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[bostic@okeeffe.Berkeley.EDU (Keith Bostic): PG-13]

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Date:    Mon, 22 Oct 90 12:14:58 -0700 
From:    bostic@okeeffe.Berkeley.EDU (Keith Bostic)
To:      /dev/null@okeeffe.Berkeley.EDU
Subject: PG-13

Before we move on to the new NC-17, let's make sure we understand the old
movie-rating system, using "Bambi" as a model.

G: No foul language.  No sex.  The acknowledgement of violence -- Bambi's
mother is shot off-screen by a hunter -- but no visible blood-shed.

PG: Introduction of foul language, but delivered in a cute manner: Bambi's
wise guy kid brother calls Thumper a "----face."  Introduction of mature
themes: Early one morning Bambi spots a strange pair of antlers outside
his mother's door.  Consciousness-raising violence: Hunters are shown
dropping rabbits into a stew pot.

PG-13: Escalation of mature themes: Bambi's fraternity brothers sit around
discussing sex; one young buck resembling Judd Nelson unwraps a condom and
shows it to the others.  Emphasis on teenage concerns: The hunters --
symbolizing typical adult authority figures -- are depicted as mean and
slothful.

R: Magnification of mature themes: Bambi is a pimp.  His sister dances at
a topless bar.  Gratuitous violence: Bambi's mother is shot with an AK-47.

X: Total depravity: Bambi agrees to be tied up in a deer-slave love tryst.
Thumper is sliced up with a chain saw and fed to wolves.  Bambi's mother
has graphic sex with Smokey Bear and is snuffed.

	-- Tony Kornheiser, Washington Post

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