The MPAA Rating System

[spurly]

Soapman,

I don't give much credence to the Motion Picture Rating System.  Because of that, I have to do research on my own, especially when I am trying to determine if a movie is worth seeing or is appropriate to take the youth ministry to.

Kevin (Who was upset the first time he went to a "G" rated movie (The Jungle Book) and heard a four letter word)

[Bon Voyage]

Lot of PG-13's that are worse than R's.

Should be kinda like tv ratings.  Like R-V for violence and R-N for nudity and sexuality.  R-L for language.

My example of this is Young Guns I and Young Guns II.  I thought II was worse but it was PG-13.  The other was R.

[Son of a Preacher Man]

I think most regulars to GCM know where I stand on the MPAA--I think their rating system is subjective and biased.  For instance, there is no way the last Austin Powers movie should have been PG-13.  (I'm using this only as an example because I think everybody at GCM knows I like Mike Myers, but that last one was a solid "R".  I think he received preferential treatment.)

Are they helpful to you as a parent?  

Are they helpful to those of you who (as Christians) might object to certain material?  

Do you rely on the ratings or do you seek other sources to find out if a film is appropriate?

Do you think the rating system is fair?

Should the ratings be administered by another organization?  Instead of the MPAA?

Do you have a more viable alternative?

The MPAA refers to their rating system as "voluntary"... is there really anything voluntary about it?

The MPAA official site can be found here: http://www.mpaa.org/home.htm

[kmv]

Well, it's better than nothing.  But since it doesn't take into consideration tone or attitude, it's not that helpful.  I'd much rather have a few bad words than a plot that glorifies selfishness, for example.

And PG-13 is such a huge category that it is really worthless.  Austin Powers has the same rating as Silverado?  Please.

But I have noticed a definite decrease in the number of aimed-at-kids R's since the crack down at the theaters.  At least that reduced the trash level some.

Kari

[Barb1957]

I guess we're rather lenient, but then again our son is a "good" kid, a well-rounded Christian young man who's both outgoing and street smart. Normally when he wants to see an r-rated movie either his dad or I will go with him. I can't remember the movie (nor can I believe I'm telling this, but what the hey), but a few years ago when he was about 13 I think, there was some R movie he wanted to see. Well there was another one out at the same time, same theater I wanted to see. At the box office, it wasn't enough for him to have my in person permission to see the movie; they said I had to actually go to the same one. Fine. So I buy the two tickets for us to that movie, but 5 or whatever minutes after we got in there and sat down, I was like, "Have fun, enjoy, I'll  meet you in the lobby!" and dashed out and sneaked (snuck?) in to the movie I wanted to see. Now that was bad of me; he was afraid of getting busted, what with me not being there with him. (Nothing happened btw).

If you're wondering, yes, our son is often more mature than either of his parents.

What's funny (not like ha ha) is that he could go to the Metro Nashville Public Library and use his library card to check out any R rated movie he wanted, all by himself; but at the box office, his dad or I have to be there before he can see an R rated movie.

I'm with kmv in that there's lots of things that bother me more than cussin' in a movie. I think Dogma is a great movie for anyone, teens included, to watch, but I know some folks wouldn't be able to get past the language in it.

Anyway, to answer SoapMan's question, which I guess I kinda have already, I don't pay too much attention to the MPAA ratings. I think there is a lot of "Hollywood politics" that go on with that; they mean pretty much nothing.