Rating System Pop Quiz: How much do you know about the MPAA’s rating system? Take our quiz and compare your answers below.
1. What does MPAA stand for?
a. Motion Picture Actor’s Association
b. Motion Picture Association of America
c. Motion Picture Artist’s Association
2. How many categories exist in the MPAA rating system?
a. 4
b. 5
c. 7
3. The “PG” category was originally known as what?
a. “M” for Mature
b. “YA” for Young Adults
c. “X” for No Children Allowed
4. What did the MPAA do on July 1, 1984?
a. They split the “PG” rating into “PG” and “PG-13.”
b. They added the “NC-17” rating.
c. They refused a “G” rating to a Disney film for the first time.
5. True or false: the “X” rating is not trademarked by the MPAA.
a. True
b. False
6. What rating system was used prior to the MPAA’s voluntary rating system used today?
a. Ethics Approval Code
b. Valenti’s Code for Motion Pictures
c. Hay’s Production Code
7. In what year did the MPAA announce the NC-17 rating?
a. 1988
b. 1990
c. 1992
8. Which of the following will never appear in a “PG”-rated film?
a. brief nudity
b. drug use
c. profanity
9. Which two approval ratings does the MPAA apply to trailers?
a. “All Audiences” and “Restricted Audiences”
b. “General Audiences” and “Mature Audiences”
c. “Unrestricted Audiences” and “Adult Audiences”
10. How many full-time members serve on the MPAA Rating Board?
a. 7 – 9
b. 8 – 13
c. 25 – 29
Answers: 1.b; 2.b (G, PG, PG-13, R, NC-17” 3.a (the public confused the severity of the “M” rating with the “R” rating, thinking “R” was less intense, so the MPAA renamed “M” as “PG.”” 4.a; 5.a (The X, XX, XXX ratings are self-imposed by distributors who do not want to submit their films to the MPAA for approval” 6.c; 7. b (the “NC-17” rating was created for filmmakers whose films contained too much adult content for the “R” rating, but did not want their films to be lumped in with “X”-rated films that had evolved into pornography” 8.b; 9.a (Trailers approved for “Restricted Audiences” may only be shown before “R” and “NC-17” rated films. Trailers approved for “All Audiences” may be “R”-rated films, but the trailer does not contain any scene responsible for the “R”-rating” 10. b.