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Tag: content ratings

  • Samuel L. Jackson Is To Blame For Everything

    Violence in entertainment content is the low-hanging focal point for many pundits when society’s ills are discussed. Do video games lead to violence? What is the effect of extended exposure to violent content for developing children and young adults? How much is too much? Who is to blame when the underage gets their hands on this kind of content? These talking points are not going away anytime soon, especially as content creators continue to embrace these kinds of mature situations. Of course, for some, the concept of mature content is enough to steer children who aren’t emotionally mature enough to handle it in another direction.

    However, as many Call of Duty multiplayer gamers already know, age restrictions don’t mean much when it comes to parents buying their children material that was intended for a mature audience. In other words, the ratings are often ignored in favor of placation. For those of who you choose to purchase your entertainment content in such a manner, Samuel L. Jackson and Funny or Die have a much-needed message for you:


    So who’s fault is it if a child watches Django Unchained and starts tossing n-bombs around like they are Quentin Tarantino discussing the type of storage facility they don’t have? The movie or the parent who let an impressionable child watch such adult-themed content? Or, to put it another way, why do these rating systems exist? Just for kicks? Here’s a hint: when a movie is R-Rated, or a game is rated Mature, there’s usually a reason behind it.

    Ignore these warnings at your own peril, but don’t blame the actor who appeared it or the content creator who made if you do.

    [Lead image courtesy]

  • Networks Bring Content Ratings to Streaming Episodes

    All the major broadcast networks are now working to apply content ratings that appear in the upper left corner of broadcast television to all epsodes that are now streamed on their respective websites. NBC, CBS, FOX, ABC, and Spanish language channels TeleFutura, Telemundo, and Univision will all have content ratings on streaming videos by December 1st.

    Parent groups are fond of the decision. One group, Television Watch, says that 68% of parents use the rating system and those that do, find them helpful in monitoring their child’s content.

    “For years, the content ratings have proven to be one of the most popular tools parents use to help make decisions about what their children watch on television,” said Jim Dyke, executive director of TV Watch in the Hollywood Reporter. “By taking this step today, these networks are giving parents an expanded set of tools to help determine what their children watch based on their own taste, style and age.”

    Certain streaming services have already adopted the rating system method, Hulu being among them. While parents sometimes find the information helpful, critics point to the fact that the content providers themselves are the ones that rate the shows, not an independent third party. This could allow them to overlook objectionable material, or things could go through without consistent judging criteria in place.

    This may help parents feel safer to a certain degree, but this is the internet we are talking about here. There are much worse things out there than what the major networks are putting out. The whole internet is rated TV-MA, slapping an illegible black and white sticker in the corner of a tiny video panel is unlikely to do all that much.

    [source: Hollywood Reporter]