VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED: When it comes to managing controversial content, pop-culture producers have repeatedly (and understandably) favored self-regulation over government control. From Hollywood's Hays Code to the Comics Code Authority, producers and publishers had generally policed themselves, telling artists and performers what sorts of content they could and could not present. By the 1960s, however, this method of self-censorship had come under attack -- from artists pushing for greater creative freedom, from audiences wanting more realistic popular culture, and from critics demanding clearer warnings about potentially offensive material. Over the past forty years, the major media industries have introduced "ratings systems" designed to address all of these concerns; in the process, however, they have sparked further debates about parental responsibility, community standards, artistic expression, and corporate ethics.
Movies were the first medium to adopt a ratings system, with the 1968 debut of the Classification and Ratings Administration (CARA), that mysterious body that screens Hollywood features and assigns "letter grades" indicating the films' appropriate audience: G, M (later PG), R, and X. (PG-13 arrived in 1984, NC-17 in 1990.) On the one hand, the MPAA ratings system allowed filmmakers to break free of the Hays Code's restrictions on language, violence, and sexuality; on the other hand, the CARA board's methods seem inscrutable and their decisions arbitrary, with many directors and moviegoers complaining that the ratings are more lenient with gore than with sex or profanity. Moreover, the MPAA ratings carry significant commercial consequences: the difference between a PG-13 and an R can be tens of millions of dollars, while an NC-17 can close off crucial avenues for advertising, exhibition, and DVD sales. Since 2000, the MPAA has also augmented the letter ratings with content advisories, but some critics say that these brief descriptions are more amusing than helpful. (The MPAA's secrecy and double standards were snarkily skewered in Kirby Dick's recent documentary, This Film Is Not Yet Rated; the whole film is available at that very NSFW link.)
Television, of course, had generally shied away from controversial content, for fear of alienating advertisers or antagonizing the "family audience" so central to the medium's success. But as TV shows increasingly featured more "adult" language and subject matter in the early 1970s, critics pushed the FCC to act. In 1975, under government pressure, the Big Three networks instituted the "Family Hour" from 8:00 to 9:00 Eastern, promising that this hour would remain free of offensive content. Although the Family Hour died in a court challenge the following year, the networks continued to tread carefully. By 1990, growing public and political concern over TV programs had led to the Television Violence Act, which prompted networks to institute "viewer discretion" warnings. Eventually, as part of negotiations over the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the TV networks rolled out a full system of on-screen ratings, built around age-based standards and linked to the new technology of the V-chip. Here again, though, critics charge that the TV ratings system lacks consistency and transparency -- and besides, most parents still don't know how to use the V-chip.
The music industry avoided ratings systems until 1985, when Tipper Gore and the Parents' Music Resource Center (PMRC) convinced their political allies (and spouses) to hold hearings about indecency in pop music lyrics. Some PMRC supporters simply wanted the record companies to provide ratings or warning labels, though others hinted at possible federal legislation. The September 1985 hearings furnished some of the most entertaining moments in pop-culture history, from the PMRC's squirm-inducing recitations of the so-called "Filthy Fifteen" songs to the eloquent statements offered against content regulation by the improbable trio of John Denver, Dee Snider, and Frank Zappa. Fearing imminent government action, the RIAA quickly announced the creation of "Parental Advisory" labels (a/k/a "Tipper stickers"), to be affixed to albums with potentially offensive lyrics. But the RIAA has resisted calls for a more detailed ratings system, arguing that the number of recordings and the subjectivity of lyrical meanings make a full-scale ratings program impractical. Some performers, however, feel that even the Tipper sticker goes too far, since its appearance on an album (like NC-17 on a film) means that several major retailers will refuse to stock that item.
So, how do these ratings systems influence your experience of popular culture? As a parent (if you are one), do you find the ratings useful for screening your kids' pop-culture consumption? As an adult consumer, do you feel that the ratings affect your pop-culture choices?
Movies were the first medium to adopt a ratings system, with the 1968 debut of the Classification and Ratings Administration (CARA), that mysterious body that screens Hollywood features and assigns "letter grades" indicating the films' appropriate audience: G, M (later PG), R, and X. (PG-13 arrived in 1984, NC-17 in 1990.) On the one hand, the MPAA ratings system allowed filmmakers to break free of the Hays Code's restrictions on language, violence, and sexuality; on the other hand, the CARA board's methods seem inscrutable and their decisions arbitrary, with many directors and moviegoers complaining that the ratings are more lenient with gore than with sex or profanity. Moreover, the MPAA ratings carry significant commercial consequences: the difference between a PG-13 and an R can be tens of millions of dollars, while an NC-17 can close off crucial avenues for advertising, exhibition, and DVD sales. Since 2000, the MPAA has also augmented the letter ratings with content advisories, but some critics say that these brief descriptions are more amusing than helpful. (The MPAA's secrecy and double standards were snarkily skewered in Kirby Dick's recent documentary, This Film Is Not Yet Rated; the whole film is available at that very NSFW link.)
Television, of course, had generally shied away from controversial content, for fear of alienating advertisers or antagonizing the "family audience" so central to the medium's success. But as TV shows increasingly featured more "adult" language and subject matter in the early 1970s, critics pushed the FCC to act. In 1975, under government pressure, the Big Three networks instituted the "Family Hour" from 8:00 to 9:00 Eastern, promising that this hour would remain free of offensive content. Although the Family Hour died in a court challenge the following year, the networks continued to tread carefully. By 1990, growing public and political concern over TV programs had led to the Television Violence Act, which prompted networks to institute "viewer discretion" warnings. Eventually, as part of negotiations over the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the TV networks rolled out a full system of on-screen ratings, built around age-based standards and linked to the new technology of the V-chip. Here again, though, critics charge that the TV ratings system lacks consistency and transparency -- and besides, most parents still don't know how to use the V-chip.
The music industry avoided ratings systems until 1985, when Tipper Gore and the Parents' Music Resource Center (PMRC) convinced their political allies (and spouses) to hold hearings about indecency in pop music lyrics. Some PMRC supporters simply wanted the record companies to provide ratings or warning labels, though others hinted at possible federal legislation. The September 1985 hearings furnished some of the most entertaining moments in pop-culture history, from the PMRC's squirm-inducing recitations of the so-called "Filthy Fifteen" songs to the eloquent statements offered against content regulation by the improbable trio of John Denver, Dee Snider, and Frank Zappa. Fearing imminent government action, the RIAA quickly announced the creation of "Parental Advisory" labels (a/k/a "Tipper stickers"), to be affixed to albums with potentially offensive lyrics. But the RIAA has resisted calls for a more detailed ratings system, arguing that the number of recordings and the subjectivity of lyrical meanings make a full-scale ratings program impractical. Some performers, however, feel that even the Tipper sticker goes too far, since its appearance on an album (like NC-17 on a film) means that several major retailers will refuse to stock that item.
So, how do these ratings systems influence your experience of popular culture? As a parent (if you are one), do you find the ratings useful for screening your kids' pop-culture consumption? As an adult consumer, do you feel that the ratings affect your pop-culture choices?
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