The MPAA rating system is a useless entity

The MPAA Rating System Over the years, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has played a vital role into parent's mind-sets when taking their child to watch a movie. The reason that this occurs can be explained by examining the year 1966, a year when Jack Valentine, who worked in Leyden Johnson's administration, took over the MPAA becoming its chairperson. He soon established, in 1968, the contemporary known ratings: G, PG, PG-13, R, and NC-17. Jack Valentine stated in the MPAA website that their mission is "To provide advance information for parents about the content of movies… [and to] reveal the level of various elements in the movie such as sex, violence and language in order for parents to make informed decisions". However, how does the MPAA calculate what is appropriate for a child to see on the big screen? Furthermore, the MPAA rating system, which was intended to help parents, has done the opposite. It has made it more difficult for parents to understand what is appropriate for their child to watch resulting, in the MPAA becoming a useless entity in the movie industry. The MPAA rating system does not have a precise measurement to explain the amount of violence in a particular rating for a movie making parents worrisome to take their child to a certain movie. Harvard researchers found that ‘G' rated animated movies have become violent over the decade, exposing children to significant turmoil and they discovered when examining seventy-four animated movies released since 1937, which had received a G-rating, contained at a least one instance of violence and that forty-six (more than half) featured depictions of death. If a parent saw this study, they should be alarmed for a number of reasons, mainly because this shows that the MPAA rating system is not keeping parents informed of exactly the content of a movie. Furthermore, according to the MPAA website rated G means, "Nothing that could offend parents for viewing by children." However, the researchers found that there are depictions of violence and death demonstrating that the MPAA rating system is not directing parents of this issue, showing that this entity is useless because they do not accomplish they supposed "mission", which was started in the introduction. In addition, the MPAA, lack consistence when rating movies does not help parents' in making decision for their child, quite the contrary, leaves them more confused about a particular film. For instance, in 2012, the movie Hunger Games came out, which "centers on teenagers killing each other for survival. [In addition] the gory slaying of minors takes place on live television for the inhabitants of the unrealistic world to witness." 1 The movie received a PG-13, from the MPAA, which left parents in disarray because of the content of the film when comparing with the movie Bully, which received a rated R for few curses. One parent said, "You can kill kids, you can maim them, you can torture them [in a movie] and still get a PG-13 rating, but if they say a couple of bad words, you blame them." This not only shows the MPAA their lack of consistence when rating movies, but their lack of reasoning. Parents did not understand how this could have been done and are hesitant to trust in the MPAA rating system. Illustrating that this entity is hurting parents decision-making not helping them, so why have this entity. I have commented on the how the MPAA rates films or lack of, but this paragraph will concentrate on the contradiction of this entity, which they said in their mission that they serve the parents. In 2008, Joan graves, the current chairperson of the MPAA, wrote a handbook that said that the MPAA "is an entity made for parents by parents." However, she contradicts this statement because she says, afterwards, that MPAA" has consistently maintained near 80% approval rating among stakeholders it exists to serve". The keyword in this statement is stakeholders, which leaves a person to ask why this particular group matters for a chairperson of the MPAA, if they are supposedly serving the parents. This is just another reason why this entity is an unserviceable for parents, making it not worth having around if they are going to serve stockholders. Consequently, the MPAA was made for parents but has made parents' jobs of taking care their child that much difficult. The MPAA does not help parents understand exactly the violent contend that a movie might contain or what each rating might entail. They also do not help when relying on their previous ratings because the MPAA lack consistence with their ratings. On another note, they say they represent the parents of the United States, but they contradict themselves when they say the approval rating system is great among stockholders leaving one to ask whom do they serve. Nevertheless, this entity has a lot of power and does influence our society heavenly. I believe in the next 20 years this entity will have to answer to the parents, if the parents decide to take action. Afterwards, the only issue now is to figure out did we ever really needed a MPAA rating system?