I don’t want to speak for Cicso but the general idea is that PG-13 rating is applied so capriciously and that the process is so political and corrupt that it’s rendered meaningless. It’s generally thought that only PG-13 movies can be blockbusters these days and as such everything gets shoehorned into that classification one way or another regardless of the content and context.
The idea that a movie magically becomes R rated when it has 11 swear words instead of 10 is so pointless that the rating loses all meaning. The issues with the MPAA rating system is it’s own thread.
No one’s certain, but word on the street is that the world abused nature too much and now trees or all plants or something are releasing neurotoxins that are making everyone commit suicide. I’ve also heard that it took place a long time ago, man was wiped out and now we’re dooming ourselves to repeat it. Because, you know, saying it happened makes it MUCH scarier and have a MUCH more powerful message than if it didn’t even, if that claim is obvious utter bullshit.
A lot of movies these days are written and/or filmed “free” (without regards to rating) and then trimmed from there to fit the PG-13 mold.
Check out This Film is not yet Rated for a look inside MPAA ratings and how political they are. And that’s just a starting point.
If you think I’m wrong, find a bunch of “X Top Movies” type lists (NOT IMDb’s top 250) and graph out movies with PG-13 ratings vs. all other ratings. If you want, you can eliminate all movies before 1984, when PG-13 was instituted (though this will shrink most lists considerably, unless they’re like best movies of the '90s, best movies this decade, etc.)
Although . . . after a cursory look, it seems the first PG-13 movie doesn’t show up until #29, and there’s not another one until #52 (which is Forrest Gump - a movie with more sex and language than most R rated movies.)
When I see a movie trailer on tv - and remember they’re all basically rated G - I can guess the rating with damn near 100% accuracy. That alone should say something about the credibility of the ratings system.
On Edit: The next PG-13s are #'s 83 and 87, meaning there’s 4 in the top 100. If that’s not underrepresented I don’t know what is.
Gee, my first R-rated film was The Warriors back in '79. We were just 15, but my friend Pat’s sister Cathy bought the tickets and snuck us in. I’m kind of surprised that 'ol M. Nite Whatshisname hasn’t seen an R-rated movie until now.
Let’s give it it’s due. Maximillian was about the freakin awesomest scary robot ever, and he never gets his fair place on movie monsters/villians lists. I mean how many robots are introduced and as a demonic killing machine, and then actually become the devil?
The first PG-13 movie on the IMDB Top 250 is number 13, The Return of the King.
This seems like an interesting discussion for another thread (especially as I would like to avoid any Happening spoilers), but I’m sure this is a fair criticism. As you said yourself, the PG-13 rating was only created in 1984. You’re comparing all films ever with only a subset of films from the last 25 years. Of course it’s going to be underrepresented.
My mistake. I caught The Two Towers (#29) but somehow missed RotK. That’s why I went out of my way to mention it was a cursory look.
Not really, since:
The IMDb top 250 is excluded from my argument by definition (see post #23.) I don’t consider it a reliable voice of “people who care about film” (see post #15.)
There are still more than twice as many R movies.
I’m not sure the “since 1984” method holds weight. More than half the list is from before 1984, which seems to say something about the overall quality of film since then. Note I said “I’m not sure” which means exactly that. I’d have to spend awhile thinking about it in the fictional world where I invest a lot more time in this discussion.
On Edit:
There are 5 in the top 100 and 30 in the next 150?
