What's in a Rating?

It's hard to believe that there was once a time when it mattered what rating a movie received.  But it did.  It mattered in 1985.  With my mom busy shopping, I would browse the video department of the Dierberg's grocery store in Chesterfield, Missouri searching for the next feature for our spanking new VCR.  Time after time, I would come across a movie called "Angel" with the tagline:  "High School Honor Student by Day.  Hollywood Hooker by Night."  (I swear I remembered this tagline word for word and only looked it up on imdb.com to verify.)  I'm not even sure I knew what a hooker was, but that video cover always intrigued me.  Sadly, it would never find its way into our VCR, having been slapped with a big fat "R" rating.  To this day, I have not seen "Angel."  Perhaps I should just to see what I was missing out on, but I have a sneaking suspicion I would be bored.  It no longer has the appeal it once did, probably because I can go see an "R" rated movie any 'ole time I want.  In fact, these days, I rarely even notice what a movie is rated.

I do, however, remember my first real rated "R" movie, and I remember exactly where I saw it:  at a slumber party at Amy M.'s house for her tenth birthday.  The movie was "Purple Rain."  I had no idea what was in store when my mom dropped me off at the apartment Amy shared with her mom.  This was a video pick that had been sanctioned by Amy's mom, evidently with no consideration for other people's parenting styles.  I could not believe my luck.  We were talking about Prince.  Prince!

In retrospect, as an amateur film critic, I could have a field day with this tale about a brooding petite rock star and all of his daddy issues.  But I won't.  Because what stays with me is the excitement, the thrill, of being able to watch this garbage - the garbage that I would never have dreamed of asking my mom to bring home.