 Critic Roger Ebert criticized the MPAA for the rating and called it "a wild overreaction".<ref></ref>

In May 2007, the MPAA announced that depictions of cigarette smoking would be considered in a film's rating.<ref></ref><ref></ref> Anti-smoking advocates stated that the child-friendly PG rating was inappropriate for the 2011 Nickelodeon-animated film "Rango", which included over 60 depictions of characters smoking.<ref></ref>

Nudity is restricted to PG and above, and anything that constitutes more than brief nudity will require at least a PG-13 rating.Nudity that is sexually oriented will generally require an R rating.As of 2010, the MPAA has added a descriptor of "male nudity" to films featuring said content.<ref></ref>

The MPAA does not have any explicit criteria for sexual content other than excluding sex scenes from G-rated films.