Sandbox / Avoid The Dreaded G Rating Wick Check

OP written by: Tropers/Gamerknowitall

Category: Misuse

Avoid the Dreaded G Rating is a trope that is about a piece of media deliberately adding gratuitous objectionable content to get a more restrictive classification to be marketable to an older audience. I noticed a lot of wicks misusing the trope or inverted examples of the trope (which could be in Bowdlerise or a different trope). There are also wicks that are In-Universe or Discussed examples. In my opinion, it would be better if the trope was renamed or moved to the Trivia tab. I have also divided wicks with the correct usage into two folders, one where there are confirmed cases and another where there are speculative cases. If you are curious, if combined, it would be 16/50 wicks with a percentage of 32%.

This is my first wick check; sorry if it isn’t the best out there.

WICK CHECK COMPLETE! Wicks checked: 50/50

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Correct usage (confirmed wicks) (11/50) 22%

• Film.The Avengers 1998: Bailey said "Oh FUCK" just before his death to raise the film's rating. The line was clearly dubbed in by someone who isn't Eddie Izzard; his lips don't move, and it sounds nothing like him. This wick’s usage here is correct.
• WesternAnimation.Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs: The sole content descriptor for the film (rated PG) is "brief mild language." "Hellhole," "crabballs" and "crotch kick!" (when Brent first starts attacking the chickens) are probably what qualified the film for the rating. In the UK release, the language is still there, but the film is certified U (The UK equivalent to a G) with the content descriptor reading "Contains one use of mild language and scenes of mild comic threat." This usage is correct.
• According to Word of God, the show was initially scripted as very family-friendly, only for Crunchyroll to demand edits to make it for "mature" audiences, resulting in rather gratuitous violence, swearing, and inappropriate jokes. This usage is correct. Although it should’ve been clarified that they did that to make it TV-MA, although it not bad enough to put it in the ZCE section.
• FamilyUnfriendlyDeath.Live Action Films: Although Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru were killed off-screen, their charred corpses were surprisingly graphic; rumour has it that Lucas deliberately included a shot of their burned bodies in order to avoid a G rating, which would have put teenagers off seeing the film. This counts although it was almost rated G despite the scene.
• ExecutiveMeddling.Live Action TV: SG-1 also got meddled by Showtime. The pilot featured a minute-long shot of full-frontal female nudity that the writers said they were forced to add to mark the series as "adult". The shot remains on the DVDs of season 1, but was cut from all syndicated airings and from the pilot's '09 recut as a DVD movie. This usage is correct.
• DrinkingGame.Lupin III: When watching the Manga Entertainment dubs of The Mystery of Mamo, Bye Bye, Lady Liberty and The Castle of Cagliostro, take a shot for every obvious instance of fifteening. This usage is correct.
• Film.Madeline: The use of the word "damn" a few times in the movie was more or less there to give the movie a PG rating. This usage is correct.
• Film.The Sandlot: "Shit" is said three times by the kids throughout the movie, although the chewing tobacco scene and the pool scene might also have pushed it past the G rating. This usage is correct.
• Film.Space Jam: In one scene, Michael is in his hotel room watching highlights of the NBA stars losing their talent. At one point, a coach says "What the hell's going on!?" Surely enough, the film got a PG rating for "Brief mild language". This usage is correct.
• Film.Super 8: Donny saying "fuck" (amongst other curses from the children) and Nelec's unusually gory death were probably put in to ensure a PG-13 rating. This usage is correct.
• Fanfic.Superstars Sponges Cephalapods And Squirrels: The story is pretty K, or even K+ (AKA fanfiction.net's rating system) at times since crap is used constantly, but some moments really stick out. For example, Sandy getting a DUI at age 16 (not to mention she smokes), and the death of Stingrayman Hev. This usage is correct.

