h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I think there is a strong need for a brand new rating. It should come somewhere between PG-13 and R, and I would call it T -- Teenagers Only. Whether it should be more like an R or an NC-17 for 13-year-olds is questionable, but it should definitely require that all children under 13 at least be accompanied by an adult to the movie.

Why? The answer is simple. I am looking at the movie industry from a perspective that the ratings board members simply cannot see -- a teen's point of view. My parents are very strict about movies: absolutely no Rs whatsoever. This is a shame. I understand why the R rating is what it is, but there are movies that it destroys for people like me.

Really, really good and important movies (or so I've been told by my friends with more relaxed parents) with an only moderate amount of highly objectionable content or merit outweighing detriment, like "Saving Private Ryan" or "Shakespear in Love," are excluded to my segment of the population. At age 15 (and even back at age 13) handling the graphic violence in "Private Ryan" or the little bit of sex in "Shakespeare in Love" would be perfectly fine, but we are cut off from seeing them. These movies would fit perfectly into my T-rated bracket: "contains severely objectional content but not of a magnitude unsuitable for a teenager" or "contains severely objectional content of a magnitude normally unsuitable for a teenager but also includes redeeming value in such an amount that the movie should be open to teens anyway."

If anyone has any other input, I would be interested. Is there enough interest to generate a petition to the MPAA? I hope to someday be able to walk into the theater and see "Rated T: No one under 13 admitted without the accompaniment of a parent or guardian."