I'm soooo writeing a letter!

yeah im not liking this. If you take a kid to see a PG movie and its showing a PG-13 movie thats not good.... Period

I agree wholeheartedly that movie trailers have become relaxed. When I went to see a PG movie, I forget the name, they showed a PG-13 trailer where the characters said "slut" and "b*tch" in the trailer. I think this is really unacceptable. Unless you're attending an R rated picture, which in this case is still questionable, no swear words should be audible or even "hinted" at. It's actually kind of ironic. When I saw Inglourious Basterds, no swear words or violence/sex was shown in trailers, although when I went to a PG showing, the exact opposite was what happened.

Extract.
bart doesn't care.

I agree with everybody. The MPAA is ruthless, and only cares about the money. I found the 2012 trailer VERY, VERY DISTURBING, and I hope we can do the best we can to clean things up. For now on, I'm using NetFlix.

I have noticed that the trailers I see with my kids when I see a movie (like UP, for example) in the theatre are not things I would allow them to watch. Thanks for letting us know about the MPAA's policy chage!

For people interested in age appropriate media for preschoolers, check out Super Prodigy at www.superprodigy.com

Honestly, you're better off getting Netflix, and staying home. There are a few things not everybody gets about the nature of studios, theaters, and the MPAA. The rating doesn't mean a thing. Why would that be? The MPAA is not a government entity. It's a corporate advisory board. They can't sanction anything. The MPAA came about in 1922, as a concern of the 6 largest major studios - Disney, Warner, Fox, Columbia, Paramount, and Universal. It's a cartel. Essentially the rating system is a gentleman's agreement between those studios about the content of their films, so they wouldn't offend too many people and therefore lose revenue - it has more to do with the revenue. Furthermore, the "ratings" make it harder for independent film that might have artistic merit instead of another dumb, cookie cutter, Harry Potter or whatever trite pre-packaged, snooze fest designed to empty the pockets of the lowest common denominator because they're dumb enough to fall for it again.
Theaters - most are part of large national chains, like AMC, Loews, Carmike, etc, and trust me on this one, they are doing what they are told. So if you have a complaint about a film or content, you should not complain to your local theater. Once again, they are doing what they are told. A rude ticket seller or unclean bathroom, go ahead. Don't like the movie? You sat through the whole thing - you aren't getting a refund. If you don't like the food at a restaurant, do you eat the whole thing and THEN complain?
I worked in the theater industry for five years, most of it as a manager. I've built prints, assembled trailer packs, done countless Thursday night changeovers, and I've dealt with every complaint you've ever had. Every little quibble and this, that, the other, I've heard it. Chances usually are that about 65-75% of whatever trifle you have to gripe about, is far beyond the control of the theater staff, and if you call corporate, they are going to give you a gift cert or pass to shut you up. That's the way it works. And in case any of you are wondering, the answer is most definitely YES - the general public comes off as far below what most would consider "intelligent." I mean YOU. I also mean your precious child who won't stop crying, which makes a lot of other people angry, including the maltreated, overworked, and underpaid staff. And for the Love of God, keep your feet off the seats! TRUST me on this. We are told what trailers to put in.
The point of this missive is this - the theater is acting on orders of the studios, who own and run the MPAA you trust to make things "safe" for the kiddos. They don't - they only care that you keep BUYING. The ratings exist to tell you what to go to - what that means is that when a PG movie comes out, you'll go to it because you're willing to pay to take the kids to the movies, because there's a kids movie out. (In other words - you fell for it!) The studios are too large to really care about whether or not you're offended. Once again, get Netflix. It puts the power into the hands of the consumer.

The MPAA do something stupid? I'm in a state of shock!

I've been thinking about this for a long time. When the MPAA rated Transformers 2 PG-13 instead of R, my opinion of them changed for the worse. And they showed a trailer for 2012 in front of Harry Potter?(Thanks MrsBlack09.) I mean, come on! A preview for an end-of-the-world movie targeted for kids!?! That settles it then. The MPAA only cares about money and is corrupt.

That's terrible, and certainly explains the traumatic 2012 trailer that ran before the PG-rated sixth Harry Potter movie. That thing made me cry!

I think the MPAA has utterly lost their minds. I've thought this ever since Beowulf scraped by with a PG-13 instead of an R. I have not seen Hostel or the new Halloween II, but most people I know who have agree that both of those two films should have been NC-17. But at the same time little indie films with content that is not nearly as objectionable get slapped with R or choose to forego ratings at all, lest they meet the same fate.

I've long noticed that trailers are not really "rated G" anymore, but somehow knowing that it's now official policy is even more distressing.

