Saturday, May 24, 2008
Ratings Doubt
Do you ever wonder about the movie ratings? Iron Man, with violence, sex and complicated themes on geopolitics and Afghanistan, was rated a G for General Patronage while Speed Racer, starring kids and monkey and where a kiss between two characters was held until the last frame, was rated a PG for Parental Guidance. Iron Man, a movie targeted to young adults, versus Speed Racer, a family film. What's their basis? What particular standard was used to give these two movies their ratings?
In the US, Iron Man rated PG-13 or "Parents Strongly Cautioned: Some intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence and brief suggestive content." while Speed Racer got a less restrictive PG or "Parental Guidance Suggeested."
I suspect a conspiracy. A G rated movie has a better box office potential than PG obviously because of a G movie means anybody can watch. I doubt that the movie review board had a totally uninfluenced judgment. Maybe the local distributors gave some gifts, money or treated the board to some sumptuous five-star hotel buffet. If I had young kids, I would not have made them watch Iron Man but would have had a good time with them at Speed Racer. So, be wary, very wary of the local ratings. Suggest following the US ratings where there are advocacy groups that watch over the ratings body.
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