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Movie Ratings And The MPAA System

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Rated PG-13: Why Movie Ratings and the MPAA Need to be Reformed The film industry has become a huge part of modern day culture, and it is all controlled by one company. The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) controls what movies are rated on a scale that they created. The scale consists of five different ratings; G, PG, PG-13, R, and NC-17. A rating is given based on amounts of inappropriate language, violence, sex and nudity, and use of drugs and alcohol. The MPAA states that their employees that rate the movies are parents of young children, but their identities are kept secret to the public. The employees get paid for watching movies and judging where they sit on the scale. The MPAA decides what movies pass or fail; if the movie …show more content…
Each time a movie gets re-submitted the MPAA makes more money, and makes the makers of the movie have to spend more money to edit out certain parts. Every movie that is being released into the public must go through this process, but the system is flawed. It is essential that the Motion Picture Association of America be reformed to give an equal footing for both small and large movie production companies, and to establish new ratings for violence, sex/nudity, and inappropriate language. The MPAA favors large movie production companies over small or independent, and has been for years. In an interview with Matt Stone and Trey Parker creators of the popular TV show South Park they talk about the corruption in the MPAA. Trey Parker talks about how unfair the MPAA is to independent filmmakers. During the making of their film Orgasmo they had to take it to the MPAA to get it rated; the MPAA ended up rating it NC-17 …show more content…
Independent filmmakers should not be shot down time and time again all because the MPAA and its greed. The MPAA should also be reformed for its rating system. A new rating system for Violence, inappropriate language, and sex and nudity should be set up. Because there is too much unrealistic violence being shown to younger audiences then the rating should be bumped up and be rated more harshly. As for sex it is being rated too harshly and should be lowered in order to help the youth have a better understanding about sex. A complete reformation of the MPAA and its ratings will help today's culture to express its creativity more freely and may even help the youth in a variety of

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