The Film Advisory Board (FAB) is a member-supported organization founded in 1975 by Elayne Blythe (1919–2005). The FAB's "Award of Excellence" was developed to award quality family-oriented and children's entertainment in both print and electronic media. The second division of FAB is the FAB Ratings System. Originally developed by Elayne Blythe in four categories ("L", "V", "N" and "S", for (respectively)

Language Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...

Violence Violence is characterized as the use of physical force by humans to cause harm to other living beings, or property, such as pain, injury, disablement, death, damage and destruction. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines violence a ...

Nudity Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. While estimates vary, for the first 90,000 years of pre-history, anatomically modern humans were naked, having lost their body hair, living in hospitable climates, and not ...

and Sex), the present system was developed in 1988 at the request of

independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is film production, produced outside the Major film studios, major film studio system in addition to being produced and distributed by independ ...

makers and distributors as an alternative to the

Motion Picture Association of America film rating system The Motion Picture Association film rating system is used in the United States and its territories to rate a motion picture's suitability for certain audiences based on its content. The system and the ratings applied to individual motion pictur ...

. The FAB ratings system is intended to be less costly and more informative than the MPAA's system. The ratings fee is based on the film's running time instead of negative cost, and the ratings are based on the level of maturity of the material's intended audience, rather than the film's content. While the FAB ratings system is not as recognized or well known as the MPAA's rating system, it is in use by a number of commercial video distributors for

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, television series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strat ...

releases that would have been impractical to submit to the MPAA.

Film Advisory Board Rating System

The Film Advisory Board has six ratings categories. Each includes a brief description as to the rating's explanation, such as "Violence in Battle Scenes", "

Substance Abuse Substance misuse, also known as drug misuse or, in older vernacular, substance abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods that are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder, differing definition ...

" or "Brief Nudity". ;Children : C - Ages 10 and under. No have equivalent on MPAA ;Family : F - All ages. : ''Equivalent to MPAA's G rating.'' ;Parental Discretion : PD - Content description implies age suitability. : ''Formerly M (Mature); equivalent to MPAA's PG rating.'' ;Parental Discretion-Mature : PD -M - Ages 13 and over. : ''Formerly VM (Very Mature); equivalent to MPAA's PG-13 rating.'' ;Extremely Mature :EM - Ages 17 and over. : ''Equivalent to MPAA's R or NC-17 ratings, depending on content description.'' ;Adults Only : AO - Ages 18 and over only. : ''Equivalent to

X-rated An X rating is a film rating that indicates that the film contains content that is considered to be suitable only for adults. Films with an X rating may have scenes of graphic violence or explicit sexual acts that may be disturbing or offensive ...

since March 2003; previously equivalent to MPAA's NC-17 rating.''

Criticism of the "Seal of Excellence"

The Film Advisory Board has come under criticism as of late with the seemingly wide use of the FAB Seal of Excellence, with critics stating that while the seal denotes family-friendly entertainment, it does not always denote quality. Critic Erik Childress has criticized the Film Advisory Board for being hypocritical in its application of the Seal of Excellence, in part because it was applied to such films as ''

Deck the Halls "Deck the Halls" is a traditional Christmas carol. The melody is Welsh, dating back to the sixteenth century, and belongs to a winter carol, " Nos Galan", while the English lyrics, written by the Scottish musician Thomas Oliphant, date to 1862. ...

'' and the 2006 remake of ''

The Pink Panther ''The Pink Panther'' is an American media franchise primarily focusing on a series of comedy-mystery films featuring an inept French police detective, Inspector Clouseau, Inspector Jacques Clouseau. The franchise began with the release of the fil ...

'', both of which he felt violated the FAB's listed guidelines by including "strong sexual content...related to sex and titillation".Criticwatch 2006 - The Whores of the Year
/ref> When Gelf Magazine contacted Janet Stokes, current head of the FAB, about awarding the FAB Seal of Excellence to the box-office flop ''

'', she admitted that the FAB does not review movies, but determines which are suitable for children:

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.filmadvisoryboard.com
"Seal of Doom"
- Article by Jerry Beck, critical of the FAB Seal of Excellence 1975 establishments in the United States Film organizations in the United States Motion picture rating systems Arts organizations established in 1975 Entertainment rating organizations