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Persons under 16 not admitted, unless accompanied by parent or adult guardian.
X Persons under 16 not admitted.
But there was a snag.
Unsurprisingly, the ratings original intent was lost.
went a 1970Varietyheadline, using the publications shorthand for box office.
But as the X became synonymous with hard-core porn, the atmosphere around it changed.
Mainstream theaters put rules into place prohibiting the distribution of X-rated movies any X-rated movie.
Newspapers and television stations wouldnt advertise them.
In the 197071 season, at its height, 48 films carried the rating.
The next year, that number dropped to six.
Everybody was caught in the newfound freedom, MGM president James Aubrey toldVariety.
The industry wallowed in it.
But while permissive films might have been successful six months ago, they arent now.
The whole country has undergone a big reversal of taste, one of the most remarkable in recent times.
Film critics and industry observers attempted to save the rating, or at least its more artistic iteration.
Thats the rating program.
No more, no less.
And thus, the mainstream X died.
Occasional genre films would wear their X classification as a point of pride, asThe Street Fighterdid in 1975.
Others, like George A. RomerosDawn of the Dead, declined their Xs, and were released unrated.
Under mounting pressure, the MPAA finally introduced a new adult-only rating in 1990.
(No one has attempted such a wide release of an adults-only feature since.)
If theres a better contemporary illustration of the contraction of artistic freedom, good luck finding it.
But that story helps underline why these vintage X-rated titles pack such a punch.
It was good while it lasted.
