Question to native English speakers

[rainsometimes]

I've started to think - a bit late, I know - that maybe I ought to be more responsible about the ratings I give my fics, especially perhaps when I post things outside my private journal on comms or on ffnet (though they have their own rating system over there). But when it comes to swearwords, I still don't think I really know enough about their impact and how it affects the rating. (Nor do I know the MPAA system very well, for that matter - but I'm not expecting an indepth explanation of that.) Should anyone reading this have the inclination and patience to give me a hint, I'd be very grateful - though I understand if no-one feels like it.



For instance, I'm curious about the words "shit" (and "shitty") and "goddamn". Are they generally considered about equally strong, or is one worse than the other? If they were to appear in a fic whose language and content is otherwise all within the G rating, how high should the fic then be rated?

And what about the f-word? Does that generally mean an R-rating? Or maybe PG-13?

I am of course aware that it's very hard to give hard and fast answers on this type of question, and in any case fanfics on LJ is hardly the same as movies. But some general hints would be great, even if they can't help but be rather subjective.

Comments

[tonko-ni.livejournal.com]

From what I understand, for things like movie ratings, say, there's actually a certain amount of times you can say certain swear words to earn certain ratings. Like the broadcast edition of the English One Piece dub still has a few instances of them saying "Crap." But the uncut dub will actually include stuff like "kick your ass" and "bastard" (to my eternal amusement when Chopper says it.) You can say "fuck" in a PG-13 movie, but only a few times (I learned that by watching the RENT commentary, though I don't know where to find the actual list of stuff like that). Enough times and you get bumped up to R.

Technically, Zoro and Sanji's potty-mouthed bickering should probably have an R rating if they spoke like fanon likes to portray them doing on TV. In text I think it has less impact and people tend to move over to R only if there's really a LOT of cursing, and into NC-17 only for explicit sex or violence.

I'm wondering if my perception might not be a bit off, however, as I live in Montreal, and the province of Quebec has less rigid ratings. Movies that come out in the US and the rest of Canada with R ratings (like American Pie) only get PG-13 ratings here.

Anyway, when I post my fic, I tend to do it this way (or at least I think I do, possibly my posted stuff isn't 100% following this).

G - no swearing, innuendo, or violence.
PG - innuendo, "crap"-level swearing
PG-13 - lighter but not infrequent swearing or a couple of harder words, smoochies, innuendo or fade-to-black sex. I put Zoro-Sanji bickering in the category. I honestly can't see myself rating higher than PG-13 for language purposes anyway, thus betraying my Quebec mindset, I guess!
R - not-particularly explicit but still-described sex. Moderate violence (if I ever actually wrote any)
Hard R - Um... more explicit but not full-blown porn, I guess, I don't think I've ever used this.
NC-17 - Porn :) (funnily enough it's subjective too. First time I wrote sex I rated it this. Now I know it was barely R.) or really gory violence. I think it's easier to hit NC-17 gore on film than in fic, but I've read some nasty stuff, so it can be done.

If you have a few people you can send a given piece to, you could always do a little informal survey. The consensus should be in the right ballpark.

It is subjective though, like you said. Here's the MPAA official rundown (Here's the wiki link (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_Picture_Association_of_America_film_rating_system))

G - General Audiences All ages admitted.
-No nudity, no sex, and no drugs, violence must be minimal, and there may be language that goes beyond polite conversations.
PG - Parental Guidance Suggested Some material may be inappropriate for younger children.
-There maybe some profanity and brief nudity, mild violence, or very mild drug references.
PG-13 - Parents Strongly Cautioned Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13 years old.
-May contain very strong language, nudity (non explicit), strong mildly bloody violence, or mild drug content.
R - Restricted No Children 17 or Under Without Parent or Guardian admitted.
-May contain very strong/sexual language, mild explicit nudity, strong/gory violence or strong drug content.
NC-17 - No Children 17 or Under Admitted No One 17 or Under Admitted.
-May contain very strong/sexual/offensive language, strong explicit nudity, very strong/gory/disturbing violence, or strong drug abuse.

See, none of that is really very clear either. Maybe the best way is to look at a piece and try to think if there's a minimum age below which you'd feel uncomfortable having someone read it, and rate accordingly.


Ummmm... was any of that helpful?

[zero-dances.livejournal.com]

LOL I am terrible at this, morsly becuase I swear so much that PG to me is a few shits and maybe a fuck. So I always say like PG (with some s-words).

Goddamn in normal conversation isn't as frowned upon as shitty, but for some reason the media cannot stand GODDAMN, so if there's a movie or something airing on TV that SAYS "Goddamn" they will censor out the "God." I find it rather amusing.

...

[horusguard76.livejournal.com]

Many kudos! This is a great thread with very enlightening and insightful comments. Thank you to serrende for posting this in the first place and all the others for their input. *runs off to memorize this* :)

It is always these little things which make the difference when it comes to writing and understanding stories!