Of Film Ratings and Their Cultural Meanings

I live in the States and teach German at the high school level. For those of you aware of the cultural differences between these two countries, you may be aware of the struggle I face attempting to show my students culturally accurate films.

While the United States was largely founded by Puritans, European cultures are generally much more culturally progressive than we are. While we continue to have a certain religious morality limiting what our government and its agencies deem we should see in our day-to-day lives, European cultures generally realise that not all nudity is sexual, and just as important - sexuality is something to to explore and discuss rather than being left a taboo. The result of this is films rated "0" (no age restrictions) in Germany may be automatically rated R in the States because "oh no, a female nipple!"

Film ratings are culturally driven. Even in my lifetime, new ratings have been added to the US system as a relatively small group of parents push against an industry that they deem to be corrupting their children. In fact, in my lifetime I have also seen these ratings spread with the inclusion of the TV rating system. To this I must ask one question: why do we allow these parents to drive our ratings rather than expecting them to preview films and shows if they are afraid of such corruption? Why do we allow these parents to determine how our younger generation as a whole is raised?

In the States, these ratings have led to generations afraid of nudity in general and consider sexuality completely taboo. Violence and gore may still be acceptable in the PG-13 level, so long as certain swear words are not also used. But let us take a moment to see where that has led us in the real world - our children are desensitized to violence and gore and uneducated in matters of sexual relations, even embarrassed of varying body types, especially in the nude.

Comparing these practices to those in Germany, where nudity and sexuality are generally acceptable for most audiences, we find violence and gore rated much higher, whether at age 12, 16, or 18. The result? Germany has fewer issues with teen pregnancy, fewer issues with youth violence, and young people (especially females) are more confident with their bodies, regardless of their body type.

This is not to say that the film ratings systems are to blame or thank for these results, but rather they are a piece of a much larger issue - the culture of "I don't want to see this, so no one should." The culture of "this is not for my children, so your children can't watch it either."

I was 13 when I watched my first rated R film. It was Schindler's List - rated R due to nudity. Nudity that is not at all sexual in nature. Nudity that was important for the full meaning of the film.

As I watch more and more German films, I find more and more scenes of "necessary nudity." Some of it sexual, some of it not at all so. And then there are the films with "cultural nudity" - the scenes where one is nude because it's nothing to shy away from.

What films am I left with to share with my students? Many of them are quite good. But they are limited. Limited by choices one group of parents have made for the entirety of our younger generation. Limited by our history, by the hold religious morals supposedly has on us, by our fear of the "other." What does this tell our children? If we instead look at these issues and allow for "age-appropriate" inclusion in our conversations, lessons, and films, we may find our children to become more aware, more prepared, and more confident than we find in the States today.

Want to understand more from the German system? You can read more (in English) here: https://www.dw.com/en/how-germanys-film-age-rating-system-works/a-41551312