This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Silent Hunter: Can someone do the ESRB ratings?
Cort Jstr: I've heard that in the UK the ratings are enforced by law. Is this true? In the US they're only suggestions and any theatre or video store is free to let a 9 year-old into an R movie if they feel like it. But I don't want to add this distinction if I'm just remembering the UK rules wrong.
Seth: A store that sells something to a minor that they shouldn't have is fined if caught but i think that's it.
A K47x 2: In Britain, if you buy an 18 thing and you don't look it, they're supposed to ask for ID. They don't, generally. And, yes, I'm pretty sure that you have to be the age to see the film in Britain. Teenage books will occasionally mention sneaking an underage character in.
Oh, and I found a humourous definition of most of the mainstream British classifications.
U: Guaranteed to have some kind of talking animal in it, and a slightly dubious subtext, subtly inserted by a disillusioned director who thought he'd be the next David Lynch.
PG: You know that kid who was essentially a goody-goody two-shoes at school, but once muttered a swear word in class? Once. Very quietly. That's what this film will be like. And it will have a moral at the end.
15: This is a film that got it wrong. An 18 certificate horror that just wasn't horrific enough, or a PG comedy that went a bit too far. Basically, the director messed it up, so expect a film totally out of control.
18: It will have sex in it. That's all you need to know.
ParcaKnight: Fixed the American "People under X need an adult" - PG-13 doesn't have an age requirement per se, it's just a slightly higher grade of PG. It's R-rated stuff which is supposed to be off-limits to 16 and under without an adult.
Adam850: Aww, someone removed: "Bobby, isn't television safe for the good kids? The ones who go to bed on time and don't file frivolous lawsuits. The kids who understand our simple voluntary TV rating system. TV-Y! TV-Y7! TV-Y7-FV for fantasy violence! How much clearer can we make it, Bobby?" — Harvey Birdman Attorney At Law
Master Hand: I have put it back in, mostly because I found it funny as well.
Master Hand: There was some inconsistency with listing of contries (some were adjectives, some were nouns, eg. Britain and British. Fixed.
The Pocket: Isn't the US TV ratings system, at least on network TV, enforced by the FCC? Considering they mandated all televisions be able to block programming based on the rating, it would kind of defeat the purpose if a station just ran stuff unrated.
