It wasn’t all that long ago that movies were unpredictable. With a PG-13 an audience knows all to well what to expect. Some could say this is known by the major movie studios and that by limiting surprises they aim to please a larger crowd who wants exactly what they expected at the point of sale while alienating a small sect of film buffs whose curiosity for new material and value doesn’t drive the industry.
The PG-13 rating came to the Motion Picture Association of America by one Steven Spielberg who felt that his Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was too thematically dark for the children accustom to the bright and shiny PG (family-friendly dramas like Beastmaster that depict all the wholesome fun or wiping out civilizations and skinny dipping), but not a film aimed at adults with the dreaded R.
From a business perspective the PG-13 equals an increase in revenue. It allows the attractive high body count that appeals to a huge demographic: teenagers. It also allows these teens to go to the movies without their parents, be it through their own means or the tried and true dropped off method. Generally speaking, a film is planned out in the vision of the writer and then cut by the studio to meet the MPAA standards to attain this rating. The process is as simple as a focus group watching a cut of a film then determining the rating. What is left out could be a few extra shots that further establish a character’s injury and without them an audience’s interpretation could be vastly different.
R-rated franchises have fallen victim to PG13ification in their attempts to return money. Live Free or Die Hard omitted a recurring phrase made famous by series hero John McClane. Terminator Salvation rewrote the actions of characters, which in their very names are intended to kill, so that they instead harmlessly toss people around like toys.
The themes found in a film should have a bigger role in the MPAA rating. Just this past weekend I reviewed Colombiana, a PG-13 movie about a female assassin. Maybe I’m on crazy pills but surely I’m not the only person in the world who can read this synopsis and clearly envision an R. By making Colombiana PG-13, the movie actually fails to deliver expectations, opting to blur or totally cut deathblows.
It would be easy to assume that R is the classification that allows anything to go, but the truth is that PG is the safe haven. Some of the most intense films I’ve seen in recent years have been PG. When a PG movie opens with the drama of Star Trek (2009), it’s a shock. If it were rated R or PG-13, then you’d actually be expecting a heroic death scene.
The trouble with the present rating system is that it doesn’t establish an audience. The library does a much better job indicating for whom a given book is intended. Young adults, here is your Twilight. If the same was applied to motion pictures, then R would be more often than not be labeled as Immature. Here you would find the tasteless sex romps, stoner comedies, and other drivel eaten up by supposed college students.
Loading ...
Recent Comments