Well now, if you ever wondered how them folks over at the USCCB decide if a movie’s good to watch or not, you ain’t alone. It’s somethin’ that ain’t always clear unless you look a bit closer. The USCCB, which stands for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, reviews movies and gives ’em ratings. Not the kinda ratings you might expect from a regular movie critic, no sir. These folks look at movies with a real serious eye, considerin’ all the moral values, the family-friendly stuff, and the messages they send to folks.
Now, the way they do this rating business is a bit special. They got a whole system set up. There’s five main categories they use to rate films, and each one tells you somethin’ important about whether a movie’s fit for you or your young’uns to watch. Let me tell ya what they are:
- A-I: General Patronage – This one’s the easiest to understand. It means the movie’s good for folks of all ages. There ain’t nothin’ in it that’ll make you think twice or feel uncomfortable. It’s wholesome, like somethin’ you’d watch with the whole family.
- A-II: Adults & Adolescents – This one’s for older kids and adults. It’s got a few more serious topics, but nothin’ too bad. It might talk about grown-up things but in a way that ain’t too inappropriate for teenagers.
- A-III: Adults – Now, this here’s strictly for grown folks. You won’t find too many young’uns watchin’ movies rated this way. The content might be a bit too mature for younger audiences, so best to save it for the adults.
- L: Limited Adult Audience – This one’s a tricky one. It’s meant for folks who can handle more serious or controversial stuff. It might have themes that some adults find troubling, so they label it with an “L” to let folks know it ain’t for the light-hearted.
- O: Morally Offensive – And this here’s the worst one. If a movie gets an “O,” that means it’s got content that most folks would find downright offensive. It could be violent, immoral, or just plain inappropriate, and the USCCB tells you right off the bat that it’s not a movie you should waste your time on.
Now, folks might wonder, “Well, what about the actual reviews?” Well, up ’til a few years ago, the USCCB would write up these long reviews, breakin’ down the plot, the themes, and everything else. But, in July of 2022, they stopped doin’ that. That’s right. They shut down their film review section, and now, the good folks at OSV News (that stands for Our Sunday Visitor) have taken over the job of offerin’ those reviews. They still give movies the same kind of ratings, but the reviews you used to see from the USCCB are no more.
So, what does that mean for you? Well, you can still find movie ratings on the USCCB website, and the new folks over at OSV News still give their opinions on films. But they don’t do it quite the same way the bishops did. They still care about whether a movie is good for the soul and whether it’s got all the right messages, but it’s all changed up a bit.
But here’s the thing, if you ask me, even without them reviews, the ratings still do a pretty good job tellin’ you if a movie’s worth watchin’ or not. If you’re lookin’ to take the whole family to the movies, stick to them “A-I” rated ones. If you’re lookin’ for somethin’ for just the adults, then an “A-III” or “L” rating might be more your speed. And if you don’t wanna waste your time on somethin’ that ain’t worth a nickel, just look out for that “O” rating – you don’t need that in your life.
So, even though things have changed a little bit since the USCCB stopped doin’ their reviews, you can still trust them ratings to point you in the right direction. It’s all about keepin’ the movies clean and decent, especially if you got kids around. They don’t need to be watchin’ no movie that’s gonna leave ’em all confused or scared or worse, exposed to things they ain’t ready for yet.
Tags：[USCCB movie ratings, Catholic movie reviews, movie ratings system, family-friendly movies, OSV News film reviews, A-I A-II A-III movie ratings, moral movie reviews]
