Two movies, released in the summer of 1984, Gremlins, completely changed how movies are rated by the MPA (formerly known as the MPAA), and led to the creation of the PG-13 rating. The voluntary MPA rating system was introduced in the US in 1968, following the collapse of the Hays Code, a set of guidelines that were responsible for mass censorship in film for over 30 years. The MPA initially had four ratings that gave films an associated audience: G (for all ages), M (which suggested parental guidance and would quickly be replaced by PG in 1972), R (which meant that minors had to be accompanied by an adult), and X (which was for adult audiences only, and later replaced with the infamous NC-17 rating).
When they were released in the summer of 1984, 2022's most commercially successful movie, Top Gun: Maverick.
Why Temple Of Doom & Gremlins Needed A New Rating
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Gremlins pushed the PG rating to the very limit, in of the levels of violence depicted onscreen. Highlights include a man having his heart pulled out of his chest in Temple of Doom, and a Gremlin exploding into a gory mess inside a microwave. Although violent, these films did not technically feature content that would have pushed them into an R-rating, hence them both receiving a PG from the then-MPAA.
This did not mean, however, that Temple of Doom and Gremlins were released without issue. Many parents reportedly walked out of screenings, children in tow, and complained that they were not given adequate warning about the levels of violence in these films, given their supposedly age-appropriate MPAA ratings. The controversy surrounding both Temple of Doom and Gremlins meant that a change in MPAA ratings was necessary.
How The PG-13 Rating Came To Be
The Gremlins and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, the entire modern film landscape could have been completely different.
