For those of you that may have come in late I like to watch movies.  Good ones, bad ones, happy ones, sad ones.  Old movies with cheesy special effects or new movies with digital people so real it's hard to tell they're fake.  Makes no difference to me.  I appreciate movies for what they are: entertainment.  If I think they are worthy enough (or cheap enough) I will by them.

I usually try to watch a movie within a day or two of buying it.  I have fallen behind by a "few" movies.  (Bubba Ho-Tep Million Dollar Baby is next in line.)  I like to browse the Best Buy and Circuit City ads on Sunday and see what's on sale.  Another secret I'll let you in on is Big Lots.  No jive.  They have movies for $3 apiece.  Not the best titles mind you, but REAL movies.

And of course every time I bring home a movie the boys want to know if they can watch it.  My response is always to read the rating on the back.  "R"? Nope.  "PG-13"? Probably not.  "PG"? Probably.  "G"?  Why are you even asking.  And this always gets me to thinking about the rating system.

Did you know the current rating system was implemented in 1968?  Did you know before there was "PG" there was "GP"?  And before that it was "M"?  Did you know that in 1990 the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) started doing something annoying?  Allow me to explain.

Part of the fun in seeing a movie was always trying to guess why it received the rating it did.  Was there nudity?  Foul language?  Death and dismemberment? The only way to know was to either check out the flick or read Joe Bob Briggs' Drive-In Review in the paper.

Suddenly new words began appearing on the movie posters under the "R" rating.  Things like "For Violence and Strong Language" and "Strong Sci-Fi Violence and Action, Language and Brief Nudity."  Huh?  But that wasn't enough.  They also had to start in on the "PG-13" and "PG" ratings as well.  This got me to wondering about my current library.  I had to laugh.

Here are some examples and the movies from which they come:

Ice Age	PG	Mild Peril
E.T	PG	Language and Mild Thematic Elements
Happy Feet	PG	Some Mild Peril and Rude Humor
The Bucket List	PG-13	Language, Including a Sexual Reference

Rude humor?  A sexual reference?  Language...in E.T.?  Perhaps it should read "A Penis Reference."

I just figure I don't need to be told about the "R" stuff since I don't take my kids to see "R" movies.  I can handle the ratings but I just don't see the reasoning for the explanations.  If I'm unsure I'll see a movie before I take my boys.

As is usually the case I'm pretty sure I'm the only one this bothers but I just had to get this one out in the open.