Rating System

HOW THE MOVIE RATING SYSTEM BEGAN

There was nudity; there was sex outside of marriage; there was rough language; and there was extreme violence, with bad guys winning. The year was 1922 and the Hollywood moguls had had enough. Enter the MPAA and the Hays Office, with an extensive set of rules. "Scenes of pasion should not be introduced when not essential to the plot".

Then came the Depression, and diminished box office receipts. Sex and violence guaranteed success, and so things got wild. But Mae West pushed the envelope just a little too far...and the Episcopal Committee on Motion Pictures was formed in 1933. This led Will Hays and the MPAA to adopt a stronger enforcement of their code. Non-compliance meant not receiving the Code Seal, and the wrath of most organized religions in the USA. Mae West was effectively tamed.

Clearly self-censorship, the Hays Office nevertheless maintained its control until November 1, 1968, when Jack Valenti, the new president of the MPAA, introduce the Voluntary Ratings System. Movies like Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf, and The Blow-Up had brought the censorship issue to a head. Movie makers refused to have their works of art censored, but a warning label would indeed be acceptable.

The first ratings were G (General Audiences), M (Mature audiences, parental guidance suggested), R (Restricted, children under 16 must have a parent along), and X (no one under 17). The M was later changed to GP (General Audiences, parental guidance suggested), and finally to PG and PG-13 (Parental guidance suggested, and Parents strongly cautioned). The R was changed to 17 and under must be with parent, and the X was much later changed to NC-17.

A committee called the film rating board of the Classification and Rating Administration views all films voluntarily submitted for a rating, and gives the ratings based on their own best guess of what is appropriate. And that's the story of the rating system. Designed to avoid censorship, it serves to give movie watchers a choice.