New Report Finds Gun Violence Higher in PG-13 Movies Over R-Rated Films

The latest study on movies and society has found out something interesting about PG-13, that strange ratings space where one must hang for several years before gaining enough confidence to sneak into the Rated-R movies without getting caught. Conducted by the researchers at The Ohio State University and the Annenberg Public Policy Center in Pennsylvania, the study finds that the level of gun violence in mainstream U.S. movies has more than doubled since  1950, with the amount of gun violence in PG-13 flicks outweighing that of R-Rated films.

The study took 945 films from 1950 to 2012, including the 30 top box office hits, and found that gun violence occurs on average twice an hour in both PG-13 and R-Rated films. Since 1985, the amount of violence in films has slightly declined and in R-Rated films, it has stayed essentially the same. But in the PG-13 category, violence increased “considerably.” Interestingly enough, the PG-13 rating was introduced in 1985 because parents were concerned about the high violence in children’s films. The problem now is that the higher violence films are just as accessible to kids with cable and internet at their fingertips.

“Even if youth do not use guns, these findings suggest that they are exposed to increasing gun violence in top-selling films,” the researchers said. “By including guns in violent scenes, film producers may be strengthening the weapons effect and providing youth with scripts for using guns.”

What would the authors of the study like to see happen? Stronger MPAA guidelines for one thing, with films that feature heavy gun violence getting slapped with that R-rating more easily. The MPAA has not commented on their findings yet, but it seems reminiscent of the hoopla surrounding violent video games that parents have been battling for the last few years. Is it possible that the MPAA could create a new rating for those in-betweener films, that are deemed too violent for PG-13, but don’t seem to be heavy enough for the R-rating? Mecha-PG has a nice ring to it.

Source: Variety