Correct usage (speculative wicks) (5/50) 10%

• Film.The Amazing Panda Adventure: The scene with Ryan and Ling have to strip down to remove the leeches, leading to awkward wisecracking about being naked, serves no other apparent narrative purpose than to get the film a PG rating. The film wasn’t given a content descriptor for rude or suggestive humor so it counts as speculation.
• Film.Annie 1982: On top of the title character being put into a perilous situation, a sequence of animal cruelty and Annie subsequently beating up fellow child urchins in defense of a stray dog, the word "damn" was uttered a few times, earning it a PG. Due to it being unclear how it got a PG rating because it was before the MPAA started to have content descriptors, it counts as speculation.
• Film.Batman And Robin: The only reason this movie seems to be rated PG-13 instead of PG is because of Poison Ivy's endless and blatant sexual innuendo. This counts as speculation because the film also has a content descriptor for “strong stylized action.”
• Recap.Samurai Jack S 5 E 6 XCVII: Season 5 has either had TV-14 ratings or TV-PG ratings depending on their content, the higher rating always owing itself to violence. Episode XCVII pulled a TV-14 rating for coarse language, as though the creators of the show were experimenting with its use this one time. In fact, this is the only episode in the entire series that uses true profanity and obscenity, seven uses in total: "penis", "hell", "screw off, jerkhead", "damn", "damn it", "S.O.B.", and "badass", in that order. It counts as speculation because the episode wasn’t given a higher rating compared to the other ones.
• WesternAnimation.The Sponge Bob Movie Sponge Out Of Water: Some "mild rude humor" such as a scene with a woman in a bikini laying on the beach, SpongeBob accidentally mooning Patrick, a censored curse word, and some trippy, drug-induced sequences (including a direct 2001 reference) seem to have been added for the PG rating. The film was also rated PG for “mild action” so it counts as speculation.

Inversions (2/50) 4%

• Film.Dont Tell Mom The Babysitters Dead: Inverted. Sue Ellen calls Kenny a "prick" twice and both times the line was re-dubbed to "punk" in order for the film to keep its PG-13 rating. Since it’s an inversion, it should be here.
• Film.Scream 1996: Inverted. Wes Craven had to make many cuts to bring the MPAA's NC-17 rating down to an R. Like I mentioned previously, it could be on the Bowdlerise trope or something.

