PG-13 Rules
In the 1960s, as the motion picture industry began to produce movies with more controversial content, the.Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) adopted the movie rating system to give moviegoers a better idea of the themes and scenes they might expect to see.
Other People Are Reading
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Parental Guidance Suggested
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The MPAA guidance on the PG moving rating is that some of the content in the film may not be "suitable" for younger audiences. The MPAA assigns a movie with a PG rating when it contains some profanity, some violence or brief nudity of a "nonsexual" nature.
Adopting PG-13
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In an effort to refine the rating system and find an intermediate rating between the PG and the R (restricted) rating, the MPAA added the PG-13 rating in 1984. As the MPAA notes, "a PG-13 rating is a sterner warning by the Rating Board to parents to determine whether their children under age 13 should view the motion picture."
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Drugs and Violence
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Prior to 1984, a film that depicted any drug use at all was given an R rating. Since the PG-13 rating was adopted, drug use featured in a motion picture requires at least a PG-13 rating. Drug abuse calls for an R rating. Additionally, a PG-13 movie may have some violence, as long as the violence is neither "persistent" nor "realistic and extreme."
Language
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The MPAA rates a film PG-13 when it contains one harsh "sexually derived word used as an expletive." If two words are used, or one such word is used in a "sexual context," the MPAA gives the film an R rating.
Nudity and Sex
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More than brief nudity that is not sexually oriented calls for a PG-13 rating. Sexually oriented nudity gives the film a higher rating of R and possibly NC-17.
The Rating Board
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The Rating Board reserves the right to rate a movie PG-13. The criterion stated by the MPAA specifies that if two-thirds of the Raters "feel that most American parents would believe that a PG-13 rating is appropriate" due to content, the movie is rated PG-13.
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