University of Virginia Library

Rating System Change

The fact that different theaters
discriminate differently is because
the final decision upon what movie
is "immoral" (note the morality in
question depends solely upon
profanity, nudity, and sex-not upon
violence, brutality, and war) is
determined by the theaters.

There are, of course, laws
concerning which movies may be
shown publicly and what age group
may attend certain of these.
Virginia, for example has a law on
the books which designates any R
or X rated film for only eighteen
year olds or older. Moreover, these
legal guidelines have been enforced
recently in Richmond and
elsewhere.

However, the absence of a
uniform system of admittance in
connection with the movie rating
guidelines is as widespread as it is
infuriating. It is particularly
maddening when a date without an
identification card is involved in
one of these disputes.

What may be substituted for the
status quo in an attempt to make
methods of admittance conform
from theater to theater? One
Charlottesville movie theater admits
University students and their dates
to R-rated films, assuming that the
girl is eighteen or, if not, is
accompanied by an adult (her
date).

Another possible method of
uniform admittance standards is
through the local authorities.
Frequent enforcement of legal
standards would compel theaters to
uniformly adopt certain standards.

In any case, new guidelines for
the public to follow in knowing to
which movies an individual will be
admitted are necessary for
uniformity and to increase public
confidence in an institution which
should and can be helpful to many
people.

The reform should begin at the
top of the system with a
re-evaluation of the ratings to
include violence. Such reform
should necessarily include an
examination of admittance
methodology and an establishment
of uniform guidelines for all
theaters to follow in this area.

A reformation along these lines
is essential to restore the public
faith which was badly shaken by
the recent changes in the ratings of
such pictures as "Midnight Cowboy"
(X to R) and "Alice's Restaurant"
(R to GP). Improvements in the
status quo which would eliminate
present inequities in admittance
procedures would be the first step
towards such a reformation.