Letter to the MPAA Requesting Rating Clarification

Dear Mr. Dodd,

            My name is Casey and I am a current student at Brigham Young University studying human development.  I am an active media consumer and am passionate about the film industry’s influence.  I am writing today to gather some more information about the Motion Picture Association of America’s (MPAA) rating system and to offer a few adjustments to ensure the protection of vulnerable young people from explicit material that may be used as the only resource in the child’s decision making. 

            Children are vulnerable and need guidance in making choices that will help them be good citizens, however some children turn to media to make big decisions concerning risky behavior such as sexual relationships and drug use.  Studies show evidence of harmful effects that movies with explicit material have on young children, which can alter an individual’s life for the worse.  In addition, children receive social behaviors from media and there is evidence to prove that watching violent acts perpetuate violent behavior.  Because children are developing cognitively I do believe it is societies responsibility to protect them from unnecessary exposure to explicit content. 

            Although I am writing in hope to protect children, I am not advocating for more regulation as I see the importance in self-expression and freedom of speech. Movies have unique was of influencing individuals and I want to preserve the filmmakers creativity and right to convey ideas.  With this in mind I have decided to propose some adjustments to the MPAA’s current rating system and I am open to discuss any of these with you in the future.

            The current system from my understanding is a voluntary system constructed of average citizens with some parental experience.  This is good to have a board of people responsible for rating various movies, but what would be even better is if these people were media experts with special concern for human life. This will give more credibility to the MPAA and movies will be accurately rated.  The consumer will enjoy more security in knowing that the board responsible for rating explicit material is concerned for the wellbeing of people and society as a whole. 

             Another concern I have is about the actual ratings themselves.  There are five rating codes to categorize millions of movies of different content and the ratings seem very broad.  Due to the loose lines between ratings there is little consistency in what the consumer can expect to see.  Having more detailed and specific rating categories will help the media consumer make the best choice and the MPAA will be credited by accurately displaying film details instead of leaving the task up to random websites.  I suggest adding more ratings in between the already established system such as: rated T for toddlers (ages 2-4), K for kids (ages 5-7), P for preteen (ages 8-11), T for teen (ages 12-17), and only allow 18 years and older to purchase or view rated R movies.  These more specified ratings would help consumers know exactly what content is in the film.  This will also allow the film industry to continue to exercise freedom of speech.

            As you can see my hope is not to put regulation over freedom of speech or to inhibit filmmakers to express themselves through movies, I just would like to know what is in the movies I see so that I can avoid having to walk out of a theatre, return a video, and avoid exposing my family to harmful material.  I hope my suggestions will be carefully reviewed and that we can both help and benefit society by making the consumer more aware. 

Sincerely,

Casey Ford