shades fills you in

Since 1968, the MPAA has rated films. It breaks its ratings down into five different categories -- which you’re probably familiar with. Think G, PG, PG-13, etc.

Not everyone’s an MPAA fan. The common complaints are that they rate movies too subjectively and don’t evolve with the times -- The Aggie

The Washington Examiner cries foul. The MPAA rates films with religious content more harshly. Sometimes, they even add a religious content warning retroactively

So does WaPo, but on behalf of a different community. The MPAA is bigoted and scared of gay characters. Just look at the movie “Pride” -- which they slapped with an R rating for LGBTQ+ content

The LA Times reports on the case of “Team America: World Police” to show how the MPAA system makes no sense. Initially, it gave the film an NC-17 rating because it has a sex scene between two puppets. But eventually they changed the rating to R... because puppets aren’t real humans (?)

The documentary “This Film Is Not Yet Rated” did a deep dive on the MPAA’s practices. You can find more info about the doc here. (In case you’re wondering, it’s rated NC-17 by the MPAA)

Mic.com thinks the MPAA has got to go. We need to re-evaluate the whole thing

Wired agrees: The ratings are just too cryptic and broad to really get a good understanding of whether or not the movie is okay for your kid. The system is broken!

Wait a minute, says The Observer. The MPAA is over 50 years old. It’s had a huge impact on the film industry as a whole. For example, a harsh rating equals more press. Filmmakers know this! You can’t just change the system willy-nilly

This high schooler is empathetic: Sure, the MPAA is subjective, but the system of rating a movie is itself a subjective process. Changing cultural norms make it hard to tailor a system for all

So what’s the alternative? Common Sense Media is known for its more thorough movie rating system. You can check out its website here