#16: Indiana Jones and the Quest for the PG-13 Rating
Movie ratings have been around for a long time—but not all of them. Did you know that there was a time when the system jumped from PG to R? The trouble with that is that people generally interpret PG as “Okay for kids, though parents should keep an eye on it,” and there’s a huge gap between that and R-rated movies.
This gap became hugely apparent with Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom; the MPAA felt it didn’t warrant an R rating, but if you’ve never seen it, that movie is graphic and violent and, for a young kid, terrifying. It highlighted the need for something between PG and R, which led to the eventual introduction of the PG-13 rating.