Motion Picture Association film rating system


The Motion Picture Association 'film rating system' is used in the United States and its territories to rate a motion picture's suitability for certain audiences based on its content. The system and the ratings applied to individual motion pictures are the responsibility of the Motion Picture Association, previously known as the Motion Picture Association of America from 1945 to 2019. The MPA rating system is a voluntary scheme that is not enforced by law; films can be exhibited without a rating, although most theaters refuse to exhibit non-rated or NC-17 rated films. Non-members of the MPA may also submit films for rating. Other media, such as television programs, music and video games, are rated by other entities such as the TV Parental Guidelines, the RIAA and the ESRB, respectively.
In effect as of November 1968, following the Hays Code of the classical Hollywood cinema era, the MPA rating system is one of various motion picture rating systems that are used to help parents decide what films are appropriate for their children. It is administered by the Classification & Ratings Administration, an independent division of the MPA.

Ratings

MPA film ratings

The MPA film ratings are as follows:
Rating block/symbolMeaning


; G – General Audiences
; PG – Parental Guidance Suggested
; PG-13 – Parents Strongly Cautioned
; R – Restricted
; NC-17 – Adults Only
In 2013, the MPA ratings were visually redesigned, with the rating displayed on a left panel and the name of the rating shown above it. A larger panel on the right provides a more detailed description of the film's content and an explanation of the rating level is placed on a horizontal bar at the bottom of the rating.

Content descriptors

Film ratings often have accompanying brief descriptions of the specifics behind the film's content and why it received a certain rating. They are displayed in trailers, posters, and on the backside of home video releases. Film rating content descriptors are used for films rated from PG to NC-17; they are not used for G-rated films, because the content in them is suitable for all audiences, even if it contains mildly-objectionable content.

Other labels

If a film has not been submitted for a rating or is an uncut version of a film that was submitted, the labels Not Rated or Unrated are often used. Uncut/extended versions of films that are labeled "Unrated" also contain warnings saying that the uncut version of the film contains content that differs from the theatrical release and might not be suitable for minors.
If a film has not yet been assigned a final rating, the label This Film Is Not Yet Rated is used in trailers and television commercials.

Regulation of promotional materials and releases

The MPA also rates film trailers, print advertising, posters, and other media used to promote a film.

Theatrical trailers

Rating cards appear at the head of trailers in the United States which indicate how closely the trailer adheres to the MPA's standards.
  • Green band: When the trailer accompanies another rated feature, the wording on the green title card states, as of May 2013, "The following preview has been approved to accompany this feature." For trailers hosted on the Internet, the wording is tweaked to "The following preview has been approved for appropriate audiences." Until April 2009, these cards indicated that they had been approved for "all audiences" and often included the film's MPAA rating. This signified that the trailer adhered to the standards for motion picture advertising outlined by the MPAA, which included limitations on foul language and violent, sexual, or otherwise objectionable imagery. In April 2009, the MPAA began to permit the green band language to say that a trailer had been approved for "appropriate" audiences, meaning that the material would be appropriate for audiences in theaters, based on the content of the film they had come to see. In May 2013, the MPAA changed the trailer approval band from "for appropriate audiences" to "to accompany this feature", but only when accompanying a feature film; for bands not accompanying a feature film, the text of the band remained the same. The font and style of the text on the graphic bands was also changed at the time the green band was revised in 2013.
  • Yellow band: A yellow title card was introduced in 2007 for trailers with restricted content hosted on the Internet, with the message "The following preview has been approved only for age-appropriate Internet users." The MPAA stipulated that yellow-band trailers hosted on studio websites should only be available between 9:00 p.m. and 4:00 a.m., and that for other websites hosting the trailers, at least 80% of its typical user base should be adults. The yellow card was reserved for trailers previewing films rated PG-13 or stronger. An early example was a yellow-band trailer for Rob Zombie's Halloween. Yellow-band trailers were not widely adopted and were apparently abandoned within a few years: in 2013, Variety reported that age-restricted trailers online were released with red bands. The 2019 edition of CARA's advertising guidelines reference only green and red bands for internet trailers.
  • Red band: A red title card is issued to trailers which do not adhere to the MPA/CARA guidelines. It indicates that the trailer is approved for only "restricted" or "mature" audiences, and when it accompanies another feature, the wording states "The following restricted preview has been approved to accompany this feature only." For trailers hosted on the Internet, the wording is tweaked to "The following restricted preview has been approved for appropriate audiences." The red title card is reserved for trailers previewing R and NC-17 rated films: these trailers may include nudity, profanity, or other material deemed inappropriate for children. Such trailers are officially meant to be locked behind age verification systems. However, these "age gates" have been described as "ineffective" and an "honor system"; furthermore, many YouTube channels which exist to syndicate film and television trailers do not feature any check, which has led to criticism from watchdog groups like Common Sense Media. In 2007, red-band trailers were said to be virtually absent from theaters, due to worries that they would accidentally be shown before films released at a less-restrictive rating. However, by the following year, they were noted as increasingly prevalent as the adoption of digital projection had largely alleviated these concerns. These trailers may only be shown theatrically before R-rated, NC-17-rated, or unrated movies.

    Releases

The MPA also creates blue feature tags for theatrical and home media use. Theatrical releases show the blue tag after the film, with home media releases showing it prior to the film. They feature the rating block and any content descriptors as assigned by the Classification and Rating Administration, the MPA logo, and links to MPA websites along the bottom.

History

Replacement of the Hays Code

, who had become president of the Motion Picture Association of America in May 1966, deemed the Motion Picture Production Code, which had been in place since 1930 and rigorously enforced since July 1, 1934, out of date and bearing "the odious smell of censorship". Filmmakers were pushing at the boundaries of the code with some even going as far as filing lawsuits against the "Hays Code" by invoking the First Amendment. Valenti cited examples such as Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, which used prohibited language including "hump the hostess", and Blowup, which was denied Code approval due to nudity, resulting in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, then a member studio of the MPAA, releasing it through a subsidiary. Valenti revised the Code to include the "SMA" advisory as a stopgap measure. To accommodate "the irresistible force of creators determined to make 'their films', and to avoid "the possible intrusion of government into the movie arena", he developed a set of advisory ratings which could be applied after a film was completed.
On November 1, 1968, the voluntary MPAA film rating system took effect, with three organizations serving as its monitoring and guiding groups: the MPAA, the National Association of Theatre Owners, and the International Film Importers & Distributors of America. Only films that premiered in the United States after that date were affected by this. Walter Reade was the only one of 75 top U.S. exhibitors who refused to use the ratings. Warner Bros.-Seven Arts' The Girl on a Motorcycle was the first film to receive the X rating, and was distributed by their Claridge Pictures subsidiary. Two other films were rated X by the time the MPAA published their first weekly bulletin listing ratings: Paramount's Sin With a Stranger and Universal's Birds in Peru. Both films were subsequently released by subsidiaries.
The ratings used from 1968 to 1970 were:
  • Rated G: Suggested for general audiences.
  • Rated M: Suggested for mature audiences – Parental discretion advised.
  • Rated R: Restricted – Persons under 16 not admitted, unless accompanied by parent or adult guardian.
  • Rated X: Persons under 16 not admitted.
This content classification system originally was to have three ratings, with the intention of allowing parents to take their children to any film they chose. However, the National Association of Theatre Owners urged the creation of an adults-only category, fearful of possible legal problems in local jurisdictions. The "X" rating was not an MPAA trademark and would not receive the MPAA seal; any producer not submitting a film for MPAA rating could self-apply the "X" rating.