With the general caveat of IT DEPENDS, I'd say that people basically know what's what at thirteen or fourteen (maybe fifteen for some). A young teenager can tell Schindler's List from Triumph of the Will.
I think the ratings system we have does an acceptable job of sorting movies and television into rough age-appropriate groups. But it works because a board of trained human beings makes the decision. They're able to watch a movie and say, "Yeah, okay, people get shot in the head, and you wouldn't want to bring a toddler to see it, but it's still different from a horror movie."
Things are less sophisticated in fandom, and on top of that there are a bunch of weepy types who will always read a story and go "I AM SQUICKED THERE SHOULD HAVE BEEN WARNINGS" no matter how well a difficult subject is dealt with.
Books don't have a ratings system. I don't think fanfic needs one either, although some content-sorting system would be useful; subject keywords in books work okay for this. I wouldn't mind seeing something like:
This would let people avoid stuff they don't like, and it wouldn't have the moralistic overtones of a "rating", which always makes everyone puff up and bluster nicely. HOW DARE YOU SAY MPREG IS DEVIANT! IT SHOULDN'T BE NC-17 JUST BECAUSE THERE'S CANNIBALISM AND PEDOPHILIA! WHY I WHY I
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Date: 2005-10-16 04:51 am (UTC)I think the ratings system we have does an acceptable job of sorting movies and television into rough age-appropriate groups. But it works because a board of trained human beings makes the decision. They're able to watch a movie and say, "Yeah, okay, people get shot in the head, and you wouldn't want to bring a toddler to see it, but it's still different from a horror movie."
Things are less sophisticated in fandom, and on top of that there are a bunch of weepy types who will always read a story and go "I AM SQUICKED THERE SHOULD HAVE BEEN WARNINGS" no matter how well a difficult subject is dealt with.
Books don't have a ratings system. I don't think fanfic needs one either, although some content-sorting system would be useful; subject keywords in books work okay for this. I wouldn't mind seeing something like:
1. Cyclops -- Angst. 2. Sexual assault -- Hurt, Comfort. 3. Fiction.
This would let people avoid stuff they don't like, and it wouldn't have the moralistic overtones of a "rating", which always makes everyone puff up and bluster nicely. HOW DARE YOU SAY MPREG IS DEVIANT! IT SHOULDN'T BE NC-17 JUST BECAUSE THERE'S CANNIBALISM AND PEDOPHILIA! WHY I WHY I