The History of Movie Ratings

When I was a child and started going to the movie theater, movies were rated G, M, R, and X. Our local theater showed them all (one at a time), but they were mostly G-rated films, like Planet of the Apes, The Odd Couple, True Grit, The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, and all the musicals. To children at the time (and our parents), an M rating may as well have been pornography. That was changed to PG and opened up a whole level of movies to us, and we couldn't see what the fuss had been about. Today, a G rating is the kiss of death unless a film is specifically aimed at children. The PG-13 rating was added in 1984 because a totally sex- and nudity-free film can still traumatize young children with violence, and in 1990 X became NC-17 because the hardcore porn industry had co-opted the X. Today, studios will add or delete elements of their their biggest blockbusters to ensure a PG-13 rating, to attract the age 14-24 audience. Those are the people most likely to go to a theater to see a movie. However, an R rating is almost required for a horror film to succeed, because any lesser rating would imply that it's not scary. What was once a warning for parents is now an advertisement.

How did ratings get this way? Nerdstalgic tells the history of MPA ratings from the beginning, when the film industry was young.  What we have now is the remaining legacy of that history, which never really hit the mark in any era.