'Bully' Movie Rating And Other Questionable MPAA Ratings

An R rating for the powerful new documentary "Bully" means that fewer teens will be able to see it. After watching the film, Common Sense Media (a nonprofit resource for information about kids and media) argues this is a lost opportunity for parents and their kids to discuss a very important issue. Their rating for 'Bully': Pause for 13+, which is very different from the MPAA's, only 17 and over.

This instance isn't the first time Common Sense has disagreed with the MPAA. The group always recommends age-appropriateness ratings based on child development guidelines. The idea is to offer parents guidance while trusting that moms and dads know their own kids’ strengths and sensitivities when deciding which movies to see. Below are nine more films where CSM's assessments didn't match the MPAA's.

A Guide To Common Sense Media Ratings:
For every title we rate, we indicate the age for which it's either appropriate or most relevant (as in, most likely your kids will see it) and assign an ON (age appropriate), PAUSE (somewhat edgy for the age), or OFF (not age appropriate) rating.

ON: Content is appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content; may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not appropriate for kids this age.
NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids of any age.

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Comments

[NancyPeske]

08:48 AM on 03/20/2012

My concern is that there's a one-size-fits-all approach to this movie. Kids who have been bullied and are ultra sensitive by nature do not need to be retraumatized watching brutality play out on the screen--it should be up to parents to decide whether they can handle it. In our district, 7th graders' parents must opt out of assemblies but are given minimal information on what images and concepts will be presented. That a child who lost a friend to suicide might be totally distraught seeing Bully gets lost in the zeal to make sure "every child in America" sees the movie. Let's not forget about our community's obligation to protect those nice kids who are emotionally vulnerable--as Elaine Aron calls them, Highly Sensitive People (HSPs). Maybe rating it R, with parents opting IN instead of OUT of having their child see it, is appropriate if it's a particularly brutal portrayal. The filmmaker can reduce the number of curse words or harsh images to knock it down to a PG-13 if that's going to get it into more schools. Let's face it, some of the scariest movies are the ones that do not have graphic violence. The filmmaker needs to get creative here and serve the kids not the ego that wants the movie "just so" with every ugly word and image in place, no compromise.

[VA Jill]

03:06 PM on 03/19/2012

I think I am perfectly capable of deciding what my children can handle. The MPAA has all this hype about sexuality, language, and "adult situations", but they could give less of a whoop about violence, and when they do, that whoop is often inappropriate.

[revolution7153]

11:54 PM on 03/17/2012

So they're old enough to live it, but not old enough to watch it. Makes perfect sense.

[magelbagel45]

09:54 PM on 03/17/2012

This movie should be rated PG or PG 13, so that it may be shown in schools throughout the country. This movie should not about ratings or how much money it makes at the box office. It should primary be about teaching children about how ugly bullying truly is.

[PerryDunn]

03:20 PM on 03/17/2012

Disagreeing with the MPAA is not uncommon. Their fixation on sex as opposed to violence is legion. They will give a highly violent film an easier rating than one with sex and why is that? Somehow our culture is more accepting of blood and guts and inhuman people terrorizing each other, but sex is taboo. Sad that this film will suffer because of the limited thinking of this organization.

[riesenslalom]

02:43 PM on 03/16/2012

This film's producers are just milking the situation to increase their ratings. They could easily edit the film to be PG13. If the film makers were any good, they would be able to get their message across without resorting to profanity.

[krayoncolorz]

12:47 PM on 03/16/2012

i have to agree with the common sense people on a lot of the kids movies. seems there aren't a lot of G movies in the theaters often and if there is it's not right for my 4 year old.