Frequently asked questions

1) Who decides the ratings for movies?

The ratings of motion pictures are determined by the rating board of the Classification and Rating Administration (“CARA”), which includes a Chairperson, a Vice-Chair, several Senior Raters and additional raters who all participate in the rating of individual motion pictures. The ratings are based on the level of certain content in the motion picture in order to provide parents with information to help them determine each film’s suitability for viewing by their children. CARA attempts to select a diverse group of raters who represent the diversity of American parents such as parents from different parts of the country, including small towns and big cities. Each member of the rating board is a parent and has no affiliation with the entertainment industry outside their employment with CARA.

2) What happens if a filmmaker doesn’t agree with your rating?

If the producer or distributor of the motion picture disagrees with the rating assigned to the motion picture, they have an opportunity to appeal the rating and argue that a lower rating should be assigned to the film. That appeal is heard by the Classification and Rating Appeals Board, which is made up of distributors and exhibitors knowledgeable about the industry. The Appeals Board determines whether the Rating Board’s rating decision was clearly incorrect. This determination is made by considering whether or not a majority of American parents would concur with the Rating Board’s finding. Also, the filmmaker can edit and resubmit the picture to obtain a lower rating than the one originally assigned by CARA.

3) How do you determine what puts a movie in one rating category over another?

A motion picture is evaluated in its entirety. The raters who view the entire completed motion picture will determine the most important factors that parents consider when deciding whether to allow their children to view that motion picture. The main considerations include the intensity of the themes in the motion picture, language, depictions of violence, nudity, sensuality, depictions of sexual activity and drug use. Motion pictures with adult themes or which include strong violence-, sexual- or drug-related elements will be rated accordingly to inform parents of those elements which may make the motion picture inappropriate for viewing by their younger children.

4) How do I know specifically what kind of material is in a movie?

Every motion picture rated PG, PG-13, R or NC-17 will be assigned “rating reasons” by CARA at the time that the motion picture is rated. These rating reasons provide additional guidance concerning the specific content of the motion picture and also give a further explanation of why the motion picture has been rated in the category to which it is assigned. The rating reasons also include modifiers to give parents an indication of the strength of specific elements in the movie. These rating reasons can be found in certain advertising of the motion picture in the rating box under the rating description. You can also find the rating reasons for any rated motion picture on www.filmratings.com. Some examples of rating reasons may include: “Rated R for strong violent images and some sensuality” (because language is not included in this rating reason, it means that the language contained in the movie was not at an “R” level); “Rated PG-13 for sci-fi action/violence, some sexuality and brief language” (modifiers such as “some” and “brief” guide parents as to the level of those elements in the film). We encourage parents to get as much information as possible about the content of movies that their children may want to watch. That is why we have partnered with groups like Pause, Parent, Play, a clearing house for ratings information that parents can access on the web at www.pauseparentplay.org.