It’s not news that the Motion Picture Association of America movie ratings are bizarre.
There is an interesting rant on the subject over on www.tccandler.com. (see Why the MPAA Sucks! NSFW)
I was reminded of the fact with the recent re-release of The Kings Speech.
See, the original MPAA rating for The Kings Speech was ‘R’. This was due to a few “too many” instances of the F word (That’s “Fuck”, not “Foreign Policy”). Since the movie is so darn good, they decided to edit out the F words to get a MPAA rating of PG-13. You know, so that it’s more “Family Friendly”.
Guess what the original version is rated in Canada? PG
That’s means there are no age restrictions, although some material may not be appropriate for all children.
I call that bull shit. This isn’t a unique situation either mind you. Here are a few other recent examples of extreme differences in ratings….
Note: R = under 17 requires adult, PG = No restrictions, not suitable for all children
Win Win (2011) – US (‘R’) / Canada (‘PG’)
Wrecked (2011) – US(‘R’) / Canada (‘PG’)
Barney’s Version (2010) – US(‘R’) / Canada (‘PG’)
You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (2010) – US(‘R’) / Canada (‘PG’)
Monsters (2010) – US(‘R’) / Canada (‘PG’)
Consider again The Kings Speech and the ratings from around the world..
Malaysia:18 / Canada:PG / Ireland:12A / Australia:M / Japan:PG-12 / Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) / Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) / New Zealand:M / Chile:TE / Portugal:M/12 (Qualidade) / Singapore:PG / Brazil:10 / Argentina:Atp / Sweden:Btl / Germany:o.Al. / Hong Kong:IIB / Canada:G (Quebec) / South Korea:12 / USA:R / UK:12A
With the exception of Malaysia, most countries agree that a little bad language is not a big deal when you consider the context of the material. What does it say when the Swiss figure that a 8 year old can handle the same amount of bad language as a 16 year old American (by MPAA standards at least)?
If you have Netflix, you can also check out This Film Is Not Yet Rated for more on this topic.
ComputerAbuser
