How the rating system has changed

I was on Wikipedia and found this information on the old movie rating system: 

“Original ratings

The original movie ratings (in use 1968–1970) consisted of:

• Rated G: General Audiences. All ages admitted.
• Rated M: Suggested for Mature Audiences. Parental discretion advised.
• Rated R: Restricted. Persons 16 and under are not admitted unless accompanied by parent or adult guardian.
• Rated X: Persons 17 and under not admitted.

Originally, the rating system was to have three classification levels ending with Restricted (similar to the rating system used in most Canadian Provinces at the time) however, pressure from theatre owners influenced the MPAA to create a film rating (X) exclusively for adults to protect theatre owners from complaints and legal procedures. Initially, the X rating was not trademarked: under the plan, anyone not submitting his or her film for rating could self-apply the X .”

Go to wikipedia.org to find out more about this post.

Super Bad

Wow! This movie from the previews looked like it was going to be the funniest movie of the century to me. Of course I watched it and I really regret it. I do admit there were really some hysterical parts of the movie that I loved, but it didn’t compensate for the other parts. The movie was so over-the-top with explicit content of words and vile comments about females and other people that I had to fast forward the movie through many parts. I would not recommend watching this movie unless you feel like really infecting your mind with perversive comments and bad intentions.

Keeping people aware

As I’m sure most of you have seen previews for the children’s movie coming out this December called the Golden Compass. I have received a few emails telling people that this is not a good children’s movie, due to the meaning behind the film. Apparently the Author of these books is a very proud atheist and prides his books on undermining and fighting the Catholic church. So for many parents this would not be a good film for their children to watch. Here is a link that will describe the author and his beliefs. But beware of letting you kids read these books and watch the movie. Remember that if you buy a ticket and see this movie you are only supporting and showing your in favor of this type of movie.

If any of you have similar thoughts or hear things about other movies that would not be good for anyone to see, please feel free to post what you can about that film.

http://snopes.com/politics/religion/compass.asp

80’s Movies and Their Wacky Ratings

  

 

I’m sure many of you have either seen or heard about movies in earlier decades, especially in the 1980s, with lower ratings than they should have. One of the more notable films is Sixteen Candles. This film, which is rated PG, has strong language, adult themes and nudity. It surprises many when they watch this movie to learn that it is rated only PG. I had another surprise a few weeks ago. I recently rented Weird Science, another 80s movie with Anthony Michael Hall. The movie was rated PG-13, but, like Sixteen Candles, contained nudity and strong language, which should have pushed it to an R rating. I recently saw a few other 80s movies as well. I watched Footloose, which was filmed in Utah, and Can’t Buy Me Love. Footloose was rated PG, but definitely should be re-rated to PG-13. There are several adult themes, including sexual themes, which are very inappropriate for children. Can’t Buy Me Love, PG-13, has a more appropriate rating, but still deals with adult and sexual themes. Again, this movie would not be appropriate for children. After watching these movies I couldn’t help, but think that the standards for movies were severely different then they are today. These movies stand as examples that even though the rating may be low, the content is still questionable and may be inappropriate for most people.

 

To be completely honest, it’s hard to criticize these movies. I sort of grew up with them and they’re very entertaining!

Best Picture Award Winners

 

When I was thinking about movie ratings the other day I decided to look up the movies that won an Academy Award for Best Picture over the past 16 years or so. What I discovered was pretty interesting. Out of the 16 award-winners, 10 were rated R and not one was rated anything less than PG-13. I didn’t want to go in to all the nominees because the list would be terribly long, but the majority of them were rated R as well. It is interesting to see what movies are deemed “the best” and what types of values those movies represent. I’m not here saying that any of these movies are bad or shouldn’t win for best picture, but I’m just pointing out a trend in society. Before 1991 there were still rated R movies winning best picture, but it was far less than the past 15 years.

  

2006 – The Departed – R

2005 – Crash – R

2004 – Million Dollar Baby – PG-13

2003 – The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – PG-13

2002 – Chicago – PG-13

2001 – A Beautiful Mind – PG-13

2000 – Gladiator – R

1999 – American Beauty- R

1998 – Shakespeare in Love – R

1997 – Titanic – PG-13

1996 – The English Patient – R

1995 – Braveheart – R

1994 – Forest Gump – PG-13

1993 – Schindler’s List – R

1992 – Unforgiven – R

1991 – The Silence of the Lambs – R

Survey

Today, I went around and talked to several people about movie ratings and the movie rating system. I cannot give too much away, since this will be used in our final project, but I will say that not a lot of people know where the ratings come from for movies.

So- Here is a question for all those who are commentators, and not one of our blog members-

• Where do you think the movie ratings come from? (Please just give your gut answer- don’t just look it up to find the right answer)
• Do you watch R-Rated movies?
• Why or Why not?

The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Treasure Planet

 

I realized that we haven’t written a lot about children’s movies, so I thought it might be interesting to compare two animated movies made by Walt Disney Feature Animation.  The Hunchback of Notre Dame was released in 1996 and was rated G.  Treasure Planet was released six years later in 2002 and was rated PG. 

