October 7, 1968

this day in history is the day that the Motion Picture Assosiation of America (MPAA) adopted their rating system. while some may argue that this is not the most impactful or world changing occurence in the world, it does affect the life of nearly every american every single day. in a culture now so centered around entertainment, and especially with the prevelance of netflix and others of like instead of cable TV, this event impacts us all much more than we think. every one of us has a memory of being young and an adult telling us we were to young to watch a certain movie, that it was PG-13 or R and therefore we must wait till we are older to watch. this has influenced our culture also, as the filmmakers had to change their movies content based on the rating it attained, in order to appeal to certain audiences. for example, the first creation of the movie scarface got an X rating from the MPAA, and considering you hardly ever see an X rated movie in theatres where they can earn a significant income, they had to edit the movie to the point it only achieved an R rating. im sure there are several other stories much like these to show the lasting and nationwide influence this event has had.
in my opinion, this is a terrible event. i absolutly HATE the hassle of watching a movie with an undesirable rating, convincing parents to allow it in the past, and even now the occassional pain in the neck theatre attendent that takes their job way too seriously. all movies should not be prejudiced against in this way, and instead be free for interpretation by viewers as to whether they are appropriate. so far we have been unable to free ourselves from this MPAA crux.