Tobacco, alcohol, and other risk behaviors in film: how well do MPAA ratings distinguish content?

Abstract

To evaluate the usefulness of Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) ratings for parental selection of appropriate films for children, the 100 top grossing movies each year from 1996 through 2004 (N = 900) were content analyzed to measure risk behaviors in each film. More restrictive MPAA ratings (R and PG-13) were associated with increased mean seconds of portrayals of tobacco use, alcohol use, and sexual content; increased frequency of violent content; and increased salience of drug use. MPAA ratings, however, did not clearly distinguish films based on tobacco or alcohol use. Fifty percent of R-rated movies contained 124 seconds or more of tobacco use, comparable with 26% of PG-13 and 17% of PG movies. Fifty percent of R-rated movies contained 162 seconds or more of alcohol use, comparable with 49% of PG-13 and 25% of PG movies. Because of the high degree of overlap in alcohol and tobacco content between rating categories, the MPAA rating system, as currently defined, is not adequate for parents who wish to limit their children's exposure to tobacco or alcohol content in movies.

Figure 1. Risk Behavior in Movies by Year of Release

Note. P-values for change over time: Tobacco use p<0.001; Alcohol use p<0.01; Sexual behavior p= 0.04

Figure 2. Receiver Operator Characteristic (ROC) Curves Illustrating the Degree of Overlap in Tobacco Use, Alcohol Use, and Sexual Behavior Content in Films by MPAA Rating*

*Note. The height of each curve is relative to the number of movies in each rating category that have at least some tobacco use, alcohol use, or sexual behavior. The area under each curve represents the proportion of movies in each rating category with the indicated amounts of that content.