Entertainment ratings, censorship, etc.

[Catmatic Leftist]

What does everyone think about movie, TV, and video game ratings? Are they necessary? Is it right to screen youth from "inappropriate material"?

[Kotze]

It's okay to have recommendation systems for parents of very young kids, I don't think a 16-year old will suffer horribly by watching a movie rated for 18-year olds (unless it's an Uwe Boll movie). The question is where do these ratings come from and what economic effects they have for those who produce these movies and games.

There is a documentary about how movie ratings work in the USA that alleges that ratings are more lenient when it comes to movies by big studios: This Film Is Not Rated Yet (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Film_Is_Not_Yet_Rated). Furthermore, some not very surprising observations are made when it comes to how they handle gay content relative to straight, and erotic content relative to violence.

In Germany, movie ratings are done by the FSK (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freiwillige_Selbstkontrolle_der_Filmwirtschaft), game ratings are done by the USK (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unterhaltungssoftware_Selbstkontrolle), and there is also the BPjM (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bundespr%C3%BCfstelle_f%C3%BCr_jugendgef%C3%A4hrde nde_Medien). If a movie doesn't already have a rating by FSK, the BPjM can give it an 18-rating. Similar with games. The BPjM is an old organisation and much weirder than the other two: The allocation formula for its panels is anachronistic, they always have some representatives from the churches. There are restrictions for advertising when it comes to highly-rated (eh, is that the right word) stuff.