How Indiana Jones Created The PG-13 Rating | Screen Rant
The Indiana Jones franchise was pivotal in the introduction of the PG-13 MPAA rating, and Steven Spielberg himself actually had a large role in lobbying for the new age rating for movies. After his introduction in 1981's Raiders of the Lost Ark, Harrison Ford's beloved archaeologist adventurer became something of an instant icon. He returned in the 1984 prequel Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and has since reprised the role in two further sequels, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
With Jones set to return for what's rumored to be his final cinematic outing, Indiana Jones 5 may well end the franchise. In its four decades (and counting) of cinematic popularity, the Indiana Jones franchise has perfected the art of the adventure story, with its titular character becoming the quintessential heroic treasure hunter. Indiana Jones' fedora and bullwhip have become iconic, but the mark the character has left on pop culture is absolutely undeniable.
The Indiana Jones franchise has also left its mark on the film industry, too. After the release of the PG-rated Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, backlash over the film's more violent scenes led Steven Spielberg to lobby for a more robust rating system. This is what ultimately led to the Motion Picture Association (then called the Motion Picture Association of America) introducing the PG-13 rating.
Raiders of the Lost Ark is still often considered the franchise's best, and although it received a PG rating at the time of release, it featured significant action, including a face-melting scene that terrified many young members of the audience. However, after Temple of Doom introduced murderous cultists, kidnapped children, and human sacrifice that involved ripping a still-beating heart from a person's chest, the franchise and its creators came under fire from those who believed its PG rating was inadequate.
At the time, however, there was nothing between the PG and R ratings. Though Temple of Doom was inarguably not PG, it certainly didn't warrant an R rating, and so Steven Spielberg asked the MPAA to consider introducing an intermediary rating. Steven Spielberg's role within the Indiana Jones franchise and his status as a legendary filmmaker helped sway the MPAA, and the PG-13 rating was introduced two months after Temple of Doom's release.
The move may have been made quickly in response to the controversy, but it was undoubtedly a warranted change to the MPAA's rating system. The introduction of the PG-13 rating had an obvious effect on the box office of multiple releases, and of protecting younger viewers from potentially damaging or inappropriate scenes. This makes Indiana Jones a hero not just on the screen, but off of it, too - and it marks yet another way that Spielberg helped shape the film industry as it exists today.