Today I went to see the R rated “No Hard Feelings”. When I pre-ordered the tickets online I noticed the warning that says, “Guests that are 17 or younger must be accompanied by an adult to see an R rated movie. Be prepared to show ID at the theater.” When I got to the multiplex, the only employee I encountered was the person who scanned my ticket. She was more interested in talking to her friend next to her. She didn’t even look at me, just at my ticket. The only employee near the door to the theater for the R rated movie was the person working at the concession stand who also didn’t look at me after I paid for my popcorn. I am well over 21 years old, but as I was entering the movie theater I wondered exactly who would be checking my ID if I appeared to be under 17 years old. Sure enough, there were 2 separate groups of 2 people in the theater in the theater to watch an R rated movie. I don’t think any of the four people were over the age of 17 and I doubt that anyone asked them for ID as they entered the theater. Then I wondered: why do we still have movie ratings.
I understand the television ratings are somewhat useful because if you want to restrict your children’s viewing most cable companies and streaming sites have some type of “parental control” that can block shows by rating, by time, or by type of movie. However, there is no automated way to block children from entering a movie theater playing an R rated movie (there are also NC-17 rated movies – but a major movie release with that rating is rare). The only thing that a parent can hope for is that someone at the theater will stop the children from watching an R rated movie. I’m sure there are some movie theaters that will do that, but there are others – like the one I went to today – that don’t.
In the past, the movie theater wouldn’t sell a ticket to an R rated movie to anyone under 17 years old, but now you can order movie tickets online no matter what age you are. If you order them online, the only person that could stop you from watching the R rated movie is the person at the entrance that scans or tears your ticket. That person could be too busy, too distracted, or just doesn’t want to deal with calling a manager to handle a person under 17 that is trying to go to an R rated movie. If you’ve already purchased the movie ticket, some movie theaters have a “no refund” policy. So, someone who is under 17 years old that buys a ticket to an R rated movie can’t get a refund? The child’s parents could make a big fuss about that.
Recently, the “red band” version of a movie preview has become somewhat popular. The “red band” trailer is supposed to be played only with an R rated movie. The same group that assigns the ratings for the movies also assigns the ratings for those trailers. However, it is pretty easy to find the trailer on a website that doesn’t have an age restriction. The new trailer for “Dumb Money” – which has a lot of swearing in it – seems to be all over the internet right now. Some of the websites ask for your age before you watch it, but even a young child knows how to enter a date over 18 years ago.
Once the movie is available for digital download, children can download it somewhat easily. You can put restrictions on downloads on Apple iTunes but that often restricts EVERYONE from downloading the movie. The “Family Sharing” instructions for Apple iTunes says “Children enjoy the same Family Sharing features as other family members and, by default, can access the same music, movies, TV shows, books, and apps. You can limit what content your child can access on the devices they use by setting Restrictions on an iOS device or Parental Controls on OS X and iTunes.” So, if the child doesn’t have their own computer or phone, then they can watch anything that is downloaded, including R rated movies.
Once the movie comes out on DVD it’s even easier for a child to watch it. If the child has a family Redbox account, they can go to any Redbox machine and rent whatever movie they want. Also, they can buy an R rated movie movie from the family Amazon account or from a Best Buy or Walmart store if they have the money, I doubt there is anything that will stop them from purchasing an R rated movie in a store. There are restrictions for adult movies – most stores don’t even sell them – but not for R rated movies.
Some movies have an “unrated” version available on DVD or digital download. The difference between the “unrated” version and the theatrical version could be as little as A FEW SECONDS. Sometimes the unrated version is because they wanted a PG-13 rating for the theatrical release so it’s the R rated version of the movie.
Another problem I have with movie ratings is how arbitrary movie ratings are. There doesn’t seem to be any specific rules for if a movie gets a PG-13 or an R rating. Each movie is judged individually. Some movies that seem to have a lot of material not suitable for teenagers may get a PG-13 rating and some movies that don’t seem that bad may get an R rating.
Remember the movie “Taken”. (If you haven’t seen the movie – SPOILER ALERT). It’s about two teenage girls who go on a trip to Europe. When they arrive in Europe, one of them talks about having sex with a man they meet at the airport. Then both girls are kidnapped. The kidnappers give them drugs – one of them ends up dying from and overdose. The other girl gets sold in a prostitution ring. That girl’s father rescues her. One of the ways he uses to find her is by torturing one of the men who kidnapped her. (end of SPOILER ALERT) If you didn’t know anything about that movie other than the above description, you may think that the movie would be rated R. It got a PG-13 rating. However, there is an international version that would have gotten an R rating. According to reports, the international version (which is available on digital download and on DVD in the US labeled the “unrated” version) is ONLY 3 MINUTES LONGER. There’s an additional 3 minutes that was edited from the fight scenes and the torture scene. So, in that case the difference between an R rating and a PG-13 rating is only 3 whole minutes.
