PG-13 Movie Rating Turns... 25!

It all started 25 years ago when Steven Spielberg served as executive producer for Gremlins and directed Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. These two movies sparked concern among parents who thought the Motion Picture Association of America's rating of PG was not appropriate for both movies. In those days the only existing ratings were G, PG, R, and X with X being changed to NC-17 in 1990. Logically the only other choice was the R rating, which also wasn't right for both movies.

Continue reading (celebrating) after the break.

As Spielberg himself said, he created a problem that he also supplied the solution to. He talked to Jack Valenti (president and founder of the MPAA) and suggested that a new rating be created. His suggested rating was PG-14 but, after Valenti consulted with theater owners and parents a decision was made and so marked the birth of... (drum roll) ...PG-13.

On a summer like this one over two decades ago we had Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom open on May 23, 1984 with Gremlins following two weeks later on June 8. This gave way to the very first PG-13 rated film titled Red Dawn, which opened that 10th of August. We certainly owe a lot to Spielberg and the two aforementioned films but, not as much as Hollywood who has really taken advantage of this over the years. As it stands now 10 of the 20 top films of 2008 are rated PG-13 as well as 12 out of the 20 top films of all time.