Press Release - July 13, 2004
Press coverage - Dr. Thompson released this study on MSNBC Today. The study also received prominent coverage on CBS Evening News and ABC World News Tonight and widespread attention in the popular press, including a feature in The New York Times that served as the source of the paper's Quotation of the Day, a front page article in the Boston Globe, and a feature in USA Today. On September 28, 2004, Dr. Thompson testified at Senate hearings on the "Effectiveness of Media Rating Systems." Other coverage includes articles by Julie Salamon in The New York Times (Arts, 1/7/05) and columnist Barri Bronston in the Times-Picayune (12/20/04).

Answers to frequently asked questions -

What are the study’s main findings?
What are the study’s main recommendations?
What data did the study use?
Why should parents be concerned about content in films?
Why do we need more research?
What are some concrete examples to characterize "ratings creep?"
What's the importance of the study's findings related to substances depicted in films?
Where can I find more information about the content in films before taking my kids see them?

What are the study’s main findings?

• This study demonstrates quantitatively that ratings creep occurred over the last decade, and that today's movies contain significantly more violence, sexual content, and profanity on average than movies of the same age-based rating (e.g., G, PG, PG-13, R) a decade ago.

• The study suggests that increases in different types of content by rating drove the overall increase, with statistically significant increases (p<0.01) for movie rating categories indicated by a * in this table:
   

  Content type	Rating
  	G	PG	PG-13	R
  Violence		*	*
  Sex		*	*	*
  Profanity			*	*

  
  (The authors' previous study published in 2000 quantifying the depiction of violence in the entire history of G-rated animated films released before September 1999 showed a significant increasing trend over time, but G-rated animated films released since 2001 show a decrease in violence on average so that over the past 11 years the amount of violence in G-rated animated films did not significantly increase).

• Comparing the amount of violence in G-rated non-animated and animated films, the study found a statistically significant higher amount of violence in animated films than in non-animated films (p<0.05). Examples of G-rated animated films include: Aladdin, Tom and Jerry, The Lion King, Pokemon: The First Movie, Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, and Finding Nemo. Examples of G-rated non-animated films include: The Secret Garden, Black Beauty, Muppet Treasure Island, Babe: Pig in the City, The Princess Diaries, and The Santa Clause 2.

• The number of MPAA rating reasons assigned increased on average with higher age-based ratings, with the average increasing from 0 (for G-rated movies that by definition receive no rating reasons) to 2 for PG-rated films, 2.4 for PG-13-rated films, and 2.7 for R-rated films.

• This study found high scores for profanity in R-rated films and some evidence of the MPAA allowing more leniency in violent content for a given age-based rating category than sexual content.

• The MPAA mentioned alcohol or drugs in its rating reason for 18% of films, while Screen It! assigned a score above "none" for tobacco and/or alcohol/drugs for 95% of films and above “none” for alcohol/drugs for 93%, including 26 of the 51 G-rated films (51% of the G-rated films). (The authors' previous study published in 2001 of the depiction of substances over the entire history of G-rated animated films released before November 2000 showed a similar percentage and a significant decreasing trend over time).

• The MPAA did not indicate smoking as a rating reason for any of the movies in the database (0%), although 79% of the films included some depiction related to smoking tobacco that led them to receive a score above "None" for smoking from Screen it! This includes the full range of depictions from a minor depiction in the background and films in which only a "bad" character smokes to films in which the leading character smokes, many characters smoke, and/or adolescents smoke.

• In the first ever attempt to correlate movie content with reported revenues, the study found significantly higher gross revenues for PG-13 and R rated films that received an MPAA rating reason only for violence compared to those films that did not. However, the authors suggest that looking at a crude measure of profit (revenues minus budget) for R-rated films showed better performance by movies that received only MPAA rating reasons for sex and profanity.

• Extending the theme from a previous study of violence in T-rated video games, this study reports evidence of media convergence and cross-media marketing that present significant challenges to parents and ratings boards. Several recent examples of cross-media marketing, include: Spider-man 2 (PG-13 rated movie and E-rated PC and hand-held games);The Chronicles of Riddick (PG-13 rated film) and The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (M-rated video game); CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (TV 14 television program, DVD of collected televised episodes sold in video stores not rated, and M-rated video game); Harry Potter and Shrek 2 (PG-rated movies and E-rated video games). The authors suggest that the industry should take the lead in exploring the development of a standardized, universal media rating system.
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• "Parents and physicians should be aware that movies with the same rating can differ significantly in the amount and types of potentially objectionable content. Age-based ratings alone do not provide good information about the depiction of violence, sex, profanity, and other content, and the criteria for rating movies became less stringent over the last decade. The MPAA rating reasons provide important information about content, but they do not identify all types of content found in films and they particularly may miss the depiction of substances."