Misuse (20/50) 40%

• WesternAnimation.Adventure Time Fionna And Cake: Adventure Time is already known for avoiding this trope since its inception, but Fionna and Cake pushes it further by introducing graphic violence, swearing, and partial nudity from both Simon and Fionna. This trope does not describe examples of works that received a higher rating.
• DarkerAndEdgier.Animated Films: My Little Pony: The Movie (2017) is a Big Damn Movie and considerably more dramatic and actionized than the show it is based on, as evident from the trailers, which show the characters basically almost dying several times (even though they won't) To cement this further, the movie actually received a PG rating, when most expected a G. Of course, it's still My Little Pony, so it being "Darker And Edgier" really doesn't say much in the long run. The movie still has all the lighthearted fun one would expect from the show and its characters. It's also notable that it's not really much more intense than some of what goes on during the show's more actionized episodes: the show itself has a tendency to open and end seasons with episodes featuring heavy action and dark subplots, while going with lighter often more Slice of Life stuff throughout most of the rest of a season. This trope does not describe examples of works that received a higher rating.
• Funny.Da Things: "You're a kid now, you're a squiuqs! You're a kid, you're a squid, you're a kid, you're a squid, you're a kid, you're a squid, you're a (Pull-Ups commercial) kid now! ... I'm a squid now! Wow! (End Pull-Ups commercial) AHA AHA AHA! EEEH! Splatatatatatatata-tatatatatatatata-tatata-ta-ta-ta-tatoooooon!" "Rated everyone ten." This trope does not describe examples of works that received a higher rating.
• Film.Dracula Has Risen From The Grave: Subverted. A very rare and confusing example; despite it being an obvious horror movie with two stabbing scenes, several deaths, and quite a lot of blood, Dracula Has Risen From The Grave was actually rated G by the Motion Picture Association of America, the same rating you'd see attached to any Disney film of the time. This error has not been corrected since with even the film's Blu-Ray release retaining the G rating. Even though the film would absolutely not receive a G rating today, it still doesn’t fit the definition of the trope since it didn’t add anything objectionable or vise-versa. It would probably fit somewhere like Getting Crap Past the Radar or something.
• DubNameChange.English To Foreign Albanian Through Indonesian: Star Wars: Although practically every single character received a name change in the French versions of the original Star Wars movies (allegedly due to an insane fixation on the dubbers' part of avoiding Lip Lock, which also resulted in some rather... odd... dialogue changes including some strong language!), most of these name changes were reverted for the prequels and/or the EU; some were also reversed for the Special Edition. This does not fit the definition of the trope because it was not trying to add content to have a different rating.
• Analysis.Getting Crap Past The Radar: TV-PG shows generally allow slightly more innuendo and violence than TV-Y7 shows, and are where the content descriptors D for dialogue, L for language, S for sex, and V for violence start to be used. Casual recreational consumption of alcohol and tobacco (and cannabis in shows from the 2010s and later) sometimes show up in shows with this rating. As Avoid the Dreaded G Rating starts to creep into TV-Y7 and more animation starts to be targeted at teenagers and adults, more cartoons, such as Cartoon Network originals Adventure Time, Regular Show, and Steven Universe are being rated as TV-PG. Some adult animated series such as The Simpsons has this rating. But more adult animated series get... This trope does not describe examples of works that received a higher rating.
• DoingItForTheArt.Live Action Films: Joe Camp created Benji out of frustration with the flood of cheap family movies released through four wall distribution, often of poor quality, which led to the perception that, as Camp put it, "If it's G, it can't be for me." Thus, he made Benji as a high-quality alternative to those mediocre films. It worked; the first movie was a critical and commercial success, making $45 million worldwide on a paltry $500,000 budget. This trope does not literally mean “avoiding the dreaded G rating!”
• Film.My Dinner With Andre: The movie initially went unrated in the US because the filmmakers decided not to submit it to the MPAA. It's not a children's film, but there isn't anything unsuitable for kids either. The movie was eventually rated PG, so maybe the distributors were worried that that might mislead audiences expecting more action. This trope does not describe examples of works that received a higher rating.
• VideoGame.Omori: A likely unintentional example. The game was originally released on PC without an ESRB rating, but upon getting a console release on the Switch, it was rated M for 17 and up. Though the game's subject matter is rather dark, it's also likely it wouldn't have warranted more than a T rating if not for the single, randomized, instance of the word "fucking"; one of the Humphreys will randomly say "I fucking love air conditioning" rather than their normal line gushing about ACs. This trope does not describe unintentional examples.
• WesternAnimation.Paw Patrol The Mighty Movie: The movie is rated PG for "mild action and peril" marking the first time EVER that a movie based on a preschool show has gotten that rating. This trope does not describe examples of works that received a higher rating.
