What exactly makes an R rating?

[ABZ18]

Does anyone know what exactly makes an R rating? Is there an exact number of scatological terms? Sex or scenes of violence? What tips the scales? Does anyone have an idea?

Thanks in advance.

ABZ

[TwelveMile]

Go here:

www.mpaa.org/movieratings.../index.htm (http://www.mpaa.org/movieratings/about/index.htm)

"An R-rated film may include hard language, or tough violence, or nudity within sensual scenes, or drug abuse or other elements, or a combination of some of the above, so that parents are counseled, in advance, to take this advisory rating very seriously. Parents must find out more about an R-rated movie before they allow their teenagers to view it."

[darkshadowsunite]

One easy way to tell is to look ar how many f-bombs are in a movie. You can only have something like 1 or 2 in a PG 13 movie. Any more than that and its going to get an R rating. Also, anytime you show a naked breast (unless the name of your movie is "Titanic") it will get slapped with an R rating too.
So if you want to keep that movie to a PG-13, throw out all the naked breasts and the harsh language and you should be ok. Of course, for some people this would reduce their script to about 30 pages...

[bottomlesscup]

There really aren't any set guidelines.

While some of it is common sense, (ie. graphic sex or violence is always an R), the system is pretty subjective and political. Soderbergh's Solaris got an 'R' because of Clooney's naked butt. He appealed and it was dropped to pg-13.

The rating process can be long and complicated. Often the film goes back and forth from the ratings board to the editing room. One shot chopped here; one scene shortened here. What flies in one movie won't in another. A lot of it comes down to context, shot choices, and which company is making them film.

Things change constantly. "All the President's Men" is PG and contains a few f-bombs. A film made now can get an 'R' for showing a 17-year-old drinking beer.

Bottom line: Don't worry about it. Write your script the best you can. Put in everything you need to, to tell the story properly.

The studio will deal with the rating issue. Sex and violence is mostly the director. If language or 'situations' need to come out, the prodco will tell you exactly what needs to happen in the rewrites.

It's impossible to predict or understand, so let the studio work it out. It's their job anyway.

As a writer, don't worry about it much.

[roscoegino]

As mentioned, the process is political, far from black and white. It's subjective and can be sexist and racist.

In Anchorman, a PG-13 movie, Ron Burgandy is seen standing with an erection. So he's fully clothed, and they don't say "hard on", but still. I couldn't help but feel that there was some ass-kissing going on with the MPAA.