According to reports, there are 3 things that may give a movie an R rating. The first is how much swearing or how many times the “f-word” is used in the movie. In the movie “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles”, the “f-word” is used 19 times in a row in only one scene that takes about a minute. It’s used to show how mad the man who repeatedly says the word is. The word is used as a joke instead of a vulgar reference. However, the movie got an R rating because of that one scene. In other countries the movie got what would equal a PG or PG-13 rating. If that scene is removed or edited (like it is when it’s shown on broadcast television) the movie is easily a PG-13.
Also, if you go online there are some Twitter, Facebook, Tik Tok, etc. video clips or posts that have swearing. Often the words are censored but sometimes they’re not. As I mentioned before, it’s pretty easy to find “red band” trailers online such as “Dumb Money” which has a lot of “f-words” in it. So, these days children under 17 years old have possibly already heard a lot of swear words.
The second thing that might give a movie an R rating is violence, but that is seems to depend on how graphic the violence is. Hundreds of people can be injured in a movie – such as some recent superhero movies. There may even be some fairly close-up shots of people getting beaten up or shot like in the recent superhero movie “The Flash”. If there isn’t too much blood, you don’t see people die, or the scenes with violence are fairly brief, then the movie could get a PG-13 rating like “Taken” did. When people get shot or badly injured in PG-13 rated action movies or superhero movies there’s a possibility they’re not dead (even if it looks like they’re dead) and in some sci-fi movies people who die just disappear. Also, If the violent scenes are brief – say about 3 minutes shorter – or there isn’t a lot of blood, then the movie could get an PG-13 rating. In the movie “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (now called “Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark”) there is a fairly violent scene close to the end of the movie. According to reports, adding a little bit of smoke to one fairly bloody shot got the rating changed from R to PG. There was no PG-13 rating when that movie came out. Some people say that the “PG-13” rating was created for movies like that movie and its sequel “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” which is also rated PG.
The third difference between a PG-13 or an R rating is sex and nudity. Once again, there are no specific guidelines. I will admit that some movies show nudity when they don’t need to. There’s no real reason to show someone nude while skinny dipping, or taking a shower, or having sex. There are plenty of other movies that only imply nudity, even during a sex scene. However, once again, there are several places other than a movie theater to see nudity. There are some great pieces of art that show nudity. In European countries, topless women sometimes appear in advertisements. In the UK and Ireland, they had topless women regularly in the newspaper called “Page 3 girls” (although they stopped doing that about a decade ago). There are several photos of women – including celebrities – in revealing outfits or bikinis that barely cover anything on social media and other websites. So, I would say that showing some nudity – maybe a topless woman – in a movie could be OK for a PG-13 movie as long as it isn’t gratuitous. There are even some PG-13 rated movies that have “brief nudity”.
For sex scenes, I believe if there is a shot in a movie of people having sex then the movie will get an R rating. However, if you don’t see the people having sex then it may get a PG-13 rating. There are PG-13 rated movies where people are having sex, but it isn’t shown on camera. The camera shows something else in the room – maybe the bed shaking – and you can hear it happening, but you don’t see it. Other movies will show everything except the act. There are scenes of a people making out and then the next shot is after. Also, for a movie to get a PG-13 rating with a sex scene there should only be one scene. A lot of the time, it’s a brief scene. There could be several scenes in a PG-13 movie that are somewhat violent but showing a few sex scenes will definitely get the movie an R rating.
The last problem I have is that there is a restriction for R rated movies but not for PG-13 rated movies. The R rated movies requires an adult to accompany anyone under 17. The PG-13 movie only says parental guidance is suggested because “some material may be inappropriate for children under 13”. Shouldn’t the same rule apply for both ratings. If they don’t allow teens under 17 into an R rated movie without an adult, they shouldn’t allow children under 13 into a PG-13 rated movie without an adult. If they only suggest “parental guidance” for PG-13 rated movies, then they should only suggest “parental guidance” for R rated movies.
So, if you are judging what movies your children should watch, I think you should do your own research. Unlike years ago when the movie ratings were first introduced, there are several ways to find out what’s in a movie before your children watch it. You can watch the trailer online. If the trailer has a “red band” version – sometimes PG-13 rated movies will have a “red band” trailer – that could be a good indication of how the movie is. You can also go to some websites that list “parental guidance” items. Movie reviews will sometimes mention if there is a lot of sex, swearing, or violence in a movie. They might even mention if a movie is appropriate for children or teenagers.
“Movie ratings” are a pointless and outdated system. There’s even a documentary you can watch that basically says the same thing. Plus, there are interviews with filmmakers who talk about what they had to do to get a certain rating and it examines the “secret” people who vote on the ratings for movies – some of whom don’t even have children (although the people have probably changed since the movie was released in 2006). It’s called “This Film Is Not Yet Rated”. Just don’t watch it with your children. It’s rated “NC-17” – no children under the age of 17 allowed.
LOS ANGELES FILM REVIEW 