A Study on the Use of Sex, Violence, and Profanity to Increase Revenue in the Motion Picture Industry

In the past, parental concerns of popular movies were based on the perception of rampant use of sex, violence, and profanity in PG13 and PG rated movies as well. To untangle the effects of other potential factors determining movies revenues, this study examined movies from the years 1993 – 2010 that were shown in over 1000 theaters throughout the United States. Our regression results showed that controlling for critics‘ review and the season of release, the effects of levels of sex, violence and profanity present in the movies were not statistically significant