When you ask Hollywood executives why the overwhelming number of new
films are R-rated and loaded with gratuitous sex, profanity and
obscenity, the answer is usually that the industry is merely giving the
public what it wants.
It’s simple economics, they say. It’s the law of supply and demand.
There are even some studio officials who will tell you they
deliberately court R ratings from the Motion Picture Association of
America because a PG or PG-13 designation will hurt a film at the box
office.
I once thought they actually believed this and merely had to be
persuaded by contrary evidence. However, I first presented the
overwhelming data to the contrary in 1988 — 12 years ago — when I
covered the entertainment industry full-time.
A
new
study released last week by economics professor Arthur De Vany once again found that an R rating may be the worst investment a Hollywood studio can make.
De Vany’s study, like those I conducted more than a decade ago, concluded that R-rated films are less than half as likely as PG releases to gross $25 million domestically, but that G, PG and PG-13 movies all generate better revenues and profits. This has been the case consistently since the debut of the movie rating system in 1969.
Nevertheless, more than half of the films released in the last decade were rated R, less than 3 percent were rated G and the remainder were split about evenly between PG and PG-13.
The obvious conclusion? “A studio executive seeking to trim the downside risk and increase the upside possibilities could do so by shifting production dollars out of the R-rated movies into G, PG and even PG-13 movies,” De Vany said.
In fact, a glance at a list of the top 10 highest grossing films of all time shows not one R-rated film among the bunch. Does that tell you something?
This is a long-term trend, yet Hollywood either hasn’t caught on or is deliberately ignoring the bottom-line considerations of filmmaking. Either the movie industry is run by a bunch of dolts, totally out of touch with reality, or the people in charge of the studios are deliberately and consciously pushing the culture in a direction of bad taste, even against their own self-interests. It’s that simple.
Just look at how America’s standards of taste have changed.
In 1966, one of the most controversial movies released was “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolfe,” which contained, at that time, an unprecedented amount of vulgar street language. It was the first film to carry a label on advertising that said: “Suggested for Mature Audiences.” But by today’s standards, the film would be suitable for prime-time television. Ditto the very first X-rated movie — “Midnight Cowboy.” I’ve seen that film virtually uncut on commercial TV many times in recent years. That’s how far we’ve come.
Thirty years ago, 32 percent of the films released were rated G, 39 percent were rated PG and only 23 percent were rated R. Today, despite a profit-and-loss track record that unequivocally demonstrates the financial error of Hollywood’s ways, hardly any G-rated movies are made, and the majority of films are rated R.
Americans have voted with their feet with respect to Hollywood’s degenerating standards of taste. Far fewer people go to movies today than they did 40 or 50 years ago. Increasing box office receipts are merely due to skyrocketing ticket prices. Yet, Hollywood continues to produce movies without respect to what sells and what doesn’t.
In other words, Hollywood’s garbage is, like it or not, being forcibly shoved down the throats of you, your family and your neighbors.
Out in the cold
WND Comics