Joan Eldridge Graves (born 1941/1942)[1] is an American media professional who served as a senior vice president Motion Picture Association of America and chair of its Classification and Ratings Administration.[2]

Graves studied political science at Stanford University and worked as a real estate agent.[3] She was recommended for a position on the ratings board in 1988, and was appointed to lead the administration in 2000 by Jack Valenti.[4] In that capacity, she personally hired all the other members of the ratings administration, and was the only one whose identity was disclosed to the public.[5] Graves held the position until retiring in May 2019.[1] Graves has defended the Administration's rating system against critics who accuse it of being too lenient toward violence, saying that when the MPAA surveys parents, "What we find with the violence category is that they think they're getting correct information from us."[6]

References

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  1. ^ a b McClintock, Pamela; Noble, Alexandra (May 25, 2019). "Lessons From 30 Years of Movie Ratings and Angry Phone Calls". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  2. ^ Richard Verrier (April 8, 2010). "The MPAA's Joan Graves watches out for the movie watchers". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 29, 2012.
  3. ^ "Our People". Motion Picture Association of America. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
  4. ^ Sonja Bolle (August 2008). "Discretion Adviser". Stanford Magazine. Retrieved March 29, 2012.
  5. ^ Bryson, Carey. "Joan Graves Interview on the MPAA Movie Rating Process". About.com. Archived from the original on May 17, 2014. