White House Wag: Ratings Rhetoric
N E W Y O R K, Sept. 17 -- What do the films Saving Private Ryan, Schindler’s List and The Patriot have in common?
All three were rated R, at least in part due to their violent content. And President Clinton, first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and Vice President Al Gore all believe no teenager should see them.
That’s what one would be led to believe after listening to their comments on the Federal Trade Commission’s “Report on the Marketing of Violent Entertainment to Children.” The trio blasted the movie industry for using advertising to try encourage teenagers to view R-rated films.
“They say these rating systems mean something,” the president declared in a speech Monday in Scarsdale, N.Y. “They can’t turn around and advertise to people that shouldn’t see this stuff.”
In an interview with ABCNEWS later that morning, Mrs. Clinton said, “We found some disturbing information about how they target R-rated movies that are totally inappropriate to children between 12 and 18.”
And just Saturday, Gore warned an audience here in Washington that “movies rated inappropriate for children are being aggressively marketed to children.”
“That’s wrong and it has to stop,” he said.
Some Parents May Approve
What none of the politicians seemed to consider is that some parents may consider some R-rated movies appropriate for their teenagers. (Teens are really the ones we’re talking about here. Despite all the talk about “children,” the FTC study found no evidence that R-rated movies were being marketed to those under 12 years of age.)
The ratings themselves recognize that. According to the industry’s Classification and Rating Administration, a Restricted or R rating means that “parents are urged to learn more about the film before taking their children to see it.” Only an NC-17 rating signals that “most American parents” would consider the film inappropriate for children or teenagers.
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