Movie Ratings Effects On Society

1741 Words7 Pages

Extended Essay 2015
How has Movie Ratings changed over the years and its implications on the society

Contents
Introduction 2
Investigation 3
The current situation in Singapore 3
Case study 4
The Old Code (Hays code) 4
The New Code (used up to the modern day) 6
Comparison 7
Ratings Creep 7
Analysis 8
Impact of Ratings Creep on society 8
The society’s impact on movie ratings 8
Conclusion 9
Bibliography 9

Introduction

Recently, it has been observed that the public is more willing to view graphic and sexual films as compared to past years. For example, films like TED 2 and FIFTY SHADES OF GREY, which contain heavy adult material have been successful.
Films like this have also changed in the eyes of children. Children in the current …show more content…

For example, a violent movie, which would have received an NC-16 rating due to violence in the past, is now being given a PG-13 rating due to ratings creep. This increases the audience of the movie and widens the age range. It allows younger audiences to watch the movie, increasing their exposure to such movies. Increased and prolonged exposure will cause desensitisation of the audience. (Busch)
Desensitisation to violent movies means that the audience would find that violence is normal. They will accept and commit more violent acts as a way of life. Children and youth are more prone to this, as they are more experimental and active. They would have violence instilled in them as part of their character from a young age, giving them time to “develop” this violent nature. This not only occurs in the case of violence but also in profane actions and words, sex and drug use.
Thus, the impact that ratings creep has on society is the fact that they have the potential to shape future generations. Younger generations act upon what they see in movies, and their actions can shape the …show more content…

The first movie producer who created an adult movie opened his viewers’ eyes to a new category of movies. If that first movie was viewed by many and made a decent profit, other movie producers would want to create a similar movie to generate the same amount of profit. Once these additional movies are made, there would be a demand for these types of movies, pressuring more movie producers to create even more adult related movies. As time passes, movie ratings would slacken to allow more of such movies to be made and larger revenue to be generated by such movies. This is how society affects movie

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