Ratings Get A New Look

The powers that be that are in charge of rating films are trying to make people feel more excited about their ratings. There's a new tag on trailers, one which emphasizes the reasons for the rating rather than just the rating itself. Then there's the commercials before movies that encourage viewers to notice the new ratings boxes and go to the site to learn more about ratings.

But the question is, will that really change anything? Ratings for films are subjective. They always have been, but one could argue the lax ratings haven't helped matters. If you consider the breadth of films that earn PG-13 ratings, it makes you wonder.

That's also fascinating when considering the film that served as the genesis of the PG-13 rating — "Indiana Jones And The Temple of Doom." Steven Spielberg, the film's director, felt the themes in the film were too intense for younger viewers, and wanted a rating that urged more caution than a PG. Thus a new rating was born, one that was supposed to help protect younger viewers.

Today, it seems like PG-13 is the standard rating — and if you looked at PG-13 films, you'd get a variety of levels of violence, adult content, and adult themes. That's even broader when you consider films from 10, 15, or 20 years ago that earned the same rating.

This is particularly true when it comes to violence. Judging a film's level of violence has always been subject, but it seems today we have hardly any hard and fast rules. In fact, the only hard and fast rule of rating is that two uses of the F word earn an R. In terms of other areas — adult content, sexual content, and violence, it's up to those who decide the rating.

So while the new boxes and the user friendly Website are nice, some consistency in ratings might be nicer.