The rating of a film holds a lot of ground with people. Families are more likely to see a G or PG rated film when they bring the entire group, but treat the older kids to PG-13 fare. Despite this, many PG-13 films feature content that can be found as objectionable, and near R-levels. At current moment, the majority of successful films have aimed for PG-13, and have even re-edited the film to remove content to bring the rating down from R. The MPAA has had many issues with ratings, and many are from the last few years. This is simply due to a distance between the board and the people. But how off are these big bold betters from the actual content of the movie?

A recent example of this “down-editing” is Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Say what you will about the movie itself, but the original theatrical cut had a PG-13 rating, given in October 2015, almost five months before the release. Considering the film had been shot and edited earlier that year, it wasn't surprising to get a rating that early. However, that next February, it was announced that there would be an extended, “ultimate” cut on Blu-ray that would be given the dreaded R rating for “violence.” Upon seeing the now three-hour edition, the R-level violence is nothing worse than something one could find in a T-rated video game. A few extended shots showing terrorists burn bodies may have been the catalyst for bumping the rating up, yet at the same time, Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope shows two bodies burnt to skeletons, an arm being cut off with excess blood, and the onscreen death of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Yet even in 2011, the film still kept a PG rating. Have the times changed so much between now and 2011 that additional hits and brief graphic content push a rating into the “adult” world?

We also have ratings controversies like the 1999 South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut event. Trey Parker ad Matt Stone sent in the film to the MPAA, who gave the film an NC-17. For those who do not know, NC-17 is practically unsellable – most theaters won't show it, the majority of stores will not stock it, and it is next to impossible to advertise (more on this later). The two were aware of this, and refused to cut anything from their film that, in the usual South Park tradition, parodied the ratings board and public view of their bold letters determining the content of a film. Instead, they sent it back, without changing anything, and got the R-rating they wanted, simply out of appeal. The same thing happened to Kevin Smith's first major feature, Clerks. The film received an NC-17 for “language”, even after nine minutes were cut to appeal to a wider audience. It was sent back on appeal, and got an R. A similar instance involving a Kevin Smith project occurred in 2016. The film Yoga Hosers was given an R rating due to a few jokes that the board, who primarily consists of men and women in the 50s and 60s, felt were too adult for the audience Smith hoped to reach (teenage girls). He fought this, and the jokes in question were kept and the film received the planned PG. These all exposed a truth behind the MPAA – if the film in question is given a higher rating, sending it back with minimal or no changes and a request for an appeal will usually help, as the group has been paid at least twice for the same film.

Of course we cannot talk about ratings and appeals without a short discussion of the 2012 documentary Bully. The director wanted to make the film “raw and real,” which caused the film to get an R. Director Lee Hirsch, fought this, saying that the MPAA wanted to keep the film away from the people who should see it, being teenagers. He believes that everybody should see this film – leading to a great rip on the film in, as per the above, an episode of South Park. Some language was cut, and the MPAA gave it a PG-13 after multiple appeals. The film was distributed nationwide, and made quite a bit of money for what it was. Oddly enough, according to some figures, the majority of people who attended the film were not teenagers.

The MPAA has a weird sense of what makes a film PG-13, R, or NC-17. Films like the previously mentioned Batman v Superman begin with a graphic death scene in the theatrical cut, still getting PG-13, while Mad Max: Fury Road keeps the violence and language surprisingly tame for the genre, but got an R rating. This is likely due to the brief moment in Fury Road of women being pumped for milk. The 2013 romance, Blue Is The Warmest Color was given an NC-17, and despite multiple appeals, the ratings board did not change their decision, as the felt the sexual content was too much for a general audience – even though the scenes in question are but a fraction of the three-hour runtime. In a reverse Bully, the film found some release in independent theaters, and became a critical and slightly commercial success. Later on, it was put onto Netflix, and is usually in the top viewed.

To continue this thread of ratings affecting the film, look at Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. This homage to the classic 1950s movie serials was given a PG rating. And even though the film was praised by critics, it was a financial failure, as it was found that teenagers and young adults, the largest group in the film audience, immediately assumed it was a children's movie, due to the low rating. Among other factors, including a lack of advertisement, the rating may have affected the amount of people attending screenings of the biopic The Walk. This Joseph Gordon-Levitt project also was a relatively family-friendly movie, and got the PG. When this happened, it removed late-night advertisement (no station wants to push a “safe” film after dark) and cut the audience down, as most assume PG means “kids.” The Walk is a hidden gem of modern film, and even with a low rating, it still comes out as better biopic than standard R rated fare (at the moment of writing this, Gordon-Levitt's Snowden is about to be released, and has much better advertisement and buzz compared to The Walk) that usually draws crowds.

Deadpool was made to be R, which in my opinion became the movie's downfall – language and violence should not be “pushed up” for the rating, and even still, the violence was pretty tame compared to other movies, including other X-Men projects. But in a weird turn of events, controversy over the movie came about with parents concerned over an R-rated superhero movie. What they didn't know is that 2012's groundbreaking The Avengers was originally given an R due to a shot of Loki's blade going through Agent Coulson. The R rating was not justified in this case, and was edited to not show the blade coming through. This is a pretty mundane issue, considering we see worse on network television. We also cannot ignore the G rated Toy Story 3, that featured the iconic toys in an incinerator, about to face death. Is this appropriate content for general audiences? G ratings usually draw crowds of young children and their families. Even when I was 12 seeing Toy Story 3, I found the scene to be pretty terrifying for a G-rated movie.

The MPAA needs to be fixed, but there is no solution to speak of. Perhaps the board needs to be larger and have ranges in age. As each generation grows, their tolerance levels do as well – what was PG in the 80s could very well be G rated now, such as Labyrinth or even Superman II. Yet sometimes, the ratings still hold, in the case of Tim Burton's Batman films, both having a PG-13. I will not argue that those ratings should be changed for today's audience, but how do those two get a “safe” rating, when Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice gets an R on the Blu-ray? The board poses too many questions of their policies and ideals they want to instill that rating films properly is almost impossible. It will be a matter of time before the ratings start to really line up with the current generation's values. And until then, use the letters as guides – make the decisions on your own. Don't let a group decide whether or not the film is safe or free from ill content.