Motion Picture Association film rating system
The MPAA film rating system was instituted in 1968, as an entirely voluntary alternative to federal regulation of motion picture content by the United States government. After the Hayes Office approval system was abandoned in the 1950s, movies had become more explicit in their portrayal of "realism." The realism movement had its advantages and disadvantages: while it allowed for movies like Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960)) to be filmed, it also sparked a rise in low-budget exploitation movies that became more and more explicit in their sexual and violent content. The box-office success of Debbie Does Dallas had given rise to a slew of pornographic films, while the violent content of such movies as Sam Peckinpah's Straw Dogs shocked and alarmed the more conservative segment of the population. In 1967, two movies were released containing the word "fuck" (Ulysses and I'll Never Forget What's His Name), and this was seen as the impetus for a form of regulation to be instituted. After a series of meetings with government representatives, the Motion Picture Association of America agreed to implement a uniform ratings system for all of its movies, a system that would be enforced by distributors and exhibitors (including movie theaters).
The original movie ratings consisted of:
- Rated G - Acceptable to "general" audiences, including children.
- Rated PG - Parental Guidance suggested, though children could still be allowed into theaters without being accompanied by an adult.
- Rated R - Restricted. Children under the age of 17 must be accompanied by a parent or "guardian" (i.e. supervised by an adult).
- Rated X - Children under the age of 17 not admitted.
During the early 1980s, a number of PG-rated movies containing surprisingly violent content sparked off an overview of the ratings system. Two violent PG-rated movies affiliated with Steven Spielberg -- Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Gremlins -- were the catalyst for the MPAA to modify the ratings system and introduce the PG-13 rating. This rating still allows children under 17 to be admitted without a parent or guardian, but the rating does not that parents are "strongly cautioned" to be aware of potentially shocking violence or sexual content.
The first movie to officially be released with a PG-13 rating was Red Dawn in 1984. The new rating also sparked a wave of generally mediocre PG-13 "teen movies."
The X rating was never officially trademarked by the MPAA, and it was usurped by the adult entertainment industry to the point where an X rating was universally seen as being equated with pornography. However, a few movies have been rated X for violence, including Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. A large number of newspapers and TV stations refused to place any ads for X-rated movies, a move that guaranteed box-office death for any movie labelled with the X rating. When a number of filmmakers chose to release their movies without an MPAA rating rather than let them be labelled X, the MPAA introduced the NC-17 (not for children 17 or under) rating to differentiate MPAA-approved adult-oriented films from unapproved X-rated movies.
The first movie to be released with an NC-17 rating was Henry and June in 1991. However, several large newspapers continue to refuse ads for NC-17 movies. While a number of movies have been released with the NC-17 rating, none of them have been large box-office hits, and NC-17 is still seen in many circles as being a guaranteed money loser.