Movie Rating System

Movie audiences today know that when they see a trailer for an upcoming film, there will be a rating attached. Though people have become accustomed to this system, they may not know that it didn’t always exist, or why it was created in the first place.

When Jack Valenti became the president of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) in 1966, it was in the midst of a tumultuous time in our nation’s history. Valenti said Hollywood had lost authority over the content of films, and at the same time, American attitudes and ideals were shifting dramatically. The movie industry was bound to be affected by these changes, and films emerged that were, as Valenti put it, “frank and open, and made by filmmakers subject to very few self imposed restraints.”

And so, in 1968, Valenti collaborated with the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) and the International Film Importers & Distributors of America (IFIDA) to create a voluntary film rating system. Initially, there were four ratings: G for general audiences, M for mature audiences, R for restricted, and X for no one under 17 admitted. M was later changed to PG, which was then divided into PG and PG-13 in 1984. In 1990, the X rating was changed to NC-17: NO ONE 17 AND UNDER ADMITTED.

Valenti said the rating system was not meant to censor films, but simply to offer information about a movie to parents so they could decide whether to allow their children to see it. “Indeed, if you are 18 or over, or if you have no children, the rating system has no meaning for you. Ratings are meant for parents, no one else,” Valenti wrote.

However, some filmmakers have felt pressured to censor themselves in order to avoid the dreaded rating of NC-17. Some theatres won’t show NC-17 movies and some newspapers won’t run ads for them, so a movie with this rating will gross far less money than an R rated film. Often times, the ratings board will give a movie the NC-17 rating initially, and the director will cut the offending content until the film is R material.

Though the purpose of the movie rating system may be to provide information to parents, the controversy over the NC-17 rating holds some filmmakers back. Writers and directors should be allowed to explore their creative vision and show it to audiences who wish to see it. They shouldn’t feel forced to cut their material for fear that a theatre wouldn’t play their movie and cause it to be a box-office flop.