The Following Feature Is Rated R: Hollywood Studios and Their Avert Fascination with Making R-rated Films
In the past six months, 63 percent of all films released in the United States have been rated-R by the Motion Picture Association of America. (
Dove Foundation Report) Due to an increased viewing appetite for nudity, violence, and stochastic dominance in recent years, studio executives have felt pressure on many levels to release films that meet these newfound audience expectations. Being that the MPAA assigns any film with these attributes an R rating almost automatically the number of films with these elements included in the story is rather worrisome for several reasons. Although R-rated films occupy the greatest percentage of films made in any of the four rating categories (including G, PG, PG-13), the box-office numbers for R-rated films do not support their initial surge for production. In fact, R-rated films are the least profitable out of any of the four major ratings mentioned above. Yet, the number of R-rated films being produced and distributed seems to increase annually. In order to make the “biggest bang for their buck”, studios should make more films that fit into the G to PG-13 categories; films that will not only, on average, generate nearly three times the revenue of those which are rated-R, but will also keep an industry initially formed to allow individuals to express their auteurism maintain their artistic flare.
Box Office Results:
G-rated movies were the big winners in 2006-07 with an average domestic box office of $81.6 million. Next in line is PG-13 with an average of $71.7 million, slightly ahead of the average PG film which garnered $68.6 million. R-rated films came in a distant 4th place with $36.9 million, or about 45% of the average revenue of G-rated films.
Summary:
Greater than half the films released between 1998 and 2007 were rated-R. Although studio executives claim that they release films that cater to the wants and needs of the viewing audience, the box office numbers tell otherwise. Only 6 percent of R-rated films gathered cumulative box-office revenue greater than 50 million dollars, whereas those films in the G, PG, and PG-13 ratings had 12 percent of their films do so. Also, an average 20 percent of G-rated films, 16 percent of PG-rated films and 12 percent of PG-13-rated films had box-office revenues in excess of three times the production budget, compared to 11 percent of R-rated films. (DeVany, 2002) Despite the fact that recent films such as Hostel, Saw, What Lies Beneath and Watchmen have seen large box-office intakes in the given R-rating, this is not the norm. For every one of these successes noted, there are 100 others that experienced a huge box-office flop. Clearly, the box-office success rate of R-rated movies is lower than those of their rating counterparts.
So, why make them?
Although many studio executives assert that predicted box-office success is an unknown prospect in the early stages of a film, statistics show that the wariness of future potential occurs very early on in the development stages of a film. Before a screenplay is ever purchased by a studio and put into active development, there is a very fond knowing amongst executives of the predicted success the film will have if made. Former Lionsgate President of Production and Acquisitions Peter Block once stated, “We can only make so many films a year, so we choose the best ones with the most potential when accessing scripts”. (Fuson, 1999) Surely, every studio is looking for the next big script that will not only get their company huge revenue amounts, but also make them the talk of the entertainment industry. It is mildly absurd to think that a strong consideration and evaluation period does not take place prior to the purchasing of material by studios. Knowing that R-rated films achieve, on average, a lower amount of success in the box-office, than why are they still the most frequently made out of the four MPAA rating categories?
Nudity is a perhaps the biggest reason as to why R-rated films are readily being made at an advanced rate. In recent years there has been an enormous spike in sales of magazines such as Playboy, Penthouse, Maxim etc. "Even in a year when we had anticipated a decline in entertainment profits, we were able to triple overall company profitability," stated Playboy CEO
Hugh Hefner. (Nelson, 2000) With an increase in sales of popular sex magazines in full fledge, this can only mean one thing. The opportunity to see others in a sexually provocative way is something that a large population of the public desires nowadays. When it comes to the film world, the opportunity for viewers to witness nudity on screen only rests within the R-rated community.
Nudity:
As determined by the MPAA, if a motion picture is to show or refer to any body-parts or actions deemed “sexually explicit”, it can only garner two possible ratings: NC-17 or R. (DeVany, 2004) Although NC-17 was once a competing medium with R the rating has practically vanished since the flop of Paul Verhoeven’s 1995 film
Showgirls. As one Paramount executive suggested, because of their sexually related nudity, movies such as Louis Malle's Pretty Baby, Bernardo Bertolucci's Last Tango in Paris, and Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange would not even be considered by a major studio today. (DeVany, 2002) The NC-17 rating, which forbids theaters from admitting children under the age of 18, is the equivalent of a death sentence as far as the studios are concerned. Just because the rating is rarely assigned to films by the MPAA these days doesn’t mean studios aren’t coming as close as possible to them in terms of nudity on screen in their R-rated films. In fact, at one time, the 2005 blockbuster hit Hostel had garnered a rating of NC-17 from the review board. After deleting several sexually lewd scenes during the edit, producers were able to squeak their way into the R category.
In a society that yearns to see as many private parts and sexually lewd actions as possible, it is understandable as to why executives would lean towards making the majority of their films R-rated. Although studios make films to “cater to the publics wants and needs”, as one executive stated, the business model is very cloudy. (Fuson, 1999) The film industry’s, like any other business, number one goal is to make money. Although sexually provocative situations may sell in magazines, on television, and within other mediums, the same cannot be said for motion pictures. We live in an age where the opportunity to see naked bodies are a principle coveted by many, but if a film studio wants to make money, executives will decide to limit the amount of sexually explicit material that is show on the big screen in hopes to break under the R-rated category.
