With holiday movies hitting theaters and streaming services releasing new seasons, many families are deciding what is appropriate for whom. The ratings printed on posters and listings help, but they are often misunderstood. They are not set by the government, and the letters alone tell you less than the small print next to them.

Movie ratings: a voluntary system

Film ratings in the United States are assigned by the Classification and Rating Administration, part of the Motion Picture Association, the trade group of major studios. The system is voluntary: filmmakers aren’t legally required to get a rating. But most theaters won’t show unrated major releases, so in practice nearly every wide-release film is rated.

Ratings are decided by a board of parents, who watch each film and vote on the rating they think most parents would consider appropriate.

What each movie rating means

  • G (General Audiences): all ages admitted. Nothing likely to offend parents for viewing by children.
  • PG (Parental Guidance Suggested): some material may not be suitable for children. Parents should look into it.
  • PG-13 (Parents Strongly Cautioned): some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.
  • R (Restricted): under 17 requires an accompanying parent or adult guardian.
  • NC-17 (Adults Only): no one 17 and under admitted.

Every rating above G comes with a short descriptor explaining why, such as “intense sequences of violence,” “language” or “brief nudity.” Those words are often more useful than the letter itself.

Why PG-13 exists

PG-13 didn’t exist until 1984. That summer, films such as Gremlins and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, rated PG, upset many parents with violent scenes. The new rating created a middle ground between PG and R, and it went on to become the most common rating for big studio blockbusters.

NC-17 arrived in 1990, replacing the old X rating, which had become associated with pornography because the X label was never trademarked and was widely adopted by adult films.

TV ratings

Television uses a separate system, the TV Parental Guidelines, introduced in 1997. Networks and producers rate their own shows, and the ratings appear in the corner of the screen at the start of a program:

  • TV-Y: suitable for all children.
  • TV-Y7: designed for children 7 and older.
  • TV-G: general audience, suitable for all ages.
  • TV-PG: parental guidance suggested.
  • TV-14: parents strongly cautioned; may be unsuitable for children under 14.
  • TV-MA: mature audiences only; may be unsuitable for children under 17.

Content letters add detail: D for suggestive dialogue, L for language, S for sexual situations, V for violence and FV for fantasy violence in children’s programs.

Televisions sold in the U.S. have included a “V-chip” for years, which can block programs by rating, although most families now rely on the parental controls of streaming apps and devices instead.

Video games

Video games have their own ratings from the Entertainment Software Rating Board: E (Everyone), E10+ (Everyone 10+), T (Teen), M (Mature 17+) and AO (Adults Only). Like films, games carry content descriptors, and the ESRB also notes online interactions and in-game purchases, which can matter as much as the content itself.

Using ratings well

  1. Read the descriptor, not just the letter. “Language” and “intense violence” are very different concerns.
  2. Look up detailed reviews written for parents, which describe specific scenes.
  3. Set up parental controls on each streaming profile, using age ratings to filter what children can see and requiring a PIN for anything above a chosen level.
  4. Watch the first episode or the trailer yourself if you are unsure.

What we think

Ratings are a useful starting point, but they are designed for the average family, and no family is average. A PG-13 superhero film and a PG-13 drama can be very different experiences for a 10-year-old.

The most practical approach is to treat the letter as a first filter and the content descriptors as the real information. For streaming, ten minutes spent setting up profiles and parental controls saves a lot of checking later.