{"id":37432,"date":"2013-09-13T06:00:10","date_gmt":"2013-09-13T10:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=37432"},"modified":"2014-07-12T09:27:59","modified_gmt":"2014-07-12T13:27:59","slug":"rate-the-mpaa-are-movie-ratings-useful-accurate-fair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=37432","title":{"rendered":"Rate the MPAA: Are Movie Ratings Useful? Accurate? Fair?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Remember the big brouhaha over the scary violence in\u00a0Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom<\/em>? You may thank Steven Spielberg for the subsequent implementation of the PG-13<\/strong> film rating\u2014first applied to the here-come-the-Commies action flick Red Dawn<\/em><\/a>, which was promptly assigned the dubiously impressive status of being the most violent film of all time<\/em> by the Guinness Book of World Records.<\/p>\n

So…how exactly does the most violent film of all time<\/em> not<\/span> earn an R<\/strong> rating?<\/p>\n

The last major adjustment to the MPAA’s oft-discussed, oft-derided ratings system (no, rejiggering the layout of the ratings box this past year doesn’t count) was the addition of the NC-17,<\/strong> a replacement for the never-trademarked X<\/strong>. Intended to spare films with more serious, adult content the stigma of being “pornographic” and therefore marginalized from mainstream appreciation, the practical impact of the new rating has been to…<\/p>\n

…assign movies with more serious, adult content the stigma of being pornographic, and therefore marginalize\u00a0them\u00a0from mainstream appreciation. Well, how ’bout that.<\/em><\/p>\n