• VideoGame.Pet Society: Subverted. At first many people didn't want to play this game since it looked "too childish". One good look at the cafe though, shows that even grown adults play this game. In fact, there are probably more adults playing this game than teenagers and kids! This should be on the YMMV tab instead, also this fits more for Animation Age Ghetto or Periphery Demographic rather than this trope.
• Creator.Pixar: Initially averted; as of their first fourteen films, only three of them were rated PG. However, as The New '10s progressed, it seems like Pixar now plays this trope straight. The final nail to the G-rated coffin was when Finding Dory, a sequel to a G-rated film, was granted a PG, despite it being identical to Nemo content-wise. Cars 3 and Toy Story 4 averted this, however. This trope does not describe examples of works that received a higher rating.
• LoopholeAbuse.Real Life: Winnipeg radio station CFEQ, "FREQ 107", was established as a Christian station aimed towards a young audience. However, they attempted to pivot itself from a "pure" Christian contemporary format towards an alternative rock format that could attract more mainstream listeners and advertisers. This meant they needed to work around the CRTC license explicitly requiring that 95% of its weekly programming be "non-classic religious music". They proceeded to be Ambiguously Christian, digging up as much ambiguously Christian rock they could find to see if anyone would notice, branded themselves as "Winnipeg's New Rock Alternative", and held a promotional campaign involving billboards reading "What the F---" (which eventually filled in the FREQ letters). However, their loophole abuse backfired in both directions: they were having trouble getting mainstream advertisers because of the stigma of still technically being a Christian station, and they were not getting Christian advertisers because they were being too "liberal" for a Christian station. Based on this, they asked the CRTC to let them reduce their quota of explicitly religious music, but was denied. After being acquired by Golden West (making it a sister station to another Christian station in Winnipeg, CHVN), the station dropped their Not Christian Rock format and returned to their previous format as "Ignite 107". They later switched to a classical music format instead. This doesn’t make any sense for this trope, since the stigma of them being a Christian station would fit better on some other trope.
• VideoGame.Spark The Electric Jester 2: Subverted; the inclusion of strong profanity in the game’s dialogue (courtesy of E.J. and Double, at least in earlier versions) could be seen as an attempt at doing this, as the game contains little objectionable content otherwise. However, LakeFeperd announced that these instances would be toned down for the final release (albeit to his chagrin). The final game contains no such profanity. It doesn’t fit in this trope because the game wasn’t officially rated by the ESRB so it wouldn’t make sense to add in gratuitous language since it is unrated.
• PlayingWith.Spice Up The Subtitles: In America the visuals made it PG, not so in Germany This should be classified as Values Dissonance instead.
• WesternAnimation.Spider Man Across The Spider Verse: What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?: The movie's only rated PG, but definitely leans into a "hard" PG (in contrast to a lot of the Avoid The Dreaded G Rating animated fare), even moreso than its predecessor. In addition to as much swearing as PG can allow (with plenty of uses of "ass" and "hell"), there's all the eldritch horror surrounding the Spot's descent into villainy, the whole discussion of how every Spider-Person must face some kind of major personal tragedy that cannot be averted with Miles' very understandable shock and existential dread over the fact as his own father is up next, and the dark Alternate Universe where Miles himself has descended into villainy. There's also Miguel's whole backstory, in which we get to see his own alternate daughter (and the rest of that universe) get erased from existence on-screen!. This trope does not describe examples of works that received a higher rating.
• Film.Star Trek The Motion Picture: The original version was rated G (and regraded to "Not Rated" on packaging of the recent DVD/Blu-Ray release), even with one truly frightening moment and frank sexual discussion. The Director's Cut was re-rated PG because the sound mixing was more "intense" and "menacing". This counts more as Same Content, Different Rating than anything.
• Film.Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2014: Raph’s handful of swear words in a Nickelodeon film. Ralph complains to his brothers in pain during the battle against The Shredder Raphael: “We're gettin' our asses kicked out there” When Mikey thinks Leonardo, April and Vern are dead, there's this exchange from Raphael. Raphael: (sliding by Michelangelo) “They ain't dead, numb-nuts!” These fit more for Precision F-Strike rather than this trope. Although it could fit for ZCE, I feel that it fits better here.
• Series.Titans 2018: Granted, this show was always intended to be TV-MA, but the infamous "fuck Batman" line seems specifically chosen to rid unsuspecting parents of any illusion that this show was meant for kids like previous Teen Titans media. This trope should be be Precision F-Strike instead for the wick.
• DisneyAnimatedCanon.Tropes I To P: Atlantis: The Lost Empire is an action Sci-Fi epic, and the second film after The Black Cauldron to be rated PG (this being before Disney started to Avoid The Dreaded G Rating). This trope does not describe examples of works that received a higher rating.

