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Author Topic: Study Finds Film Ratings Grow More Lenient Ron Yost Master Film Handler Posts: 344 From: Paso Robles, CA Registered: Aug 2003 posted 07-13-2004 09:25 PM                     Study Finds Film Ratings Are Growing More Lenient By SHARON WAXMAN Published: July 14, 2004 © 2004 The New York Times Company LOS ANGELES, July 13 — "A new study from the Harvard School of Public Health has found that a decade of "ratings creep" has allowed more violent and sexually explicit content into films, suggesting that movie raters have grown more lenient in their standards. The study criticized the ratings system, which is run by the Motion Picture Association of America, for confusing and murky descriptions of movie content and called for a standardized universal rating system that would be used across all entertainment media. The study, which was issued on Tuesday, quantified what children's advocates and critics of the ratings system have said anecdotally for years: that a movie rated PG or PG-13 today has more sexual or violent content than a similarly rated movie in the past. "The M.P.A.A. appears to tolerate increasingly more extreme content in any given age-based rating category over time," the study said. "Movies with the same rating can differ significantly in the amount and type of potentially objectional content. Age-based ratings alone do not provide good information about the depiction of violence, sex, profanity and other content." Rich Taylor, a spokesman for the Motion Picture Association, the studios' trade association, said he had not had a chance to examine the study. But he and others pointed out that the standards for judging acceptable depictions of sex and violence in American society were constantly changing, and that it would not be surprising if that changed for movie ratings as well. The study of 1,906 feature films between 1992 and 2003 found more violence and sex in PG movies ("Parental guidance suggested") and more of those elements and profanity in PG-13 movies ("Parents strongly cautioned"). It also found more sex and profanity in R-rated movies ("Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian") than a decade ago. "When you look at the average, today's PG-13 movies are approaching what the R movies looked like in 1992," said Kimberly Thompson, associate professor of risk analysis and decision science at Harvard's School of Public Health, who was a co-author of the study. "Today's PG is approaching what PG-13 looked like a decade ago." Ms. Thompson and her fellow researcher, Fumie Yokota, looked at a combination of data, relying on descriptions for each film provided by the association's ratings board and by two independent groups that rate the movies, Kids-In-Mind and Screen It! They found significantly more violence in G-rated animated films compared with nonanimated films and concluded that "physicians should discuss media consumption with parents of young children." The researchers created a scale for judging the content of each movie, with films that had more sex and violence getting higher scores. In comparing the content of varying movies with similar ratings, they found a clear upward slope of scores over time. For example, Disney's 1994 movie "The Santa Clause" was rated PG, while the 2002 sequel, "The Santa Clause 2," which had comparable content, was rated G. Similarly, the relatively gentle "Forrest Gump," starring Tom Hanks as a slow-witted Vietnam veteran who becomes part of the major events of the 1960's and 70's, was in the upper end of content for a PG-13 movie in 1994. In 2002 the harder-edged "Minority Report," starring Tom Cruise as a cop in a terrifying futuristic world, represented an upper-end PG-13 film. In 2003 the hit thriller "Pirates of the Caribbean" which featured looming skeletons, and showed people being stabbed, shot and thrown overboard, was on the low end of content for getting a PG-13 rating. Had the film been released in 1992, its content would have been classified as at the upper end of PG-13, the study found. It also found that 95 percent of the films studied depicted the use of substances like cigarettes, alcohol or drugs in some manner, and that the rating system did not consistently account for this. Additionally, the study noted that the association's ratings were often confusing, using different terms from movie to movie that made it hard to judge a film's content. "When the rating says `action violence,' is that less intense than just `violence?' " Ms. Thompson asked. "What's the difference between sensuality and sexuality? They're in the ratings, but they don't have clear criteria for it." She said there was a need not only for more clarity in the system, but also for it to apply to all entertainment media. "We're seeing this media convergence issue," she said. "It's the same people, the same studios making video games and movies and Web sites. It would simplify things for everyone." Mr. Taylor, the association spokesman, said such a system would be impossible. "A single body can't rate everything that comes through the pipeline," he said. "It's logistically unfeasible. With the volume of hours of TV and cable and film and games and music, it becomes a mathematical impossibility." Well, whatcha' think?? Ron Yost  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 07-13-2004 09:35 PM                     I think you forgot to provide a link to the article.  |  IP: Logged Kyle McEachern Expert Film Handler Posts: 165 From: San Francisco, CA Registered: Feb 2004 posted 07-13-2004 09:47 PM                 It requires a (FREE) account to bet set up to view it online I believe, but... http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/14/movies/14MOVI.html  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 07-13-2004 10:38 PM                        JEEEZ. Why can't the media just LEAVE US THE F#$% ALONE and start harping on the tobacco and booze companies again.  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 07-14-2004 01:31 PM                     Hmmm. The last time I checked (especially with how "corporatized" Hollywood has become) the movie industry is all to happy to regurge what the public wants and then give them more and more of the same flavor. Hence the "sequel-itis" we must suffer on an increasing basis. If the New York Times wants to blame anyone, blame the damned general public. They're the ones paying for this crap! But no, we can't speak of anything resembling personal responsibility! It always has to be someone else's fault! It is the new, great American tradition! Besides, they will sell more newspapers by pointing the finger of blame elsewhere. The press can do their moral hand-wringing about sex and violence in movies or the glut of profane "reality TV" shows being broadcast ad-nauseum. They can call a bare-fisted extreme fighting pay-per-view brawl perverse. But they're not going to get anywhere until they hammer the bloodthirsty customers as sadistic perverts. The two steroid abusers would not be in the cage bashing each other's faces to pulp if there weren't enough paying customers in the stands and TV-land to make the event come together. The real crime is how American society can indulge "guilt-free" in doing whatever it wants to do, whether it is promoting violent and sexist lifestyles in "hip hop" music or amping up the amount of violence on TV shows and in movies. I'm not sure where the NY Times is getting its panties in a twist about sexual content. Certainly there is a lot of innuendo on TV shows. But I think it is actually pretty rare for R-rated movies these days to show off a pair of exposed breasts. Here in America, violence is so much more acceptable than two people being affectionate toward each other. It's no wonder so many people in Europe and other parts of the world laugh at us. We're one screwed up bunch.  |  IP: Logged

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