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light of violent attacks in Aurora, Colorado; Newtown, Connecticut; and Boston, Massachusetts, the organization that rates movies in America is revamping its system to try to help audience members, especially parents, to monitor violent images and story lines. The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has revised the movie aesthetic of the ratings that are displayed before the introduction of the film. The changes announced by the MPAA CEO, Christopher Dodd, were announced on April 16, the day after the Boston Marathon Bombing. The explosion killed three people and left more than 260 wounded. The White House is seeking help from the movie industry to help monitor violent content in the media. President Barack Obama asked Dodd to enforce a stricter rating system for film content. Revisions can be made to the rating system, but more needs to be done. A change in the rating system is just a stepping stone, said Steve Pugh, State Representative of Ponchatoula. The Check the Box campaign was created to address this issue and aids to informing parents of the content a film will display. The campaign encourages parents to screen the movie before or with their child. According to MPAA spokeswoman, Kate Bedingfield, the rating system is being changed in hopes of making the content description easier to read and understand. Check the Box encourages parents to be active and aware of the media culture.

Some movies that are rated PG and PG-13 may have more violence than an R-rated film. The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) gives viewers information on a wide variety of movies. According to the IMDb, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part Two, was rated PG-13 by the MPAA. The movie received a seven out of ten for violence, which included a bloody battle scene, decapitation, and gore. These scenes were listed as graphic and parents were strongly cautioned. On the other side, technical director for the Nola Film Society, Sergio Lobonavia said, I dont think a check box is a substitute for viewing content. Although it cannot be statistically be proven that violence in the media causes children and young adults to display violent acts of behavior, it is proven that the MPAA has allowed an exorbitant amount of violence in movies.

 Kirby Dick, director of This Film Is Not Yet Rated, conveyed evidence of the amount of violence that is allowed in films by the MPAA and the rating the films are given. If you look at a movie like Django Unchained, theres at one point a guys head explode[s] and they shoot him with a gun; that got an R- rating, but again some people say that is potentially more dangerous, said Andrew Macdonald, English film professor at Loyola University of New Orleans. Children are geared to movies that contain action and most of these films incorporate some sort of violence. Dr. Theresa Web, University of California Los Angeles professor, stated violence sells, especially to the films target demographic. Web stated she noticed the MPAA is not doing a good job at censoring violence and these movies are targeting the audience that is most at- risk in American society. Many conservative groups suggest the movie industry is out of control and instead of prohibiting guns, the media should prohibit violent movie scenes. According to Macdonald, statistics in the past showed Americans spend five to seven hours in front of some type of screen such as television. More recent numbers show that when laptops, iPhones, iPads, etc. are included, Americans spend over nine hours sitting in front of a screen. This is an alarming figure due to the dependency society has on the media. The media shapes what it wants us to know and see, stated Lobonavia. There has been a creep towards permissiveness with violence; there is no question

about that, said Macdonald. According to Lobonavia, the MPAA needs to re-evaluate the rating criteria used to define the rating of a film. Macdonald says, the violence may have [had] an effect [in] Newtown Boston, Arizona, and the shooting in Colorado at the movie theater, [which] puts pressure on the MPAA and, in general, the Hollywood movie industry. He believes films have gotten more violent, but ratings have not changed. Lobonavia suggests that the culture of fear, especially after what was instilled by the events of 9/11 is going to be far more harmful than watching an extremely violent movie. There is a power to the image of violence in movies, but its up to parents to demonstrate the difference of fantasy and reality, said Lobonavia. He stated changing ratings is fine, but the real problem is that parents need to be more aware of what their child is watching. Brennan Peters, a local film producer, says she monitors what her child watches on The television or in the movies. I feel like that is my job as a parent. Its not [someone] elses job to control what my child takes in, said Peters. Peters stated its common sense to monitor the content a child may be viewing and parents should not have to wait for a new rating system to take action when it comes to their children. As for now, the MPAA plans to campaign with public service announcements that will screen before a movie begins.