OUTDATED RATINGS X-ing Out Old G's and Rs TIME CHANGES everything, including movie rat- ings. That G or R rating on the video box of a movie from 20 years ago may mean very little today—the Motion Picture Association of America had much dif- ferent standards when it began issuing movie rat- ings in 1968. “It’s fair to say that if [the X-rated 1969 release] Midnight Cowboy came out today, it would probably get an R,” admits MPAA president Jack Valenti. “It might even get a PG-13.” But not all of the MPAA’s standards have been relaxed: Some ear- ly-’70s PG films would be PG-13 today; eight years ago the MPAA decided to give this more restrictive designation to any film that involves drug use. Here are eight examples of movies on video we think would receive different ratings if they were re- leased to theaters now. —Frank Lovece MOVIE Ln THE GREEN BERETS (1968): G R Graphie war violence; flaming Warner; John Wayne, é bodies; village slaughtered. David Janssen Video box claims “Not Rated.” PLANET OF THE APES (1968) © G PG = Bloody shooting deaths, hang- Playhouse; Charlton Hes- | : : ing human carcasses, and a ton, Roddy McDowall i i ? gosh-darned expletive. THE BOSTON STRANGLER PG —_; TV-movie tame true-crime dra- (1968) Key Video; Henry ma; two near-subliminal shots Fonda, Tony Curtis : : ofa woman's breast. PLAY MISTY FOR ME(1971) | R —: PG-13 : DJ stalked by groupie; it’s Fa- MCA/Universal; Clint Eastwood, Jessica Walter | tal Attraction minus graphic : sex. One mention of marijuana. MCCABE & MRS. MILLER =: R : PG-13 i Brief shot of nude bathers, one (1971) Warner; Warren : | F-word. Opium-smoking sole Beatty, Julie Christie reason for -13. THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN G : PG Disturbing thriller of deadly (1971) MCA/Universal; : © space virus on Earth, Dead chil- Arthur Hill, David Wayne : dren, a gruesome wrist slicing. INDIANA JONES AND THE PG. Scene of ripped-out heart got TEMPLE OF DOOM (1984): i : the PG-13 bandwagon rolling. Paramount; Harrison Ford : SIXTEEN CANDLES (1984) = PG PG-13 : Pot-smoking scene now rates MCA/Universal; i : an automatic PG-13. Molly Ringwald e ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY 69