I remember the time that I worked overnight at Denny’s Diner, I would watch movies constantly on my days off. My oldest brother, Robert, also worked overnight with Convergys and it became ritual that on Tuesday night around 11:00 PM we would head down to the same ole Blockbuster on 123rd street and find a new story or two to entertain ourselves with.
We found many “classics” such as Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure; we watched action films and animated adventures. We delved further into the annals of movie history with films such as The Sting. After a year and schedules changing, we ended our time having watched nearly 100 films. We felt somewhat broadened in our scope. We enjoyed ourselves. One thing we never did was rent a single rated R film.
I know that many rated R films are very critically acclaimed and I do not dispute that there can be a very thought-provoking or emotionally-charged or creative story that gets labeled with R. I can state, however, that the label of R was a factor in spending my money elsewhere. With my limited exposure to R films, mostly from edited ones on cable stations like USA or TNT, I have found that there is something that does not sit well with me in the movie. It could be something that goes too far to an extreme such as vulgarity or excessive brutality and gore, but I find myself feeling somewhat annoyed or even sick – I don’t deal well with bloody special effects. Again, seeing the label of R turned my attention away from any given movie; I spent my money elsewhere!
I do not understand the wealth of movies being produced that come with an R rating when it seems that I am not alone in my thoughts that lower ratings are more in my movie watching style. I feel that studios are making a substantial error in judgment by not making the decision to create more family friendly fare, so I decided to look into the idea a bit more.
My initial explorations have been primarily on the internet. Sites such as imdb.com show how much cash any given title has earned. If you follow the links to the Top 100 Grossing Films of All-Time, you will find that seven of those films received an R rating. Seven? G rating comes in with 10. With more searching, I found a hugely impressive article written by Kimberly M Thompson, ScD and Fumie Yokota, PhD which showed that between July 1, 1996 and December 31, 2003 67% of films rated by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) came with an R rating.
If I had to place 67% of my time and energy into work that only produced 7% of my income, I would find a way to do something else. I’ll admit that the logic isn’t perfect and that seven films in the top 100 don’t necessarily equate to 7% of the gross, but the idea is sound. As I continue in my study, I will do more of the exact math outcomes for Return on Investment. I’ve always heard that money talks, but just not in the film industry?