• "Given the possibility of long-term fear and anxieties from children's exposure to media, physicians should discuss media consumption with parents of young children and the fact that animation does not guarantee appropriate content for children."

• The convergence of media and cross-marketing issues as presenting major challenges to parents and rating boards and suggest the need for a significant research effort to explore the development and creation of a universal media rating system. The authors recognize that a single system would probably provide the simplest tool for parents, if one can be designed and effectively implemented. The industry should take the lead in developing the next generation media rating system.

• More research is needed to further understand and characterize media content and their positive and negative impacts on kids.
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What data did the study use?

The authors constructed a database that included movie ratings and rating reasons available from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), information about movie content from two independent resources, Kids-in-Mind and Screen It!, and data on movie gross revenues and budgets from IMDbPro. Using these data, the authors performed statistical analyses to explore correlations between movie ratings, content, and financial performance, to explore trends over time for films released between January 1, 1992 and December 31, 2003, and to characterize the depiction of substances in films (since mid-1996 when Screen It! started).
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Why should parents be concerned about content in films?

The link between kids' experiences of media content and their attitudes, perceptions, beliefs, and behaviors (including misperception of risks and imitation of the risky behaviors) remains limited to correlation, not causation. Nonetheless, today's kids spend more time exposed to and learning from the media than they spend in school. The messages in the media represent potentially powerful influences, and images of teens drinking alcohol, smoking tobacco, using drugs, and engaging in risky sexual and other behaviors fail to convey the long-term consequences of bad choices.  Parents must recognize the role of media as teachers in their children's lives, pay attention to the messages, and talk to their kids to help them make good choices in real life. Children's exposure to media provide many opportunities for parents to talk with kids about life's risks and strategies for managing them.
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Why do we need more research?

Media offer both potential positive and negative influences. We need additional research to better understand the role of media in children's perceptions, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. Since media continue to evolve rapidly and converge, we need research to study the changes and to help insure that kids, parents, and the industry all act responsibly to maximize the benefits of media for children and minimize the costs.
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Films distribute by rating, with the highest scores for total content occurring for films with higher ratings (see the figures in the paper). Not surprisingly the films with the lowest total content scores in the study are G-rated (The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland, Barney's Great Adventure: The Movie, Cat's Don't Dance, Piglet's Big Movie, and Spellbound) and those with the highest total content scores are R-rated (Pulp Fiction and The Foresaken). The best way to characterize the ratings creep may rely on pointing to the following examples that provide direct comparisons based on total content scores (note that all references to average, upper-end, and lower-end in the examples below relate to the location of the film's total content score within the distribution of all total content scores for that rating):

• The Santa Clause 2 (2002, rated G) compared to The Santa Clause (1994, rated PG)
• A League of Their Own, which represented an average PG-rated film in 1992, compared to My Big Fat Greek Wedding, which represented an average PG-rated film in 2002
• Forrest Gump, which represented a film in the upper-end of the distribution for PG-13 in 1994, compared to Minority Report, which represented an upper-end PG-13 film in 2002
• The Pirates of the Caribbean (2003) represents a PG-13-rated film with a total content score well-below the average in 2003, but the same film released in 1992 would been well-above the average compared to other PG-13-rated films
• Mr. Saturday Night, which represented a low-end R-rated film in 1992, compared to The Comedian, which represented a low-end R-rated film in 2002
• Gladiator (1992, not the more recent one), which represented an average R-rated film in 1992, compared to Gothika, which represented an average R-rated film in 2003
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What's the importance of the study's findings related to substances depicted in films?

The findings clearly suggest the need for increased parental awareness about the prevalence of depiction of substances in films, often in ways that normalize or glamorize their use, even if the amount of depiction in some rating categories (e.g. animated G-rated films) continues to decline. Parents clearly need to recognize the messages about substances in films and talk with their kids about the risks of substance use, and the MPAA should consider including information about substance depiction in films to parents.
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Where can I find more information about the content in films before taking my kids see them?

Check out reviews and also Internet resources that characterize content such as Screen It! and Kids-in-Mind. Take the time to see the films with your kids and to make media consumption a shared experience.
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http://www.kidsrisk.harvard.edu/faqs6.html