If you have already explored German film, you may have noticed the amount of films that are rated for everyone or 6 and up in Germany that would be rated R in the US if they were to be rated. The question is – Why?
Movie ratings are signs of a culture. What gives a movie a higher rating in the US shows us what has been decided as important in the American culture. Nudity is an automatic R, but movies with gore and violence could be rated PG-13. Most swear words are okay, but one too many F words will push the movie to R.
Then look at German ratings. Nudity without sexuality does not seem to affect the rating. Sexuality may push a movie to 6 and up, but gore and violence will push movies to 12, 16, and even 18 and up.
We must ask ourselves: why are we censoring a natural body and not death and destruction? The US rating has already created a generation of movie-goers who are desensitized to violence and overly sensitive to nudity. Teen pregnancies are not going down, teen violence is continuing to rise. And in Germany? Teen pregnancies are relatively rare, and violence only recently rising.
That all being said: It’s my personal belief that we should go to a similar rating system that we see on some TV shows today. For example, each American Horror Story episode has its own. Something along the lines of: TV: MA, LSV. (Language, Sexuality, Violence) Then let the individual (or parent) decide with much more knowledge of what they’re actually avoiding.
I will be including warnings of what might push it to an American R rating because I want my students, their parents, and other teachers to know what they are viewing. I am hoping that it helps teachers select films for the classroom and help students watch movies that may interest them without accidentally seeing something their parents wouldn’t approve of.