Overview
Content rating is the act of grading by examination, etc., and using it as an index for age limits.
In Japan, this word is sometimes perceived as "a type of expression regulation that limits expression". In reality, however, this is a consequentialism, and the system is essentially a zoning system that resolves the "balance between what the producer wants to create and its effect on youth, etc.".
History
Ratings in American Film
Before the introduction of this system, films were checked by a censorship system called the Hays Code, and films containing interracial scenes, sexual perversion, or profane language were complained of (although there were differences from period to period), so producers had to make films that "did not contain such scenes" and that "anyone could watch". However, the introduction of the rating system in 1968 allowed the production of adult-oriented films, such as sexually explicit or violent films, and resulted in a "broadening of the range of expression" rather than a "restriction of expression".
Ironically, however, this system also serves to "keep out of theaters films that have not been screened," and the National Association of Theatre Owners, of which many movie theaters in the U.S. are members, does not allow films that have not been rated, making it difficult for so-called "masterpieces" to be shown in their theaters.
