Realities of the rating system

The movie industry is booming. In fact, some numbers say that the movie industry is growing at a faster pace than the economy. Which all in all, really isn’t a surprise. With Marvel shooting out more movies almost up to two times a year and Disney reviving old Disney classics and even Pixar touching movie projects it hadn’t touched since the early 00’s it’s no surprise that movies are bringing in a bigger revenue every year. What’s actually surprising is the age level allowed to see these movies.

The current minimum age people are allowed to view R-rated movies is seventeen. No one really benefits in this scenario. Furthermore, at the age of seventeen, you’ve been driving a year, allowed to have a job for two years and only one year younger than the legal voting age. Yet the restriction age is seventeen? At a certain age, going to see an R-rated movie with your parents because you have to seems pretty unappealing. I’d round that age to about fourteen. You’re in high school and you want to expand your ability to be independent. Although it is fun to see what you’re able to get away with when the cashier doesn’t seem to be paying attention, it seems way more hassle-free to avoid the problem in its entirety.

In reality, it’s just the movie business trying to make even more money. When you’re thirteen, movies start charging you the adult price. Now, wouldn’t they be making more money if the R-rated movie you wanted to go to force you to bring someone over the age of seventeen? Yes, it would. That’s another ticket, another poor sap cheated by their local theater. I mean, the prices for a bag of popcorn is another atrocity within itself, but to pay almost $20 to $30 for a two-hour experience isn’t really helping anyone except for the fat cats at Cinemark.

In some pre-teens minds, going to the movies by themselves is like a rite of passage. A certain time when a little match--not a torch--of trust is handed from to the parent to child to be able to at least handle themselves through a two-hour time period. Or maybe think about a sixteen-year-old that just got paid and wants to see a movie that has a few more curse words one person should use in a day. Not a lot of people would think too much of it and neither should the movie theaters. Because it’s show biz and everyone wants to be a part of it even if it means just sitting in front of a screen.