John Kilduff

Why don't we see more R-rated movies nowadays?

Every time a new movie comes out, it seems like it's rated PG-13. How come it seems like few people are making R-rated movies anymore?

Movies of the late 60s, 70s, 80s and early 90s had acres of tits and ass, supertankers of blood and enough curse words to make a longshoreman blush.

I know there are movies out there today that are R-rated, but they seem less advertised and harder to find.

What's up?

Sincerely,

John Kilduff...

Turn and face the strange.

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shaniceMW

so that more people can see the movie and make the industry more money.

Jason Hughes

Adding on to the last post a bit, it's because idiot politicians who know what is best for you have been threatening legislation against networks and/or studios who show previews on TV for R rated movies at times THEY deem inappropriate (obviously they don't believe in the first amendment).

Therefore Hollywood has been making a lot more PG-13 movies than in the past (since the beloved politicians have not whined about PG-13 previews being shown at any hour of the day. Yet.) Obviously, with more advertising more people are likely to see a movie (in theory anyway) Kind of sad.

Also adding to the situation is rising budgets ranging from overkill on special effects to Jim Carrey getting $20,000,000 for the Cable Guy, etc, so Box Office numbers are more important than ever

Don Solosan

There were more adults going to theaters in the 60s and 70s. Now they're staying at home in front of the TV and it's mostly younger people going out, so the studios are targeting them (adults get the unrated, director's cut on DVD). It's not a recent change though. I believe the demographics started shifting in the 80s and now it has reached its full bloom.

Everything has been sanitized; less blood, less violence, less cussing. If 70s violence was bad, what do you say about the stuff we have now? Now people are shot, stabbed, whatever, you don't feel it at all. On the Kill Bill DVD (there's an R-rated movie for you!), Tarentino quotes Brian dePalma about how if you do violence well in movies, if you make it real and make people feel the impact of it, then the MPAA punishes you, the audience hates you. You can't win.

American audiences seem to be into the kind of violence that is painless, and has no consequences. Five minutes later you get up and you don't even have to change your shirt because there's no blood. That's healthy?

ChristopherDAC

Despite the aging population, people who have something to sell are targeting kids primarily, possibly because parents who both work feel ashamed enough at neglecting their kids that they buy them anything [and thereby have to work two jobs, but that's another rant].
During the '80s the filmmakers saw the R-rating admissions policy as a wonderful marketing ploy. They made all kinds of films to appeal to a youth audience, 10-13 year olds particularly, and then included enough sex, violence, booze or whatever to get them rated R. Marketing them to the kids, who then pestered their parents to take them to the movies, they sold 2 or 3 tickets where a G or PG flick would only sell one. I know, this is the reason why I saw Batman Returns in the theatre. I'll never forgive my sister for that.
There came to be a lot of flack, however, about kids attending R films unaccompanied, and so theatres tightened up their admissions policies beyond the requirement [like Orthodox Jewish dietary laws, or the alcohol policy at Chili's]. The result? Attendance dropoff at R shows: neither kids nor parents went in anything like the former numbers. The solution? More PG shows, to draw in the kids even without the parents.
Ideal? perhaps not. But it's hardly a giant plot against free speech. That's going on elsewhere.

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Kevin M

.....yet R rated films such as The Matrix Trilogy, The Passion etc. make millions....however if you look at the numbers, R rated films do not make as much money in comparison so the studios will go where the best profit is available...a PG-13 rated Alien/Predator movie? Ugg.

Here's Box Office Mojo's run down of top R Rated grosses: http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime...lltimempaa.htm

However if you look at the total all time grosses you see that very few are R Rated:http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/domestic.htm


They go where the money is and "Kids" have the money so............

-Kevin M.


Well....the table doesn't wobble anymore.

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Jack Briggs

Sociopolitical pressure.

Hollywood acknowledges this. And its most coveted market is the one that actually goes out on weekends: teenagers. Because of that and due to broad cultural shifts, Hollywood is churning out PG-13 films.

Long gone are the days when a major studio would release a Panic in Needle Park or Dog Day Afternoon.

Steve Christou

Here's an interesting link to how PG-13 became the preferred rating for the studios.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5798549/

Ernest Rister

If you will notice, the number of R-rated movies has dropped percipitously since the Colombine massacre and the resulting Clinton-mandated FTC investigation of the entertainment industry. The results of the FTC investigation included threats by Democrat Joe Liberman and Republican John McCain to "do something about" how Hollywood markets "violence to young people". The heads of the major studios were hauled up in front of Congress as if they were the heads of tobacco companies, and each were asked if they intentionally marketed "violence" to children.

The result of such tactics was a pledge from the studios that own networks to not advertise R-rated films on public airwaves during hours when children might be watching. This is simple economics - if you limit the advertising, you impact the sales. Why make a movie with a rating that limits how you can sell it? Hence, in 2000, PG-13 became the preferred rating, and R-rated films started to become increasingly hard to make.

This is how censorship works in America. There is no government body that approves or disapproves content. They simply make threats to control how that content is sold, and by doing so, they force the studios to "police" themselves. The studios and distributors and large video chains bend to the economic threats and become de facto agents of the government, controlling content and expression, without a single law being passed, without a single vote being cast by any elected representative.

Neat trick, eh? All in the name of "protecting your children".

Don Solosan

Thanks goodness they didn't investigate how kids get their hands on guns!

Ernest Rister

Or investigate how ineffective school counselors are in identifying troubled students...or solving their problems...No, the answer lies in how Hollywood advertises The Matrix!