A letter in the corner of a movie poster tells parents what to expect and tells theaters whom to admit. Those letters carry weight, but they are not set by any government agency. The American movie rating system is a voluntary program run by the film industry, and its history says a good deal about how and why it works the way it does.
Why the system exists
The system began in 1968, when Jack Valenti, then head of the Motion Picture Association of America, announced a voluntary approach to replace the old Production Code, which had governed what Hollywood could show for decades. The code had been weakened by changing social attitudes and by court decisions that extended First Amendment protection to films. Studios feared a patchwork of local censorship boards and possible government regulation, and a self-imposed system offered a way to guide parents without censoring content.
The system is administered today by the Classification and Rating Administration, known as CARA, operated by the Motion Picture Association. The Association’s members include the major studios, though ratings are available to any filmmaker who chooses to submit.
What the ratings mean
The categories have evolved. The current set is:
- G, General Audiences. Nothing that most parents would consider offensive for young children.
- PG, Parental Guidance Suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.
- PG-13, Parents Strongly Cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. This category was added in 1984.
- R, Restricted. Under 17 requires an accompanying parent or adult guardian.
- NC-17, No One 17 and Under Admitted. Introduced in 1990 to replace the X rating, which had become associated with pornography and was not trademarked.
Each film also receives a short explanation of the reasons, such as “violence” or “language,” which appears in rating notices and on the Association’s website.
Who assigns the ratings?
According to the Association, the ratings are assigned by a board of parents. Its raters watch the film and discuss it, then vote on the rating they think a majority of American parents would find appropriate. The identities of individual raters are kept confidential so they cannot be lobbied, and the board’s chair oversees the process. Criteria include themes, language, violence, nudity, sexual content and drug use, as well as the context and intensity of the material.
The ratings are a judgment about parental concern, not about quality, and they do not measure a film’s artistic merit.
Is it a law?
No. The ratings carry no legal force. Participation by studios is voluntary, and theaters that follow the system do so by agreement. Most major theater chains in the United States enforce the age restrictions on R and NC-17 films, and many have policies on admitting unaccompanied children, but a theater could, in principle, decide otherwise. Some states have, over the years, considered laws connected to the sale of tickets or media to minors, and courts have scrutinized such laws under the First Amendment.
A film does not have to be rated. Unrated releases appear in theaters and streaming services, and some filmmakers decline an NC-17 rating because certain exhibitors and advertisers avoid it, which can limit the audience. A film released without a rating is labeled “Not Rated” or “Unrated,” terms that say nothing about its content.
Challenging a rating
Yes. A filmmaker who disagrees can appeal to a separate Rating Appeals Board, which is made up of industry representatives, and the board can overturn the original rating by a two-thirds vote. Filmmakers sometimes re-edit scenes to receive a more commercial rating, an option that is often debated. Critics of the system have long argued that it treats violence more leniently than sexual content, an issue raised in documentaries and by researchers, and the Association has made changes over time, including a greater emphasis on explaining why a rating was given.
How TV and video games are rated
Other media use different systems:
- Television. The TV Parental Guidelines, which broadcasters and networks use, include categories such as TV-Y, TV-PG, TV-14 and TV-MA. They came out of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which required new television sets to include the V-chip, a device that lets parents block programs by rating. Many streaming services use the same labels for their series.
- Video games. The Entertainment Software Rating Board, an industry self-regulatory body, assigns ratings such as E, E10+, T, M and AO, with content descriptors and notes about interactive elements like in-game purchases.
Each is a separate, voluntary industry program with its own criteria, so a “PG-13” movie and a “TV-14” show are not directly comparable.
Using ratings as a parent or viewer
Ratings are a starting point. The Association and other groups publish the specific descriptors, and parent-oriented organizations offer detailed reviews that go beyond them. Streaming services also let users set profiles and viewing restrictions. When choosing among titles that come and go from a service, a rating is one piece of information alongside the reviews and the description, a subject that overlaps with why streaming catalogs keep changing.
The system is also a reminder that creative work is shaped by rules that are not always laws. Another set of rules, with real legal force, governs who owns a film after it is made, as laid out in how copyright protects creative work.
Sources: Motion Picture Association; Classification and Rating Administration; Federal Communications Commission; Entertainment Software Rating Board; TV Parental Guidelines Monitoring Board
