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by James Robertson.
Original Post: Not politics, reality
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I found this amusing. Variety is implying that there are fewer "R" rated movies due to the "political climate":
But even those who are reluctant to conclude that today's kids are any less interested in R-rated drugs, sex and violence than they were five years ago, say the continued political pressure over public decency has changed industry practices and made it harder for R pics to make money.
I was a little skeptical, and suspected a more humdrum financial angle - and sure enough, in the same article:
Perhaps even more startling is the fact that in 2004, PG films outgrossed R pics for the first time in two decades: $2.3 billion to $2.1 billion. The last time PG was bigger business than R was 1984, the year the Motion Picture Assn. of America introduced the PG-13 rating.
While PG films have been making more money -- "Shrek 2," "The Incredibles" and "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" were all rated PG -- the box office generated by R-rated films has been falling precipitously.
My quick translation of all this - the finance guys in Hollywood are pushing for the stuff that sells, and the creative guys would rather make what they consider to be art. Over a long enough interval, good market data beats "gut feeling". Don't buy it? Have a look here, at the top ten grossing films - not an "R" rating in the bunch. Generally speaking, when it comes to business decisions like this - look for a financial rationale before you look for a more esoteric one.
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