The MPAA Film Rating System

The MPA Film

by: Bernice Pierre-Louis Rating System

The MPAA rating system has been the official way for audiences and filmmakers to know where certain movies fall into, from family friendly content to outright gore and mature themes. These ratings determine the type of audience that would watch a movie for it’s themes.

When was the MPA Rating systems put in place and used publicly? The MPAA established their official rating system in 1968, replacing the old hays code production system where films were restricted based on what was marketable to all audiences. The code was a buisness based system that didn’t let filmmakers produce the art they wanted to express and caused controversy in the movie scene. The MPAA rating system has filmmakers in their best interest by rating a movie based on the content of the movie, letting creators and families decide the content they can view based on the rating. G GENERAL AUDIENCES

Movies in this category are for everyone; profanity, violence, and sexual situations will not be seen with this rating and the audience for this type of movie are often family’s or children at the ages of 1-8 years old.

PG PARENTAL GUIDANCE Movies in this category are for most people; violence can be shown with restrictions in these movies and an example of this would be your average disney movie. Families are the target audience for this type of movie.

PG-13 PARENTAL GUIDANCE UNDER

Movies in this category are for more mature audiences; they can contain violence, and other inappropriate content. To view you should be 13 or older and an example of this type of movie are MCU movies.

RRESTR ICTED Movies in this category are for mature and adult audiences; violence and gore can be frequent in these movies with the addition of sexual situations more apt in movies rated R. To view you should be 18 or

NC-17 NO CHILD REN UNDER

Movies in this category are very explicit and targeted for adult audiences only; suggestive content is very obscene and gore is prevalent. To view you must be over the age of 17 and present your ID for identification.

Rating System

The MPAA rating system has been the official way for audiences and filmmakers to know where certain movies fall into, from family friendly content to outright gore and mature themes. These ratings determine the type of audience that would watch a movie for it’s themes. Movie rating Questionnaire

GENERAL AUDIENCES

Movies in this category are for everyone; profanity, violence, and sexual situations will not be seen with this rating and the audience for this type of movie are often family’s or children at the ages of 1-8 years old.

PARENTAL GUIDANCE

Movies in this category are for most people; violence can be shown with restrictions in these movies and an example of this would be your average disney movie. Families are the target audience for this type of movie.

PARENTAL GUIDANCE UNDER 13

Movies in this category are for more mature audiences; they can contain violence, and other inappropriate content. To view you should be 13 or older and an example of this type of movie are MCU movies.

RESTR ICTED

Movies in this category are for mature and adult audiences; violence and gore can be frequent in these movies with the addition of sexual situations more apt in movies rated R. To view you should be 18 or older.

NO CHILD REN UNDER 17

Movies in this category are very explicit and targeted for adult audiences only; suggestive content is very obscene and gore is prevalent. To view you must be over the age of 17 and present your ID for identification. 1. At what age did you watch your first PG-13 movie?

A) Right when I turned 13 years old. B) When I was age 11-12 C) When I was age 6-10 D) Under age 5

2. Do you believe the MPA rating system is accurate in it’s age group restrictions?

Sources; mtsu.edu, motionpictures.org

A) No, I believe the age restrictions are much too old and should be reduced. B) Yes, I believe the age restrictions are accurate and we should follow the limits set by the system. C) I don’t care for the age restrictions and will watch movies based on my own maturity.