In-Universe or Discussed examples (3/50) 6%

• JustForFun.Dash And Dots Wild Ride: Surprisingly enough, despite being a PBS Kids-based movie, it got a PG rating due to having some darker and more mature elements that you would never expect from PBS Kids, like Mason's behavior being an eerily realistic portrayal of many real-life kidnappers and Dash and Dot coming dangerously close to dying a few times, like Dot almost falling to the road during the Outside Ride scene, their encounter with the bear in the forest and falling into a river while still in Mason's van. To a lesser extent, Dash and Dot also "swear" a few times via Gosh Dang It to Heck!. This also counts as misuse, but since it’s a fanfic, it counts as an In-Universe example first.
• WebVideo.Nitro Rad: He criticizes Ruff Triggers awkward swearing of being this. This classifies as a discussed example.
• TheNostalgiaCritic.Tropes A To C: Casper was mocked for its brief usage of salty language: "We gotta get that damn PG rating somehow." Discussed more in "Does PG mean anything anymore", mostly talking about G rated films like Snow White or The Lion King dealt with harsh topics in a clever way because they had to work around the rating, and they should be appreciated instead of "one edgy joke to make it PG". This classifies as a discussed example.

Unknown/Other/ZCE (9/50) 18%

• Fanfic.Curse Of The Dualshock: This fanfic is rated PG (K+ by site ratings) and has characters from a Y-rated cartoon, but because it's crossed over with Minecraft (rated E 10+), it's more of an aversion. So crossovers are examples of this trope now?
• Film.Elf: Easily the edgiest things in this entire film are when Jovie tells Buddy that management is "pissed" about his elaborate decorations and when Walter says "up yours" to his boss. It doesn’t explain well how it fits into the trope.
• Film.Girls Just Want To Have Fun: Drew tricks a girl into letting him touch her breasts. This is about the only dirty thing in the movie. It doesn’t explain well how it fits into the trope.
• Film.Good Burger: Abe Vigoda's line "I think I broke my ass" and (to a lesser extent) the mental patient played by George Clinton remarking that the music in the mental hospital lobby sucks. Both of these lines were later rerecorded for TV with the euphemisms "butt" and "stinks," respectively. It doesn’t explain well how it fits into the trope.
• Film.The Goonies: The word shit comes up several times. As do references to drugs like cocaine and heroin, and "sexual torture devices". It doesn’t explain well how it fits into the trope.
• Film.Mean Girls 2: The sole reason this film was not aired on Disney Channel as an original movie is because of the amount of tacked-on profanity. It should’ve explained how it fit into the trope.
• Film.Ninja Cheerleaders: A very bizarre example, in that while there's violence and the main characters work as go-go dancers, there's no sex or cussing, so the IdiosyncraticWipes were added, as well as a scene with naked women. It wasn’t specified how it fits into the trope.
• Script.Pretty Cure Mirai Spark: Good God, does it ever! Apart from Obligatory Swearing, there's also a few fight scenes that have been brutalised, to the point where one scene infamously has Cure Tora stabbed by her own shuriken after her powers had been severely weakened. No blood is shown, and the shuriken dissolves upon impact because her powers are so weak by that point, but this is Played for Drama for all it's worth, and it's very intense, not to mention one of the most violent scenes in the entire film. While not nearly as violent, the Cures' initial scuffle with Kamryou's "Clayface" Dogou is certainly a bit bloodier; when Cure Draco's mist barrier is shattered by a burst of wind from the Dogou, all three Cures are actually bleeding in some areas as a direct result (the source material merely makes reference to "damaging water"). Of course, even the source material is guilty of this, as demonstrated with infrequent use of the word "asshole" throughout the series, among other factors. It doesn’t explain well how it fits into the trope.
• Film.Space Camp: "Shit" is uttered twice (once by Rudy, once by Andie), and "goddamn" is also used at least once. It doesn’t explain well how it fits into the trope.