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1984’s Red Dawn gave moviegoers the debut of PG-13

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11 Jan 2022
5 min read
Question: in 1984, this film received the first-ever pg-13 rating...

Spurned forward by both moviemaker impressions of a “netherworld” in the film rating system, along with parental outrage that 1984’s Indian Jones and the Tempe of Doom (with its ample darkness and a human sacrifice scene) would carry a “PG” rating, the same year offered a swift solution from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA).

Enter the PG-13 rating, which debuted in August of ’84, and entered the fray with Red Dawn, starring Patrick Swayze and Charlie Sheen as Colorado kids leading a (ridiculous) group called the “Wolverines” handling (the ridiculous) task of defending American soil against a Communist invasion from Russian and Cuban paratroopers.

It’s believed that 1984’s The Flamingo Kid, staring Matt Dillon, was actually the first-ever film issued a PG-13, however Flamingo didn’t arrive in theaters until December of that year.

Of the new rating bridge, Stephen Spielberg, director of Doom, recalled to Vanity Fair magazine in 2008 of PG-13’s seeds:

"I remember calling Jack Valenti [then the president of the Motion Picture Association] and suggesting to him that we need a rating between R and PG, because so many films were falling into a netherworld, you know, of unfairness,” Spielberg told Vanity Fair. “Unfair that certain kids were exposed to Jaws, but also unfair that certain films were restricted, that kids who were 13, 14, 15 should be allowed to see. I suggested, 'Let’s call it PG-13 or PG-14, depending on how you want to design the slide rule,' and Jack came back to me and said, 'We’ve determined that PG-13 would be the right age for that temperature of movie.' So I’ve always been very proud that I had something to do with that rating."

Previous to Red Dawn, the four movie ratings were: G, PG, R and X (later evolved to NC-17).  Of the new PG-13, the MPAA stated that the content of a movie with said rating, “may be inappropriate for a children under 13 years old . . . and may contain very strong language, nudity (non-explicit), strong, mildly bloody violence or mild drug content.”

Wrought with violence (reportedly at 2.23 “Acts of Violence” per minute, according to the National Coalition on Television Violence), Red Dawn ultimately proved a mix of kills and measured success, taking in $38 million at the box office based on budget of $17 million.

Evidencing the cultural impact of the “Wolverines” for ‘80’s kids, however, the popularity and lasting influence of Red Dawn warranted a remake in 2012 starring Chris Hemsworth; the new version came, sadly, three years’ after the movie’s original star, Swayze, passed at the mere age of 57 due to pancreatic cancer.

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