I’m not sure I follow.

If I’m 8 and I watch a G movie, I probably just laugh regardless of any subtle and well-hidden adult jokes, e.g., Shrek. If I’m 8 and watch a PG-13 movie, I probably laugh and think I know what’s funny, but really I just don’t catch a lot of the humor, e.g., Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. If I’m 8 and watch an R movie, I might go to school and bust out a quote like, "I do not look down on niggers, kikes, wops or greasers. Here you are all equally worthless." A quote from Full Metal Jacket.

I can only assume you won’t go to work on Monday calling people racial slurs. You’re an adult. You know the difference. You know what cussing, adultery, and murder are. You’ve made a decision how to deal with those things in your real life such that discussing them, hearing about them, or watching a film about them won’t affect your real world actions. You understand that in that film the language suggests a harsh military environment that sucks to be a part of. An 8-year-old doesn’t. An 8-year-old hears new tough sounding words and may use them without fully understanding their meaning or the context of their use in the film.

Moreover, the rating system is specifically for children’s protection. The descriptions make this very clear, "All ages admitted … Some material may not be suitable for young children … Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13 … Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian."

So, I’m not sure answering a question with a question is appropriate. From my perspective you’re treating yourself like a child, but in a hypocritical way, e.g., you didn’t filter this post with mentions of sex and racism prior to reading it, you’ll continue listening to music that to some degree contains "R" lyrics, yet you’ll buy an entire system to filter films and skip a decade of art while awaiting the purchase of the system. I can only assume there is some clear difference in your mind between knowing two characters are having sex in a movie and knowing two characters are having sex in a movie and you also see a boob for 0.5 seconds. … or cussing. … or violence. I don’t see it. I’m just asking.

So, what’s the difference?