An X rating is a rating used in various countries to classify films that have content deemed suitable only for adults. It is used when the violent or sexual content of a film is considered to be potentially disturbing to general audiences.

Australia

The Australian Classification Board (ACB, formerly known as the OFLC), a government institution, issues ratings for all movies and television shows exhibited, televised, sold, or hired in Australia. Material showing explicit, non-simulated sex that is pornographic in nature is rated X18+. People under 18 may not buy, rent, exhibit, or view these films in cinemas. The exhibition or sale of these films to people under the age of 18 years is a criminal offence carrying a maximum fine of $5,500. Films classified as X18+ are forbidden from being sold or rented anywhere in the six states of Australia. They are legally available to be sold or hired in the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory. Importing X18+ material from these territories to any of the Australian states is legal, as the constitution forbids any restrictions on trade between the states and territories.

France

Films may be shown in theaters in France only after classification by an administrative commission of the Ministry of Culture. In 1975, the X classification (officially: "pornographic or violence-inciting movies") was created for pornographic movies, or movies with successions of scenes of graphic violence. The commission has some leeway in classification; it may for instance take into account the artistic qualities of a movie to not count it as "pornographic". Movies with an X rating may only be shown in specific theaters; they bear special taxes and tax rates, including a 33% tax on revenue. In 2000, some conservative associations sued the government for granting the movie ''

Baise-moi ''Baise-moi'' is a 2000 French crime thriller film written and directed by Virginie Despentes and Coralie Trinh Thi and starring Karen Lancaume and Raffaëla Anderson. It is based on the novel by Despentes, first published in 1993. The film recei ...

'' (''Fuck me''), which contained graphic, realistic scenes of sex and violence, a non-X classification. The Council of State ruled that the movie should have been rated X. The decision was highly controversial, and some suggested changing the law under which it was rated 18.

United Kingdom

The original X certificate, replacing the

H certificate This article chronicles the history of British film certificates. Overview The UK's film ratings are decided by the British Board of Film Classification and have been since 1912. Previously, there were no agreed rating standards, and local counci ...

, was issued between 1951 and 1982 by the British Board of Film Censors in the United Kingdom. It was introduced as a result of the Wheare Report on film censorship. From 1951 to 1970, it meant "Extremely graphic, only those aged 16 and over can be admitted," and from 1970 to 1982 it was redefined as meaning "Suitable for those aged 18 and over". The X certificate was replaced in November 1982 by the 18 certificate. Sometimes the rating of a film has changed significantly over time. For example, the French film ''

Jules and Jim ''Jules and Jim'' (french: Jules et Jim ) is a 1962 French New Wave romantic drama film, directed, produced and written by François Truffaut. Set before and after World War I, it describes a tragic love triangle involving French Bohemian Jim ...

'' received an X rating in 1962 that was reduced to a PG rating in 1991. In some cases, films with extreme political content received an X rating. '' The Battleship Potemkin'' was refused a certificate for "inflammatory subtitles and Bolshevik propaganda" in 1926, passed X in 1954, and finally rated PG in 1987.

United States

In the United States, the X rating was applied to a film that contained content judged unsuitable for

children A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...

, such as extreme violence, strongly implied sex, and graphic language. When the MPAA film rating system began in North America on November 1, 1968, the X rating was given to a film by the Motion Picture Association of America (now the

Motion Picture Association The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distribu ...

) if submitted to it, or due to its non-trademarked status, it could be self-applied to a film by a distributor that knew beforehand that its film contained content unsuitable for minors. From the late 1960s to about the mid-1980s, many mainstream films were released with an X rating, such as '' Midnight Cowboy'', '' Medium Cool'', '' The Girl on a Motorcycle'', '' Last Summer'', '' Last of the Mobile Hot Shots'', '' Beyond the Valley of the Dolls'', '' The Street Fighter'', ''

A Clockwork Orange ''A Clockwork Orange'' may refer to: * ''A Clockwork Orange'' (novel), a 1962 novel by Anthony Burgess ** ''A Clockwork Orange'' (film), a 1971 film directed by Stanley Kubrick based on the novel *** ''A Clockwork Orange'' (soundtrack), the film ...

'', '' Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song'', '' Fritz the Cat'', ''

Flesh Gordon ''Flesh Gordon'' is a 1974 American sex comedy feature film serving as a spoof of Universal Pictures first (of three) ''Flash Gordon'' serial films from the 1930s. The film was produced by Walter R. Cichy, Bill Osco, and Howard Ziehm. It was co ...

'', '' Alice in Wonderland: An X-Rated Musical Comedy'', '' Last Tango in Paris'' and ''

The Evil Dead ''The Evil Dead'' is a 1981 American supernatural horror film written and directed by Sam Raimi, produced by Robert Tapert and executive produced by Raimi, Tapert, and Bruce Campbell, who also starred alongside Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeMan ...

''. Films that achieved critical and commercial success were later re-rated R after minor cuts, including ''Midnight Cowboy'' and ''A Clockwork Orange.'' The threat of an X rating also encouraged filmmakers to

re-edit In popular music, a re-edit is an altered version of a recorded song created by repeating, reordering, or removing sections of the original recording - for example, making a chorus repeat several times in a row, or extending the length of a break ...

their films to achieve an R rating; one notable example of this was the 1987 action film ''

RoboCop ''RoboCop'' is a 1987 American science fiction action film directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner. The film stars Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Daniel O'Herlihy, Ronny Cox, Kurtwood Smith, and Miguel Ferre ...

'', which had to be edited eleven times before it could attain an R rating. Because the X rating was not trademarked, anybody could apply it to their films, including pornographers, as many began to do in the 1970s. As

pornography Pornography (often shortened to porn or porno) is the portrayal of sexual subject matter for the exclusive purpose of sexual arousal. Primarily intended for adults,

began to become more popular and more legally and commercially tolerated, pornographers placed an X rating on their films to emphasize the adult content. Some even started using multiple X's (i.e. XX, XXX, etc.) to give the impression that their film contained more graphic sexual content than the simple X rating. In some cases, the X ratings were applied by reviewers or film scholars, e.g. William Rotsler, who wrote "The XXX-rating is for hardcore, the XX-rating is for softcore, and an X-rating is for comparatively cool films."Rotslter, William. ''Contemporary Erotic Cinema''. New York:

Penthouse Penthouse most often refers to: *Penthouse apartment, a special apartment on the top floor of a building *Penthouse (magazine), ''Penthouse'' (magazine), a British-founded men's magazine *Mechanical penthouse, a floor, typically located directly u ...

Ballantine Books Ballantine Books is a major book publisher located in the United States, founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann in 1998 and remains ...

, 1973. page 251. Nothing beyond the simple X rating has ever been officially recognized by the MPAA. Because of the heavy use of the X rating by pornographers, it became associated largely with pornographic films, so that non-pornographic films given an X rating would have fewer theaters willing to book them and fewer venues for advertising. Many newspapers refused to advertise X-rated films. This led to a number of films being released unrated sometimes with a warning that the film contained content for adults only. In response, the MPAA eventually agreed in 1990 to a new NC-17 rating that would be trademarked, and could only be applied by the MPAA itself. By trademarking the rating, the MPAA committed to defending an NC-17 film charged with violating obscenity laws.

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