The Force Awakens joins the Dark Side with a PG-13 rating

By Matt Wayt | November 25, 2015 | 9:37pm

Aux Features Film

Entertainment Weekly reports that the Motion Picture Association of America has rated Star Wars: The Force Awakens PG-13 for “sci-fi action violence,” freaking out all those cool uncles who already bought tickets for their 6-year-old nieces and nephews. Although most films in the Star Wars franchise have received a PG rating, the most recent entry, Star Wars: Episode III—Revenge Of The Sith, garnered a PG-13 rating for its burn-victim close-ups and rooms full of slaughtered children. Judging from recent trailers, it’s difficult to imagine the new movie going that far, but then again, we’ve all become cynical assholes since the new trilogy was released, so maybe J. J. Abrams thinks some muted-but-still-nightmarish violence is the only way to affect us.

Entertainment Weekly suggests that the rating might cut into The Force Awakens’ mammoth box-office haul, but then comes to its senses, noting that the top five highest-grossing films in history are all rated PG-13. Also, the interest in those films seems like casual curiosity compared to the fervor surrounding the release of a new Star Wars movie that might not suck. Basically, a PG-13 rating isn’t going to keep people from taking their entire family to see this movie several times over, so if Kylo Ren decapitates Chewbacca with a lightsaber, well, the kids had to learn about death eventually.