Trailers for PG-13 and R films have always had the potential to traumatize children (yeah, ask me about the trailers for the Blair Witch Project, which came out when I was very young), and now it's going to get even worse since studios will have no restriction on the content they can put in them. The studios are partially to blame too - they should know better than to advertise in this way, but they just want money like any other business. The MPAA should be there to reign them in when it comes to marketing towards children, but obviously we can't count on that anymore.

I just called the number provided and they were very welcoming and glad to hear from me. Just pick up the phone and call. They take your name and number if you want and pass it on. Let's all affect a positive change.
Cheers

Thanks for letting us know about this. I remember being surprised at some of the movie trailers I saw this summer but didn't see enough to realize something has changed on a large scale (shows you how often I go to the movies!) :)
My letter has been written and I'm putting it in the mail today.

I'm sorry, cyotemple, maybe I'm misunderstanding something here. You went to see a Quentin Tarrantino film, and you're complaining about graphic violence? Really?

And yeah, I only use the MPAA rating as a starting point when gauging whether a movie is ok for my kid. Either I watch it or I come here and check it out before he sees it. I learned by the time he was 2 that MPAA ratings are inconsistent and unreliable.

I guess now we'll either skip previews at the theater or stop going. I had noticed they were worse--I mean, a Transformers trailer complete with sexual innuendo in front of G Force? Yikes! We were upset about that, but had no idea it signaled a major change in preview rules.

I stopped taking my child and nieces and nephews to the movie theatre a long time ago on account of the trailers. IMHO, a G-rated screening should have movie trailers for G-rated films only. A PG-rated screening should have movie trailers for G and PG only. And so on.

My letter to MPAA is in the mail.

Some movie studios have the audacity to show online movie trailers that are redband or restricted with the only "age gate" that someone enter a date of birth that is over 17 years of age. I truly cannot believe that the MPAA can look the other way on this, or that mainstream media can just pass this issue by without a mention.

http://www.jennifersbody.com/

Fox and Hulu should be ashamed of themselves. Someone should ask how Fox News, the conservative voice of media can turn their back on kids access to this very adult content.

Hulu has no verification on any of there R rated clips and any kid can see this at any age. Any advertiser should take this into advisement.

If you believe the documentary "This Film is Not Yet Rated" then you believe that the MPAA works in favor of the big studios (hence their anti-piracy campaign). Independent films get more extreme ratings than ones distributed by big studios and they are cagey about their reasoning. Sex is always worse than violence in the eyes of the MPAA (especially if the woman is enjoying herself).

It's also important to remember that the MPAA is just a form of self-regulation which is the one thing that prevents government regulation. This means they can act completely in their own interest. They can say, "We're thinking of the children!" when in reality they aren't.

As glecko pointed out, the MPAA is less and less relevant. This is especially true with the Internet when you can look up ratings from other countries, and have websites like Common Sense Media to give their opinion.

And on the trailers ... dont' get me started ... one more reason to spend your $ on a nice home theater and watch your DVD's (shameless Netflix plug - love the service - don't work for them or own stock).

As the minutes pass the MPAA is becoming less and less relevant. In fact, I don't trust them at all - and really that's the only thing they can rely on is a parent's trust. They are corrupt to the core, they play games with ratings, and have the gaul to try to influence the content of movies.

How about some transparency MPAA? How about we "get to know" the people coming up with these ratings? How about we understand why they are rating things the way they do?

Want a "killer app" for the internet? How about a crowd sourced movie rating system? Not sure how to accomplish, but worth a shot. Can it be worse than the MPAA?

This happened to my family when we went to see a G rated movie this summer. I have a sensitive 7 year old who is prone to nightmares. Imagine my horror when a trailer for "2012" came on (it is about the end of the world with all kinds of destruction!) I complained to the manager, though I knew it would be in vain. I did not realize there had been a change in policy at the MPAA! It will certainly affect our future habits of going to movie theaters!

Didn't know this practice was going on, but now understand why the 7 trailers before Inglorious Bastards were so violent, gruesome, graphically disturbing. I wasn't able to watch and stomach the rest of the trailers. My husband and I walked out, asked for our money back and did not see the movie we intended to watch.

I agree. Why is the movie industry so unconcerned with kids? Isn't that their future audience? It is clear from the content of movies that the people involved have no clue, for example, on what a 6-year-old is doing and thinking. That's why popular movies rated G have comments about dating, marriage, the pain of childbirth, etc. What 6-year-old cares? I'm writing a letter to the MPAA.

In case I needed more reason to not trust the MPAA. I've had many discussions with my now 13 year old that movie rating mean nothing because the MPAA is amoral.