The Motion Picture Association assigns G, PG, PG-13, R, and NC-17 ratings through its Classification and Rating Administration, a body of parent-raters who screen a finished film and vote; a distributor that disputes the result can take one appeal per version to a separate Appeals Board, which can only move a film to the next less-restrictive rating and only on a two-thirds vote, per CARA's published Classification and Rating Rules.
Who actually decides a movie's rating?
CARA operates as what the MPA describes as an independent division of the trade group, and its central claim is that its raters are not censors but stand-in parents. The MPA's Classification and Rating Administration says its staff work to assign the rating "most American parents would agree with," framed around one question for every scene: what would a parent want to know before letting a child see this film.
The Rating Board itself is a small standing group led by a Chairperson, appointed by the MPA's chairman with the concurrence of the president of the National Association of Theatre Owners, according to CARA's rules. Below the Chairperson sit Senior Raters and Raters, and every one of them must be a parent with no affiliation to the entertainment industry — a structural firewall meant to keep studio interests off the panel that judges studio films.
What has to be true about a rater, and for how long?
Raters must have had children between the ages of 5 and 15 when they joined, and CARA's rules require them to leave the board once all of their children have turned 21. Terms run up to seven years at the Chairperson's discretion, a rotation meant to keep the panel's frame of reference tied to parents actually raising kids in that age band, rather than raters aging out of the audience they're rating for.
How does a film actually get submitted for a rating?
A producer or distributor files a Submittal Agreement and pays a fee before CARA will assign a rating, and the completed film has to be screened by the Rating Board before any letter is issued — a script consultation beforehand is available only at the Chairperson's discretion and does not bind the eventual rating. Each submission designates a single rating contact who deals directly with CARA and formally accepts the result.
If a distributor recuts a film after an initial rating, the Rating Board screens the new version rather than taking the studio's word that the changes solved the problem, and the Chairperson controls how the screenings are spaced. That resubmission path is the quieter mechanism by which most contested ratings actually change — a studio trims a scene and resubmits, rather than appealing the original cut.
What happens on formal appeal, and who sits on that board?
The Appeals Board is a much larger, industry-wide body than the Rating Board: it's chaired by the MPA's CEO or a designee, and its voting membership draws three representatives from each MPA member studio, the NATO president or a designee, up to three representatives each from as many as eight NATO-member theater circuits, the CEO of the Independent Film & Television Alliance, and additional representatives from independent producers and distributors and non-affiliated organizations. Members serve three-year terms, capped at two consecutive terms, according to CARA's rules.
The Appeals Board can overturn a Rating Board decision only on a vote of two-thirds or more of members present, and even a successful appeal moves a film to the next less restrictive tier only — an NC-17 can become an R, not a PG-13. CARA's rules cap a distributor at one appeal per cut of the film and two appeals total across different versions, which is why most contested ratings are resolved by trimming a scene and resubmitting rather than by winning at the Appeals Board itself.
What do the five ratings actually cover?
G films generally contain no violence and no sexually related content or nudity; PG allows mild violence, infrequent coarse language, and suggestive material short of sexual content; PG-13 permits stronger language, including limited use of one of the harshest profanities, along with realistic violence that stops short of graphic detail and sexual depictions without nudity, per CARA's ratings guide. R restricts admission of unaccompanied minors and covers more graphic violence, frequent profanity, nudity, and drug use, while NC-17 is reserved for content the board judges too explicit or graphic for anyone under 17, regardless of accompaniment.
| Film | Original rating | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Scarface (1983) | X | Overturned to R on appeal after a chainsaw scene was trimmed |
| Requiem for a Dream (2000) | NC-17 | Director Darren Aronofsky appealed; film was ultimately released unrated |
| Boogie Nights (1997) | NC-17 | Board relented after roughly 40 seconds of material was cut |
| Blue Valentine (2010) | NC-17 | Rating successfully appealed and lowered |
Those four cases, tracked by Newsweek's survey of films that started as NC-17, show both routes in practice: Scarface and Boogie Nights went the trim-and-resubmit path, while Blue Valentine's team took the dispute to the Appeals Board itself and won a lower rating without cuts.
Why does any of this matter to a studio's release plan?
A rating is a distribution decision as much as a content judgment. An NC-17 shuts a film out of many multiplex chains and most retail and streaming placements that cap at R, which is why studios treat the CARA process as a negotiation to be managed well before a release date is locked, not a formality to accept after the fact. The appeals mechanism exists precisely because that gap between R and NC-17 can be the difference between a wide release and a marginal one.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a studio skip the MPA rating entirely?
Yes — a film can be released unrated, which is what happened after some NC-17 disputes, but most major theater chains and many retailers restrict or refuse unrated titles the same way they restrict NC-17, so it rarely solves the distribution problem an appeal was meant to fix.
Does the Appeals Board explain why it rules the way it does?
CARA's published rules set out the vote threshold and the one-tier limit on any overturned rating, but they don't require the board to issue a public rationale for an individual decision the way an appellate court would.
How many times can a distributor appeal the same film?
CARA's rules cap a distributor at one appeal per version of the film and two appeals total across different cuts, which pushes most disputes toward trimming and resubmitting rather than repeated formal appeals.
For a related film perspective, read Estimates Versus Actuals: How Weekend Box Office Numbers Are Reported, and Why They Move.