Movie ratings are just opinion
KATIE WIGLEY

Did you know that more than half the people who watch movies look at the rating before they buy or rent it? Depending on the rating to see if it is acceptable for kids or any age group is like gambling. Just because it says “R” doesn't necessarily mean that the movie is bad or not acceptable for children. When it says strong violence or language, do you automatically think it is inappropriate or intolerable for a certain age group?

I have seen many movies over the year, and at all levels. Some of the movies that I have seen that were rated pg-13 should have been rated “R”. For example, the horror movie, The Ring, was rated pg-13 and should have been rated “R”. The rating that is put on the back of a movie is that person's opinion. The person who is watching the movie may disagree with the rating. People rely on the rating to help them pick out a good movie, but even a good movie can be rated poorly. Even a bad movie can be rated excellent.

Why is it that people take what they see and hear and believe every word of it? Not everything is true, not everything is untrue. It is all based on opinion, and a movie rating is not a fact. How can you prove something about a movie that everyone has something different to say about it? It is not possible. Movie critics get paid money just to give their opinion about a movie, and people believe it. Well, if everyone believed other people's opinions, the world would be a very different place.

True stories are made into movies all the time. In life, everyone hears about it on the news. But when they turn a true story into a movie, it takes on a whole different perspective. For example, the movie The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was based on a true story. Because it was based on a true story they had to give it an edge. They had to make it rated “R” because people instinctively thought that the story was not suitable for children. Well, people didn't think that when it was on the news years ago. Everyone new about it, and now suddenly when they make a movie about it, they abruptly think it is inappropriate for kids when they most likely saw it on the news years ago.

Movies make people think. It can make people change their minds, or think differently about a subject. If movies are able to control what we think now, what about in the future when technology is stronger? How much can they change us in a two-hour movie? How far will directors and producers go to make our personality change and our world think in another way other than our own? Can you trust the ratings on the back of a movie? Can you trust the critics' word as truth? Would you take someone's opinion as your own?

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