Without a doubt, The Sting would be PG-13 today, a rating that didn't come into being until 1984 after Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, a movie with some fairly dark scenes, was given a PG rating. Red Dawn was the first movie released with a PG-13 rating. And what a thrill it was for me as a 12 year old to see it with my friend, also 12, with his parents in the movie next door.

Fer"They let us in!"rick

> I was under the impression that movie ratings were getting
> more lenient over time... gradually more and more
> "inappropriate" material seems to be slipping into films
> with lower and lower ratings. I'm amazed at *how much*
> they'll allow into a PG-13 movie these days. But perhaps I
> was wrong in thinking that it's getting worse with time...
>
> When you think of films rated PG, what movies come to
> mind? Probably kids' stuff. "Air Bud," "Stuart Little" and "Spy
> Kids" were all rated PG. So was the 1973 heist movie "The
> Sting." I just borrowed this movie from the library on DVD
> and watched it for the first time two days ago. I was
> expecting a light family-friendly comedy about bumbling
> crooks, but that's not what I found, at all.
>
> "The Sting" is riddled with profanity, adult themes, alcohol
> and tobacco use, and violence. I heard the S-word, "SOB,"
> and "n****r" all many times. Granted, the latter may have
> been more acceptable in 1976 than it is today, and the
> movie does take place in the 1930s. But I was still
> surprised. There is also a scene of topless women dancing
> on a stage (wearing pasties, but still)... It seems like
> everywhere you look in the movie, someone is drinking like
> a fish or smoking like a chimney. And there's plenty of
> gunfire: three people are shot onscreen, two in the chest
> (with blood all over their shirts) and one in the forehead (a
> big bloody hole between her eyes). And finally, even if the
> movie's content WAS suitable for children, the movie goes
> at such a slow pace that most kids would likely be bored
> out of their minds.
>
> So how does a film like this get the PG rating? Is this a sign
> that the rating system has actually gotten stricter over the
> years? If this movie came out today with that kind of rating,
> I think a lot of people would be up in arms. What are your
> thoughts on the matter?
>
> -useless"Has anyone here seen the movie?"ness