Post by BEERxTaco on Dec 27, 2007 14:09:48 GMT -5
Ah yes, GP, the short-lived successor to M... It was soon changed to PG. I can't remember when PG-13 came along.
EDIT: This should explain it...
The Classification and Ratings Board was created in response to a national cry for some kind of regulation of film content. During the 1960s, the social pressures of an ever evolving country fostered a sense of concern for the new topics and issues being explored by the creative industries, namely in the movies. The motion picture industry sought to find a balance between preserving creative freedoms and notifying people about films content so that people could make decisions about what movies they wanted to see and what movies were appropriate for their children.
Former President of the MPAA Jack Valenti worked with the National Association of Theatre Owners to create a new and, at the time, revolutionary approach to fulfilling the movie industry?s self prescribed obligation to the parents of America. On November 1, 1968, NATO, MPAA and IFIDA announced the birth of the new voluntary film rating system of the motion picture industry.
The initial design called for four rating categories:
G for General Audiences, all ages admitted
M for mature audiences, parental guidance suggested but all ages admitted
R for Restricted, children under 16 not be admitted without an accompanying parent or adult guardian (this was later raised to 17 years of age, and varies in some jurisdictions)
X for no one under 17 admitted
The rating system trademarked all the category symbols, except the X. Under the plan, anyone who did not submit his or her film for rating could self-apply the X or any other symbol or description, except those trademarked by the rating program.
The original plan had been to use only three rating categories. Valenti felt that parents ought to be able to accompany their children to any movie the parents choose, without the movie industry, government or self-appointed groups interfering with their rights. But NATO urged the creation of an adult-only category, fearful of possible legal redress under state or local law. Hence, the four-category system, including the X rating, was installed.
Hence, the emergence of the voluntary rating system filled the vacuum provided by the dismantling of the Hays Production Code. The movie industry would no longer disapprove the content of a film, but would now see its primary task as giving advance cautionary warnings to parents so they could make the decision about what movies their children see.
CHANGES IN THE RATING SYSTEM
After the creation of the rating system, the board found that the M category (mature) was regarded by most parents as a sterner rating than the R (restricted) category. To remedy this misconception, the rating was changed from M to GP (general audiences, parental guidance suggested). A year later the name was revised the name to its current label, PG: (parental guidance suggested).
In July of 1984 the PG category was split into two groups- PG and PG-13. PG-13 meant a higher level of intensity than was to be found in a film rated PG. Over the past years, parents have approved of this amplifying revision in the rating system. In September of 1990 two more revisions were announced. First, the board began giving brief explanations of why a particular film received R ratings. Since, in the opinion of the Ratings Board, R rated films contain adult material, they believed it would be useful for parents to know a little more about that film?s content before they allowed their children to accompany them. Sometime later the board began applying the same explanations in the PG, PG-13 and NC-17 categories as well. These explanations are available to parents at the theater (by telephone or at the box office), in certain media reviews and listings, and are made available at www.mpaa.org and filmratings.com.
The second change was in the X category which then became NC-17 (no one 17 and under admitted). The X rating over the years appeared to have taken on a surly meaning in the minds of many people, something that was never intended when the system was created. Therefore, the board chose to reaffirm the original intent of the design that was installed on November 1, 1968, in which the adults only category explicitly describes a movie that most parents would want to have barred to viewing by their children. These ratings were all trademarked and can only be used to for film ratings.
EDIT: This should explain it...
The Classification and Ratings Board was created in response to a national cry for some kind of regulation of film content. During the 1960s, the social pressures of an ever evolving country fostered a sense of concern for the new topics and issues being explored by the creative industries, namely in the movies. The motion picture industry sought to find a balance between preserving creative freedoms and notifying people about films content so that people could make decisions about what movies they wanted to see and what movies were appropriate for their children.
Former President of the MPAA Jack Valenti worked with the National Association of Theatre Owners to create a new and, at the time, revolutionary approach to fulfilling the movie industry?s self prescribed obligation to the parents of America. On November 1, 1968, NATO, MPAA and IFIDA announced the birth of the new voluntary film rating system of the motion picture industry.
The initial design called for four rating categories:
G for General Audiences, all ages admitted
M for mature audiences, parental guidance suggested but all ages admitted
R for Restricted, children under 16 not be admitted without an accompanying parent or adult guardian (this was later raised to 17 years of age, and varies in some jurisdictions)
X for no one under 17 admitted
The rating system trademarked all the category symbols, except the X. Under the plan, anyone who did not submit his or her film for rating could self-apply the X or any other symbol or description, except those trademarked by the rating program.
The original plan had been to use only three rating categories. Valenti felt that parents ought to be able to accompany their children to any movie the parents choose, without the movie industry, government or self-appointed groups interfering with their rights. But NATO urged the creation of an adult-only category, fearful of possible legal redress under state or local law. Hence, the four-category system, including the X rating, was installed.
Hence, the emergence of the voluntary rating system filled the vacuum provided by the dismantling of the Hays Production Code. The movie industry would no longer disapprove the content of a film, but would now see its primary task as giving advance cautionary warnings to parents so they could make the decision about what movies their children see.
CHANGES IN THE RATING SYSTEM
After the creation of the rating system, the board found that the M category (mature) was regarded by most parents as a sterner rating than the R (restricted) category. To remedy this misconception, the rating was changed from M to GP (general audiences, parental guidance suggested). A year later the name was revised the name to its current label, PG: (parental guidance suggested).
In July of 1984 the PG category was split into two groups- PG and PG-13. PG-13 meant a higher level of intensity than was to be found in a film rated PG. Over the past years, parents have approved of this amplifying revision in the rating system. In September of 1990 two more revisions were announced. First, the board began giving brief explanations of why a particular film received R ratings. Since, in the opinion of the Ratings Board, R rated films contain adult material, they believed it would be useful for parents to know a little more about that film?s content before they allowed their children to accompany them. Sometime later the board began applying the same explanations in the PG, PG-13 and NC-17 categories as well. These explanations are available to parents at the theater (by telephone or at the box office), in certain media reviews and listings, and are made available at www.mpaa.org and filmratings.com.
The second change was in the X category which then became NC-17 (no one 17 and under admitted). The X rating over the years appeared to have taken on a surly meaning in the minds of many people, something that was never intended when the system was created. Therefore, the board chose to reaffirm the original intent of the design that was installed on November 1, 1968, in which the adults only category explicitly describes a movie that most parents would want to have barred to viewing by their children. These ratings were all trademarked and can only be used to for film ratings.