As adolescents many recall sneaking into R rated movies, bypassing a nearly half century old movie rating system. Each rating coordinates with a level of parental guidance, starting with no parental guidance (G), to an adult present if you are under the age of 17 (NC 17). The rating process is largely subjective and ever evolving. At this time, the Rating Board and policy review committee rates movies as follows:
General Audience (G) – All ages are admitted. Applied when a film contains no nudity, sexual content or strong content. Violence is minimal and the theme of the movie is deemed appropriate for young children. According to the policy review committee, a G rating does not indicate the film is a children’s movie.
Parental Guidance (PG) – Applied when the rating board deems a film inappropriate for younger children. The film allows some profanity, violence and brief nudity, but only in relatively mild intensity.
Parents Strongly Cautioned (PG-13) – Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. The rating board added this rating in 1984 to denote films in which violence, profanity or sexual content is intense enough that many parents would not want to expose their younger children to the film, but not so intense as to warrant an R rating. Any Movie featuring explicit drugs will get at least a PG-13 rating.
Restricted (R) – Under 17 Requires Accompanying Parent or Adult Guardian. The rating board applies rating to movies the members believe contain a strong level of adult content, such a harsh profanity, intense violence and explicit sexual content. In some states, the minimum age to see an R rated movie unaccompanied is 18.
No One 17 and under admitted (NC-17) – Originally called X, this rating is applied to films the board believes most parents will consider inappropriate for children. It indicates only that adult content is more intense than in an R movie; it does not imply any sort of obscenity. As with films rated R, the minimum age to see a NC-17 is 18 in some states.
The current rating system emerged in 1968 when a new parent-focused rating system replaced the moral censorship guidelines. In 1984, the rating board revised the movie ratings and applied PG-13 to increase parental guidance. Each rating warns parents and movie watchers about the content of the movie they will see before they see it. These descriptions apply to movies rated G, PG, R and NC-17
Elements including violence, language and sexuality are continually being reevaluated to better assist parents in making the right family viewing choices. As kids become more independent and have access to movies even without their parents’ permission, parental guidance becomes more difficult to assert.
Through these extra movie censorship measures, the mission remains the same: to inform parents about the content of the many great movies released every year. The rating system emerged before the 1970’s and until the parent-focused rating system catches up with the technology age, the movie rating system will continue to be revised to meet the demands of parental guidance.
