# G-rated films aimed at adults **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 15, 2009, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/g-rated-films-aimed-at-adults/493139 "2009-04-15T02:55:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/g-rated-films-aimed-at-adults/493139/1 "2009-04-15T02:55:21Z")
What was the last film rated G by the MPAA that was aimed primarily at adults? Once upon a time, films like _Airport_, _The Green Berets_, _Sweet Charity_, _2001: A Space Odyssey_, _Funny Girl_, _The Odd Couple_, _Marooned_, _Darling Lili_, and _Tora! Tora! Tora!_ were made for primarily adult audiences, but were given a G rating. The last I remember that happening was for _Star Trek: The Motion Picture_ in 1979. Any later examples? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/g-rated-films-aimed-at-adults/493139/2 "2009-04-15T03:11:22Z")
U2: 3D? [U2 3D in 2008 was rated G](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U2_3D) ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/g-rated-films-aimed-at-adults/493139/3 "2009-04-15T03:30:50Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > What was the last film rated G by the MPAA that was aimed primarily at adults? > > Once upon a time, films like _Airport_, _The Green Berets_, _Sweet Charity_, _2001: A Space Odyssey_, _Funny Girl_, _The Odd Couple_, _Marooned_, _Darling Lili_, and _Tora! Tora! Tora!_ were made for primarily adult audiences, but were given a G rating. The last I remember that happening was for _Star Trek: The Motion Picture_ in 1979. > > Any later examples? Foul! There was no rating system until [November 1968](http://www.mpaa.org/Ratings_history1.asp). Your list includes: [2001: A Space Odyssey](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062622/) - April 1968 [The Odd Couple](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063374/) - May 1968 [The Green Berets](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063035/) - July 1968 The others all came out in 69 or 70. All (or at least most) of them show PG ratings in other countries, and some even show USA:G and USA TV:PG. So I think it’s disingenuous to present these movies as rated G. G-type movies targeted at adults stopped being made when it was no longer mandatory under the [Hays Code](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hays_Code). The ones you mention are close enough to the cutoff that they may have already been in production when the codes were still in effect. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/g-rated-films-aimed-at-adults/493139/4 "2009-04-15T03:35:18Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > What was the last film rated G by the MPAA that was aimed primarily at adults? > > Once upon a time, films like _Airport_, _The Green Berets_, _Sweet Charity_, _2001: A Space Odyssey_, _Funny Girl_, _The Odd Couple_, _Marooned_, _Darling Lili_, and _Tora! Tora! Tora!_ were made for primarily adult audiences, but were given a G rating. The last I remember that happening was for _Star Trek: The Motion Picture_ in 1979. > > Any later examples? Many Pixar movies are rated G. For example “Wall-E”, from 2008. Whether Pixar movies are aimed primarily for adults is a good question. Ed ---
**Author:** ![HoldenCaulfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/22d042/32.png) [@HoldenCaulfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoldenCaulfield)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/g-rated-films-aimed-at-adults/493139/5 "2009-04-15T03:39:42Z")
The Straight Story from 1999. And that was a David Lynch film, too, making the G rating all the more surprising. Great movie. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/g-rated-films-aimed-at-adults/493139/6 "2009-04-15T03:57:06Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > The ones you mention are close enough to the cutoff that they may have already been in production when the codes were still in effect. The Production Code [underwent a major revision](http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,836448,00.html) in September 1966, allowing profanity and nudity. The letter ratings system began in November 1968. ---
**Author:** ![Wolverine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba9def/32.png) [@Wolverine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolverine)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/g-rated-films-aimed-at-adults/493139/7 "2009-04-15T06:29:26Z")
There was [The Rookie](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0265662/) released in 2002. The main character is an adult, and the movie follows his life story as he tries to make into Major League Baseball despite being in his mid-30s. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/g-rated-films-aimed-at-adults/493139/8 "2009-04-15T06:47:10Z")
You’re going to have to define better what you consider to be a film aimed at adults. Here are the 14 films that came out last year that got G ratings: > **[Home - Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/)** Here are the 20 films that did best at the box office last year that got PG ratings: > **[Home - Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/)** You tell us which among these you consider among these to be a film aimed at adults and we can answer your question. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/g-rated-films-aimed-at-adults/493139/9 "2009-04-15T07:41:25Z")
I would consider the documentary _Encounters at the End of the World_, the re-issue of François Truffaut’s _The Wild Child_ (1970), the comedy _College Road Trip_, and probably _WALL-E_, to be films aimed primarily at adults. ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/g-rated-films-aimed-at-adults/493139/10 "2009-04-15T08:40:01Z")
Really? College Road trip? W/ Disney’s Raven Symone as the star?? :shrug: alright… Of those I’d only count Wild child and End of the World, the U2 one is a concert film and shouldn’t really count. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/g-rated-films-aimed-at-adults/493139/11 "2009-04-15T17:01:05Z")
I’ve long heard rumors the makers of [The Milagro Beanfield War (1988)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095638/) went back and reedited one scene to include the word “fuck” when they were threatened with a G rating. It was certainly an adult film (ya’know: actual plot, politics, character development). [The Blues Brothers](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080455/)had a similar fate, a surprising rating for a fairly clean film marketed to adults. ---
**Author:** ![Skara\_Brae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Skara\_Brae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skara_Brae)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/g-rated-films-aimed-at-adults/493139/12 "2009-04-15T17:14:16Z")
> [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](#): > > I’ve long heard rumors the makers of [The Milagro Beanfield War (1988)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095638/) went back and reedited one scene to include the word “fuck” when they were threatened with a G rating. It was certainly an adult film (ya’know: actual plot, politics, character development). > [The Blues Brothers](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080455/)had a similar fate, a surprising rating for a fairly clean film marketed to adults. I believe the version of Jane Austen’s **Emma** , with Gwenyth Paltrow and Jeremy Northam did the same thing. They added a couple of "damn"s to get a PG rating. Apparently a G rating would turn some people off, or make them dismiss it as a “kid’s movie.” ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/g-rated-films-aimed-at-adults/493139/13 "2009-04-15T17:15:28Z")
How about _Mr. Bean’s Holiday_? ---
**Author:** ![Reno\_Nevada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Reno\_Nevada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reno_Nevada)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/g-rated-films-aimed-at-adults/493139/14 "2009-04-15T17:46:09Z")
According to Box Office Mojo, there have not been a lot of G rated movies period–in 2008, there were 14 G, 42 PG, 142 PG-13, and 194 R. And, I might add, exactly 0 NC-17 movies. As you go back to 1982, the numbers for G and PG stay more or less constant, while the R and especially the PG-13 (and the total) diminish. Each year a couple of that handful of G rated films are aimed at grownups, and a few are documentaries. ---
**Author:** ![Kansas\_Beekeeper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kansas\_Beekeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kansas_Beekeeper)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/g-rated-films-aimed-at-adults/493139/15 "2009-04-15T18:10:04Z")
> [@HoldenCaulfield](#): > > The Straight Story from 1999. And that was a David Lynch film, too, making the G rating all the more surprising. Great movie. Agreed. Great movie. Who knew David Lynch could make a movie so gentle and touching.