Are film ratings flawed? Depends on who you ask

LOS ANGELES — Hollywood's film ratings system appears as simple as A-B-C — or at least G, PG, PG-13, R and NC-17.

The categories, aimed at letting moviegoers know what to expect in a film's depiction of sex and drugs, violence and language, are applied to all the major studios releases as well as most independent productions.

But the power of the 38-year-old code, its durability and widespread acceptance by the public belie the confusion and criticism that swirl around it — something the Motion Picture Association of America says it wants to change.

In an interview with The Associated Press, MPAA Chairman Dan Glickman and Joan Graves, chairman of the Classification and Ratings Administration, detailed the process they contend is simply parents helping parents.

Among the questions they addressed: Who rates the films? Do studios influence the decisions? Are independent films treated unfairly? Is the ratings board pushing a Hollywood-crafted social agenda or, conversely, suppressing creative freedom?

The latest barrage against the code comes in "This Film Is Not Yet Rated," a Sundance Film Festival documentary from Kirby Dick that claims to yank the curtain back on an allegedly flawed system.

Yank away, said Graves and Glickman: It's sound and can withstand the scrutiny.

While evaluating close to 1,000 films a year is "more of an art" than a science, Glickman said, the approach is effective and fulfills the goals laid out when then-MPAA chief Jack Valenti implemented it in 1968.

"The underlying purpose is not to censor the film. It's to give a rating that parents will understand and properly guide their children," Glickman said. "That is a great public service."

(The code also supplanted dozens of local censorship boards that were making studios jump through hoops before films could be shown, and forestalled a potential government crackdown on the industry.)

In a recent poll conducted for the MPAA, 78 percent of parents with children younger than 13 said they find the evaluations useful.

Although the ratings have been modified over the years — the "X" that became the proud emblem of porn films was jettisoned — the approach in place now is essentially the one created in conjunction with the National Association of Theatre Owners.