The MPAA rating system was designed in 1968. Here is why it is not enough anymore.
PG-13 was introduced in 1984 after Steven Spielberg suggested a rating between PG and R. Four decades later, it covers everything from animated adventures to films with graphic violence, sexual themes, and heavy language.
That is a wide range for one label. And it is exactly why Threshold exists -- to give you the specifics the rating system leaves out.
The problem with one-size-fits-all.
The MPAA rates for the general public. It does not know your family. A PG-13 movie might be perfectly fine for your thirteen-year-old but deeply unsettling for your nine-year-old sitting next to them on the couch. The label tells you almost nothing about what kind of content is in the film -- only that someone, somewhere, decided it was not quite R.
What PG-13 actually permits.
Under current guidelines, a PG-13 film can include one use of a strong profanity, moderate violence (including bloodless death), brief sensuality, and thematic elements like substance use and war. In practice, studios push right up to that line because PG-13 is the most commercially valuable rating in Hollywood.
What to do instead.
Stop relying on the letter rating. Before you press play, check the title in Threshold. We break down exactly what is in a film -- language, violence, sexual content, worldview concerns -- so you can decide for your family, not for a hypothetical average one.
The rating system was built for a different era. Your family deserves something better.
Every member of your household sees a different rating — tuned to their age and your values.
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