10 Things Wrong With the MPAA Rating System1 min read
Reading Time: < 1 minuteThe Motion Picture Association of America’s ratings system exists in a paradox: the classifications, originally intended to help parents, have now become a label that has more to do with marketing than responsible film viewing, and though they were originally created to keep Hollywood product from being censored by local, state, or federal offices, they wind up having the same chilling effect as classical censorship.
It’s a tricky area to navigate, to say the least, but on the whole it’s easy to see that the MPAA rating system, overseen by the Classification & Rating Administration (CARA), is deeply flawed and almost comically unable to do anything it actually sets out to do. Instead of providing a helpful guide to parents, the ratings are often ignored altogether.
They wind up hurting films that need help, and they promote films that should probably come with a warning label. They’re backward just about any way you want to look at it. Need more proof?