Violence:
Not only are studios attempting to foster to the publics longing for sexually explicit material with the production of R-rated films, they are also catering to a society that values violence and predominantly dark and depressing entertainment mediums. Enormous sales numbers for games such as
Grand Theft Auto and Chinatown Wars support the notion that we live in a society that fantasizes about being placed in brutally violent situations. Although statistics do not support the assertion that individuals are acting out these fantasies in real life, it is rather alarming that the drive to buy these games is so spectacular.
Not only are video games portraying these intense graphic images on screen, but many films are as well. Recent R-rated films like The Ruins, Hostel, Saw, Halloween, and Friday the 13th all teetered on the NC-17 while giving viewers a plethora of bloods, guts, and sex. This isn’t to say that G, PG, PG-13 movies do not portray violence because they do. It is simply the magnitude of the violent act that separates one rating from another. Violence taking place in a G or PG movie may institute characters fighting to resolve an issue while violence in an R-rated can range anywhere from someone being shot in the head to someone having their heart removed as blood seeps down the table they lay on. Studio executives can cater to audiences need to witness violent situations to a degree, but that violence can be made to be more situated toward real-life situations. You are much more likely to see a fight occur in the street while walking home from school then you are to see someone have their heart removed from their battered and beaten body in a torture chamber, situations which frequently occur in R-rated movies. If R-rated films aren’t making money, and they aren’t relating to real life situations, than why make them? Some might argue they express greater amounts of creativity on the part of the filmmakers involved.
In an industry packed with creative individuals who think outside the box, it is rather alarming to see that so many thoughtless films are being made. Although R-rated movies have earned the greatest number of Academy Awards the past fours years, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the auteur approach is being saved. Film historian Michael Medved states, “
By rewarding movies that leave the public cold, the movie industry highlights its deep disconnect with the mass audience”. (Medved, 1999) Despite the fact that recent films such as No Country For Old Men, There Will Be Blood, and Lions For Lambs garnered many Oscar nominations for those involved on the creative side (actors, directors, writers, cinematographers), the stories did little to offer the viewing audiences much on the creative side. About R-rated pictures, one studio executive is quoted as saying, "you're leaving tens of millions of dollars on the table with an R-rating. Why? For artistic integrity? Let's be real." (DeVany, 2002) Let’s not forget, all three of the Oscar-nominated films above failed to meet production budget with their domestic box-office intake.
Creative Instincts:
Steven Spielberg once stated, “The public has an appetite for anything about imagination - anything that is as far away from reality and is creatively possible”. (Walls, 2005) Audiences aren’t given anything but blood, gore, and nudity in the aforementioned films. It doesn’t take much creativity on the part of a filmmaker to have someone get stabbed to death in a car, or to shoot a scene with two teenagers having sex in their parents bed on a Saturday night – situations that can only be found in R-rated films.
Despite the fact that executives might claim that R-rated films allow the greatest amount of creativity to be exerted, that is simply not the case. Films such as E.T, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and King Kong are said to be at the forefront of imaginative capabilities; and not one of them was rated R. Ratings do not equate with creativity, it is the filmmaking approach on all levels that leads that to happen. Films that exist in the G-PG-13 not only garner more box office intake, but also portray storylines that are done at a more auteuristic and imaginable angle. In an industry where creativity is praised, it is surprising that studios rather lag away from making films that praise this notion.
The Future:
In an era where the viewers are thrown a plethora of R-rated films, many question whether or not the massive amount of releases is necessary. Although other forms of entertainment have seen a rise in sales with products containing imagery of a graphic or sexual nature, the intake has not translated to the film universe. In this creative, artsy world known as the Hollywood film industry, many executives are scouring everyday to try and come up with the new script that is going to make their company the next DreamWorks or Universal, yet they decide to keep producing R-rated films. Instead of making films that fit into the so-called norm and tap into what is popular at the time, studios should be looking to make films that will transcend and live on through generations. Films like Forrest Gump and Office Space not only stand the test of time, but continue to remain extremely popular to this day. And neither one of these films was rated R. Sex and Violence may be what the viewing audience craves nowadays in mediums such as video games and on television shows, but the results are lagging concerning motion pictures so it’s time for a change. The call for a venture away from R-rated films portraying violence and sex to G, PG, PG-13 films offering a small amount of violence/sex coupled with a large amount of creativity and characterization is much needed for the film industry to continue to profit and hence, be able to distribute movies to the viewing audience.
References
Cook, Michael. (2000). G Rated For Gold Mine. Retrieved April 1, 2009 from
http://www.univforum.org/pdf/art_michael_cook.pdfDe Vany, Arthur S. and Walls, W. David. (2002). Does Hollywood Make Too Many R Movies? Retrieved April 3, 2009 from
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=231635De Vany, Arthur. (2004). Hollywood Economics. London and New York: Routledge Publishing.
Nelson, Erik. (2000). Film Sex, Violence Not a Good Business. Drudge Report. 12 July 2000.
The Dove Foundation. Dove Foundation’s 2006-2007 Studio Report Card [Data file]. Retrieved from
http://www.dove.org/news.asp?ArticleID=161Walls, W. David. (2005).
Demand Stochastics, Supply Adaptation, and the Distribution of Film Earnings.
Applied Economics Letters, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 12(10), pages 619-623. Retrieved April 6, 2009 from
http://ideas.repec.org/p/fth/calirv/99-00-24.html
