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Movie ratings

The MPA film ratings in the United States, G, PG, PG-13, R and NC-17, and what each one means.

About movie ratings

Movie ratings in the United States are the five ratings the Motion Picture Association (MPA) gives films: G, PG, PG-13, R and NC-17. They are assigned by the Classification and Rating Administration (CARA), an independent division of the MPA, under a voluntary system the MPA and the National Association of Theatre Owners began in November 1968 as an alternative to government censorship. Every rating except G comes with a descriptor, a short line saying what content earned it. Each rating has its own page, as do films labeled Not Rated and the retired X rating.

Who rates a film

A board of parents. Every member must be a parent with no other tie to the entertainment industry. Raters join while they have children between 5 and 15, serve up to seven years, and leave once all their children are 21. Apart from the chair and the senior raters, their names are kept confidential to protect them from pressure. The board watches the whole film and settles the rating and descriptor by simple majority. A filmmaker can appeal, and the Appeals Board can overturn a rating only by a two-thirds vote; the MPA’s history says that in 2017, five of the 563 films rated were appealed and one rating was overturned.

What the ratings restrict

Two ratings restrict admission. R admits children under 17 only with a parent or adult guardian, and NC-17 admits no one 17 and under. G, PG and PG-13 are guidance for parents. The MPA says most US theaters, as members of Cinema United, enforce the ratings, and many set their own policies on children at R-rated films. MPA members submit every film they release in theaters; independent filmmakers need not, which is why some films are Not Rated. The ratings apply in the United States only, and the MPA notes that every country has its own system.

How the ratings changed

The first four ratings, in 1968, were G, M, R and X. M became GP and then PG: the MPA dates the two steps to 1970 and 1972, the Federal Trade Commission’s 2000 history of the ratings to 1969 and 1970. PG-13 was added in 1984, after a scene in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom upset parents who had not expected it in a PG film. In 1990 NC-17 replaced X, which the MPA had not trademarked and which the pornography industry had taken up. Descriptors began in 1990 too. The MPA’s 2018 history and the FTC say they were given first to R-rated films and later to the others, the FTC dating PG and PG-13 to 1992 and NC-17 to 1994; FilmRatings.com says descriptors have been part of every PG, PG-13, R and NC-17 rating since 1990. In 1996 NC-17 changed from no children under 17 to no one 17 and under, and in 2007 the raters began noting smoking as a factor.

Sources

  1. Classification and Rating Rules, Effective as revised July 24, 2020, Motion Picture Association and National Association of Theatre Owners
  2. Resources & FAQ (FilmRatings.com), Classification and Rating Administration, Motion Picture Association
  3. “G” Is for Golden: The MPAA Film Ratings at 50, November 2018, Motion Picture Association of America
  4. Marketing Violent Entertainment to Children: A Review of Self-Regulation and Industry Practices, Appendices, Appendix D, History of the self-regulatory systems; September 2000; Internet Archive copy, Federal Trade Commission
  5. Ratings Guide: common descriptor elements (FilmRatings.com), Classification and Rating Administration, Motion Picture Association

Last reviewed October 2, 2026 by Rory Hansen. How we research