--- title: Rated PG-13: This Is Why the Teen-Friendly Movie Rating Exists description: The movie rating was introduced on July 1, 1984 canonical: https://time.com/3908333/pg-13-movies-history/ author: Lily Rothman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-01T11:00:41.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:59:01.755Z article:section: History og:title: Rated PG-13: This Is Why the Teen-Friendly Movie Rating Exists og:description: Do you remember the first movie to get the rating? og:url: https://time.com/3908333/pg-13-movies-history/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8d1fd9ad97392df5/698852e735ba6f36aec0d8fc/indy.jpeg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Harrison Ford In 'Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom' og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Rated PG-13: This Is Why the Teen-Friendly Movie Rating Exists twitter:description: Do you remember the first movie to get the rating? twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8d1fd9ad97392df5/698852e735ba6f36aec0d8fc/indy.jpeg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Is Why 'PG-13' Is a Thing ## Video: 100 Years of Blockbusters in 5 Minutes [Watch (HLS stream): 100 Years of Blockbusters in 5 Minutes](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/tfrXo5zL.m3u8) (5:21)  _Published 2014-02-12. Time has taken the highest grossing film each year for the past century and crammed them into 5 and a half minutes. No Intermission._  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Jul 1, 2015 11:00 AM UTC  Harrison Ford in a scene from the film 'Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom', 1984 Harrison Ford in a scene from the film 'Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom', 1984Paramount Pictures / Getty Images  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Jul 1, 2015 11:00 AM UTC Movie-going teenagers of the United States, say “thank you” to Indiana Jones. Before 1984, the line between movies for kids and movies for grown-ups was an all-or-nothing proposition. Everyone under the age of 16 was lumped together, kept from rated-R showings unless accompanied by a parent or guardian. And then came _Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom_. The bloody blockbuster released that May was rated PG, much to the consternation of many parents. When _Gremlins_ followed in June, it became clear that a movie might be neither adults-only nor kid-friendly–and the rating system needed a solution. As TIME’s Richard Zoglin reported that June, the Hollywood establishment heard the complaints: --- > “” --- It was on this day, July 1, in 1984, that Valenti announced that PG-13 was a go. The first PG-13 movie, _Red Dawn_, arrived in theaters that August. **_Read the full story, here in the TIME Vault:_** [Gremlins in the Ratings System](http://time.com/vault/issue/1984-06-25/page/94/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3908333/pg-13-movies-history/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3908333/pg-13-movies-history/"},"headline":"This Is Why 'PG-13' Is a Thing","datePublished":"2015-07-01T11:00:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:59:01.755Z","description":"The movie rating was introduced on July 1, 1984","url":"https://time.com/3908333/pg-13-movies-history/","keywords":["movies","Hollywood"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8d1fd9ad97392df5/698852e735ba6f36aec0d8fc/indy.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8d1fd9ad97392df5/698852e735ba6f36aec0d8fc/indy.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Harrison Ford In 'Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom'","caption":"Harrison Ford In 'Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom'","creditText":"Paramount Pictures / Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3908333/pg-13-movies-history/","name":"This Is Why 'PG-13' Is a Thing"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"100 Years of Blockbusters in 5 Minutes","description":"Time has taken the highest grossing film each year for the past century and crammed them into 5 and a half minutes. 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