs, but something like Batman Begins is tough because the themes are dark and a few images are a little scary but it wouldn't have much of an effect on him emotionally until he "got it" more. It'll be harder when he's 6 or 7.
-CL
I think you should give the 12 year old a break. Who doesn't want a game with Tara Strong doing crazy things!? Just imagine that game with Bubbles or Raven, or any other of her thousands of voices
Hey Cap, what movies do you let Jason see now? Do you judge it movie by movie, or it's rating? Has he seen any of the major superhero movies? What about some of the more violent ones, such as Watchmen? Generally, what would you let Jason watch, and what would you ban him from?
Because it depends on the maturity level of the kid and how mentally developed or undeveloped they are.
If a child isn't mentally ready, then it can be truly scaring to them.
From the sound of it, PG-13 was made as more of a rating to achieve the most money possible due to the 'assembly line' manufacturing of films these days. More people watching means more money.
One film recently that was PG-13 that I felt should've been R was The Dark Knight due to the overall tone of the film. Don't get me wrong, I loved the movie but it was very Dark.
I miss the days when there were separate theaters that would not allow 17 or younger and played PG & R, and another for G & PG
Fifty Shades deserved NC-17.
Yes it can... I watched it happen before.
you guys should a topic on race changes of superheros or villians in movies
Great vid guys. Im probably going to be posting a response to this because I have alot to say about this topic myself.
@nerdcast5: So was Star Trek II, III and VI.
I feel there should be two R ratings one for 15+ and one for 17+
I think the films should be more clear about the content in them regardless of the rating. So parents can make a more informed choice before taking there younger kids to see it
Great topic! Here's another topic I want to know about: do you think the X-Men movies suffer from not focusing on the other characters besides Wolverine?
I don't think there should be any rating above the age of 15. The need for NC-17 rating really baffles me. What is there that a 16 year old can't handle, but a 18 year old can?
Even with PG-13, does hearing the word "fuck" twice instead of just once in a movie really turn your child into a murdering psychopact?
NC-17 is literally (not always) porn.
Cap, the think with Transformers is that Micheal Bay is trying to create MIller High beer commercials or Air Force One commercials. He also said that he makes movies for boys which is different from you or I. In short, he does not get Transformers or his audience. Back to the MPAA we might have to change the whole system. Update it. I disagree with you that we should have more G movies and that's that. The whole thing has become a system and we need to change that entire system.
i kinda have the complete oposite view as you. I feel like it's a lot harder to get a pg nowadays. I've watched older pg movies (from the 80s) and there's been some light cursing and allusions to sexual acts. Today i feel like either one of those is an automatic PG13. Also from everything i've read the rules the MPAA is far harder on indie films than those made by major companies.
You didn't sign out or remind us to support our local comic book store :)
Cap, are you going to do a GNN or a Podcast on Marvel NOW? You did one on New 52 when it came out and I would like to hear your opinion(s) on Marvel's relaunch initiative. Also I think New 52 deserves to be revisited since it's been going on for a year now.
I think it does.
I think they focus too much on violence. Violence really doesn't seem like a big deal to me.
The Dark Knight should be R, not PG13 i think.
You both should've said NC-17 instead of X, those two are completely different. Other than that, great video!
I think a PG-15 could work. The UK has a 15 rating system and most movies released now are hardly R rated. A Good Day to Die Hard and The Expendables movies are hardly R in my opinion.
Part 3
My final thoughts: Kids (teens especially) are getting desensitized. If we help that desensitization, maybe we can add some respect in there, too.
I like Dark Humor. I sometimes joke about the Holocaust, 9/11, the Crusades. BUT DON'T THINK FOR A SECOND THAT I DON'T RESPECT THE PEOPLE WHO DIED IN THOSE TRAGEDIES.
I say: train kids to understand the evils of the world, but also teach them not to fear them.
Continue to part 4
Children are molested, so parents teach them "Good Touch, Bad Touch".
Children are kidnapped, so we teach the "Stranger=Danger"
Do the same thing.
P.S. Am I right in assuming that in countries where nudity/sex is more accepted, teenagers are less perverted?
where did you get that batman pic in the background on the wall?....... i want it lol
i just watch PG 13 movies in spanish. I found out that spanish dubs of movies, pg 13 and below, dont have any swearing. The f word is not the only swear that is unnacceptable to me. others such as the s word and 'butt' word, are also unnaceptable. Its silly to criticize only 1 swear, when there are others that are used as well.
Spaceballs would be PG-13 today.
I don't think the assembly line method is as frequent as you guys think. I think it has more to do with Hollywood targeting teenagers. Teenagers are between children and adults so it makes sense that PG-13 movies would have elements for both of them. I'm not saying it doesn't happen (just look at all the force romantic sub plots as proof) it just isn't as bad of an issue as you guys make it seem. I think they do it more with actors race or ethnicity to get certain group to see a movie.
"When a guy get's his head blown off, or his head blown off" sorry just wanted to finish the joke
There are somethings children shouldn't be previewed to simply because there's no need for it at such young age.
No, it was rated R.
-CL
I don't know about you but I think Cap is a Batman fan.
you should come to canada, nothing is r-rated all 14a
I'm from Canada to
did you like Transformers, Cap?
But you don't know, you didn't even know him.
I knew him, and he was just fine before it, but he wasn't right after that.
Wait what rating did Watchmen get - in the UK 'twas 18+. You make it sound like it got pg-13.
So, you know the kid I'm talking about, and you know what happened to him?
Unless you knew him, then you don't have a right to sit there and say weather it happened or not.
Indiana jones was violent and its pg. Just sayin
:)
Agreed and there is a reason for the rated R movies. Hince don't take your children too it. Simple answer. Parents are stupid these days. No offense Cap. I wasn't talking to you I just know some parents are. Like when I worked at a movie theater a mom came up to me asking her money back because she didn't know that the movie she was seeing was Rated R and it had cussing and sex scene in it. I was like. "Um duh lady. Read the rating next time."
XXX movie had nudity in it. The movie with vin diesel.
I think it was PG-13...
Deterioration? I prefer the term evolution. According to This Film Is Not Yet Rated same gender sex scenes are a big no no. Now that the LGB community is getting more accepted, it has become less of an issue and I think eventually they will have to change this rule in order to fit in with the rest of society.
As far as sex v violence. I think its stupid. Sex is arousing. Violence is disturbing. I don't understand why its so hard for people to realize this.
LOL