Bias in MPAA Rating System

There are different kinds of movies in the film industry today. Gulf & Western president Charles Bluhdorn told Life in 1970 that “movies in cassettes for home viewing will open a tremendous market”, and “satellites someday will relay first-run movies into millions of homes” (Leff, 272). Most families have TVs at home for watching different shows from soap dramas to movies.

The MPAA is made up by six different major film studios (Kirby Dick). The rating system is voluntary, and is composed of a group of “13, 14 or 15 parents” in the Los Angles area (Dan Glickman). The problem with having such a small number of parents’ rate movies is that their ratings are not always unbiased. Each of them may have different favorites on specific kinds of movies. “The Film is Not Yet Rated” director, Kirby Dick, mentions this group of “13, 14, or 15 parents” has not had any formal training and have no professional standard on which they base their ratings. The MPAA are using this group of parents to rate movies because they want to make parents aware of the material in a movie before their children see it. While movie ratings may be biased, it is understandable that parents still follow these guidelines as every parent does not want their children to watch movies inappropriate for their age.

The rating of film will effect how it will survive in the film market. Films rated “X”, means that most theater will not play it. Jacqueline Bouhoutsos, child psychologist, states that the film get rated “X” releases “garbage, pictures that should not have been mad for anybody, films without any kind of artistic merit, poor taste, and disgusting” (Leff, 274). Some film have been suggested by the Rating Administration to cut some scenes in the film, so the rating of the film may can move from an “X” to “R” or “R” to “PG”. Dick mentions the films today get fewer restrictions, and reaches a wilder audience; this is the reason why MPAA want to keep control the rating system (Kirby Dick).

A film can have a “love scene”. However, most parents do not want their children exposed to homosexual content, so the “13, 14 or 15 parents” will give the movie a higher rating than a movie with heterosexual content. Language is another reason may affect the rating of the film (Leff, 283). Glickman states that drug use is more restricted now than thirty to forty years ago. Also, movies with sexual content receive a higher rating than violent movie.

Over all, 70 percent of the films have gotten ratings, and the other 30 percent of the films have not (Dan Glickman). Glickman mentions that most producers like to have their movie rated before it released in the theater. In my opinion, MPAA is doing the right things for the film industry because if I were one of those “13, 14 or 15 parents”, I would not want my children to see any films unsuitable for their age.