Study: Little difference between PG-13, R movies
By Herb Scribner, Deseret News
If violence were the only concern in opting for a PG-13 movie instead of an R-rated one, it might not make much of a difference.
According to a study done by the Annenberg Public Policy Center and University of Pennsylvania, PG-13 and R-rated films show a similar amount of violent behavior.
Using top-grossing movies over a 25-year period, the study found 90 percent of those films showed main characters using violence, and 77 percent of those films had characters engaging in sexual activity, or using alcohol or tobacco. For PG-13 films, about 50 percent of main characters acted violently or engaged in drinking, sexual behavior or smoking within a five-minute window, the study said.
“There is essentially no difference between the most popular movies rated PG-13 for younger viewers and restricted, R-rated films in showing main characters engaged in both violence and alcohol use or violence and sexual behavior,” according to the study.