If you haven’t seen The Hunchback of Notre Dame recently, you might be surprised at the high amount of adult content in it.  It deals with important themes like the battle of good versus evil and the idea that we are all children of God, but it also includes dark scenes delving into the lust a church official feels for a gypsy girl (including a song called “Hellfire”) and featuring violent murders of innocent people.  In contrast, the only potentially offensive material I can remember in Treasure Planet is some fantasy violence. 

I personally prefer The Hunchback of Notre Dame over Treasure Planet, but I would never let my young children watch it.  I feel that the ratings for the two movies, especially when compared with one another, do not accurately portray the content in them.  The Hunchback of Notre Dame should definitely be rated PG.  What do you think?   

For the Strength of Youth

I was looking through different church publications to see what kind of information was out there regarding movie ratings. The following passage is from the For Strength of Youth pamphlet:

• Our Heavenly Father has counseled us as Latter-day Saints to seek after “anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy” (Articles of Faith 1:13). Whatever you read, listen to, or watch makes an impression on you. Public entertainment and the media can provide you with much positive experience. They can uplift and inspire you, teach you good and moral principles, and bring you closer to the beauty this world offers. But they can also make what is wrong and evil look normal, exciting, and acceptable… Don’t attend or participate in any form of entertainment, including concerts, movies, and videocassettes, that is vulgar, immoral, inappropriate, suggestive, or pornographic in any way. Movie ratings do not always accurately reflect offensive content. Don’t be afraid to walk out of a movie, turn off a television set, or change a radio station if what’s being presented does not meet your Heavenly Father’s standards

 This particular edition of the For Strength of Youth does not say “do not watch rated R” movies specifically. Instead, it says that movie ratings “…do not always accurately reflect offensive content.” I think this pretty much supports the point that we cannot just think that because something is rated PG-13 it is okay to watch it.

Do you think this applies to rated R movies as well? Could some rated R movies be “okay” to watch?

My Kid Could Paint That

 

This is an incredible film.  It’s a documentary about a little girl who paints beatiful abstract paintings that have been selling for tens of thousands of dollars in galleries.  But there’s controversy…

The question is: is the girl really painting by herself, or is someone helping her?

Anyway, this is why you go to the movies.  This was very well done, interesting, entertaining, and thought provoking.  It’s the kind of film you can’t stop thinking about when it’s over.  As soon as it ends you’ll want to discuss it at length with whoever saw it with you.  Seriously, it should come up in Oscar discussions. 

So, now that I’ve plugged this thing (I had to go to a theater in downtown SLC to see it, but it’s worth it),  let’s talk about the rating: pg-13.  Unlike some of the other posts I’ve written, where I’ve sort of been pointing out the flaws of the rating system, I think they got it just right with this movie.  After it was over (and I think this is the mark of a tastefully done film) I couldn’t remember anythng offensive whatsoever about it.  No language, no nudity, no violence.  But then I looked on IMDB and remembered that they did show some scenes in art galleries that included a few nude paintings and a flashing neon sign of the f-word that was supposed to be modern art. 

I guess they could have slapped this thing with an R rating if they wanted, but the context of the art gallery scenes didn’t warrant it.  REally, it was kind of just pointing out how absurd some “art” is and exploring the idea of how to define what’s art and what isn’t. 

In this case, pg-13 was perfect becuse the movie probably wasn’t right for small children (those few art gallery scenes, and the overall them would probably be over their heads anyway) but I think any 14 year old would benefit from seeing this movie.  It really raises some interesting questions about art, honesty, genius, and life.  I’m very glad they didn’t arbitrarily exclude people for incidental things.

The Work and the Glory: American Zion

Another example of a movie that borders the line between PG and PG-13 is The Work and the Glory: American Zion, which is rated PG-13.  There is actually extremely little offensive content in the movie–mostly dark thematic elements and brief violence.  There is no profanity or innuendo.  In fact the MPAA said it would have been rated PG except for the fact that a character the audience has come to care about, Joseph Smith, is a victim of the violence.  Scott Swoford, who produced all three Work and the Glory films, as well as the films shown in the Legacy Theater on Temple Square (Legacy, Testaments, Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration) said the Church movies he produced are much more violent and bloody than American Zion. 

However, many LDS families still refused to see the movie solely because it was rated PG-13 and “our family doesn’t watch PG-13 movies–no exceptions.”  So many members of the Church missed out on a beautiful and spiritual film about the prophet Joseph Smith that tastefully hinted at some of the violence that took place in that period of history.  Because of this, the final movie in the Work and the Glory trilogy was edited to make sure it would be PG.  It is readily apparent that certain violent scenes were shortened because of this.  The movie was still great, but it could have had even more impact if the audience had supported the addition of some of the darker material. 

These movies are a prime example of why ratings sometimes just don’t matter.  They are very important as an initial warning that there could be objectionable content, but it’s also important that we realize a PG-13 movie about Joseph Smith is probably much more uplifting and worthwhile than the Pokemon movie, even if it is rated G.