Motion Picture Association

Trade organization representing major American film studios

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2020 Lin-Manuel Miranda cut two instances of the word 'fuck' from the Hamilton recording to qualify it for a PG-13 rating on Disney+.
November 2019 The Motion Picture Association (MPA) replaced the previous MPAA branding, and updated its advertising guidelines to reference only green and red bands for internet trailers.
2018 MPAA Ratings Chair Joan Graves provided clarification on the organization's nudity classification policy, stating they typically use terms like 'partial nudity' or 'graphic nudity' rather than gender-specific descriptors.
2013 Philomena successfully appealed its initial R rating to receive a PG-13 rating.
2013 Tennessee amended its film rating law to prohibit persons under 18 from viewing films only if they are considered 'harmful to minors'.
2013 The original 1989 Tennessee law was ruled unconstitutional as a violation of the First Amendment.
2013 The Motion Picture Association (MPA) film ratings were visually redesigned, introducing a new layout with the rating displayed on a left panel, the rating name above it, a detailed content description panel on the right, and a rating explanation bar at the bottom.
May 2013 The MPAA further changed the trailer approval band text and graphic design, adjusting the green band language for feature film and non-feature film trailers.
2011 Anti-smoking advocates criticized the PG rating for the Nickelodeon animated film Rango, which contained over 60 instances of characters smoking, challenging the MPAA's rating guidelines.
2011 Pixar released Cars 2, which was criticized for receiving a G rating despite featuring on-screen gun violence and a torture scene.
2011 The documentary 'Bully' initially receives an R rating for profanity, preventing its intended middle and high school audience from viewing it. After a petition with over 200,000 signatures, a version with less profanity is given a PG-13 rating.
2010 The MPAA controversially rated the film Blue Valentine NC-17. After The Weinstein Company challenged the decision, the MPAA eventually awarded the same cut an R rating on appeal.
2010 David Chen, managing editor of Slashfilm, publicly criticized the Motion Picture Association (MPAA) rating system, arguing that the organization was becoming irrelevant and unnecessarily controlling of media content.
2010 The MPAA specifically flagged three films for 'male nudity' following parental pressure related to the film BrĂ¼no.
2010 Chicago Tribune film critic Michael Phillips publicly denounced the MPAA ratings board, describing it as 'foolish and irrelevant', and criticizing its inconsistent approach to rating violence and sexual content.

This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia article Motion Picture Association film rating system, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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