R-Rated Movies Why so many R-Rated movies from Hollywood?

Last year (2012) Hollywood released 13 R-rated films in the first quarter, a 45% increase from same time frame a year earlier. Box-office numbers fell by double digits. For the year as a whole, only 10% of the highest-grossing films had R-ratings. And yet, for the year, Hollywood produced more R-rated films than any other category: 49% more than PG-13, 261% more than PG, and 2113% more than G. Claims that this is a market driven factor fall to the numbers: the average income per film for all movies released in 2012 show that even industry maligned G-rated films earned 37% more than R-rated. PG and PG-13 follow suit, earning a whopping 156% and 182% more respectively. Hollywood is out of touch with reality for most of America. When producer Joseph Gordon-Levitt was asked about this (USA Today 6/26/13), he admitted seeking an R-Rating for his film, saying that anything less would have been disappointing and that he included extra scenes to assure that he would get it. “If you want to connect with audiences with certain messages, that rating is perfectly appropriate. Life is rated R.” Obviously Hollywood is selling its message and morality to our society and they’re so enamored with the content that they’re willing to lose money (or make far less) to get that message across.

Article by Brent MacDonald, Lion Tracks Ministries (c) 2013 Non-profit duplication is permitted. A courtesy email is appreciated.