Themes Depicted in Top-grossing Rated-R Films Released from 2012 to 2017

Introduction: Films continue to be a popular form of entertainment amongst children and adolescents. The objective of this study was to determine the most common themes depicted in a select number of rated-R films released 2012-2017. Methods: A total of 25 films were independently viewed and analyzed by five reviewers. Results: The most common positive themes were “encouragement”, “helping others”, “teamwork”, “compassion”, and “honesty” (2.3, 1.7, 1.7, 1.6, 1.4 mean events per hour, respectively). The most common negative themes were “use of inappropriate language”, “use of a lethal weapon”, “physical fighting”, “dishonesty”, and “demonstrating excessive anger” (8.9, 4.4, 3.4, 2.3, 2.2 mean events per hour, respectively). Conclusion: The most common positive themes in our sample were associated with service, collaboration, and honesty/humility, and the most common negative themes were associated with violence. We encourage co-viewing and active mediation, focusing on the themes found in films, as a method to guide children through their development process.