Has Hollywood Lost Its Mind?: A Parent's Guide to Movie Ratings

Chris Hicks

May 2013 · Abrams

About this ebook

The wire-thin line that separates movies rated PG and R has been crossed over so many times in both directions that industry observers are questioning whether the rating system carries any validity at all. As a movie reviewer for more than thirty years and as a watchful, caretaker parent, author Chris Hicks learned pretty quickly that Hollywood movers and shakers like to “push the envelope,” as they put it, and it doesn’t seem to matter whether it’s a children’s film or an adult movie. It’s not just R-rated movies that are troubling. PG-13s and even PGs can also be problematic. And sometimes worse than problematic. Simply put, relying on the Motion Picture Association of America to make choices for you or your children is a mistake.

Breaking down the history of the film rating system and exploring today’s ratings confusion and quagmire, Hicks provides valuable information to help parents know how to interpret and what to expect from today’s movies.

About the author

Chris Hicks has been writing about movies for the Deseret News in Salt Lake City for more than thirty years, and during that time also spent thirteen years reviewing films for KSL TV and radio. Now retired, he continues to write a weekly entertainment column and home-video reviews for the Deseret News. Chris and his wife Joyce live in Holladay, Utah, and have a combined family of twelve children and thirty-plus grandchildren, all of whom love movies.