Motion picture ratings fail to distinguish violent content

What do "The Jungle Book" and "True Lies" have in common? Both contain similar amounts of violence despite respective PG and R ratings.
A new study led by researchers at the UCLA School of Public Health shows that parents and filmgoers who use the Motion Picture Association of America ratings system to gauge movie content receive little meaningful guidance related to violent content.
The research analyzed violent content in the 100 top-grossing films of 1994. An objective analytical model was used to study the relationship between rating, degree of violent content and industry labels that explain the rating assignment.