… but sometimes I’m tempted to light up to spite Those Who Know What’s Best For Us. The New York Times‘ brief rave review of Summer Wars ends with this note:
“Summer Wars” is rated PG (Parental guidance suggested). It has action violence, some suggestive content, mild thematic material and incidental smoking.
By the way, what the hell is “mild thematic material” ?
“Smoking” is indeed one of the criteria used by the MPAA ratings board. (The exact list is secret, but the comments they give to filmmakers make it possible to figure out the rules with a fair amount of accuracy.) I don’t think the NYT is necessarily endorsing the rules.
I remember that one time where some game company localizing a Japanese game had to remove a character’s cigarette just to comply with some law against having depictions of smoking (but gratuitous violence is still OK).
I didn’t know “smoking” had become a rating used by the MPAA, as for “mild thematic material”, literally it hardly makes sense, maybe a shallow/averagely deep movie? 😀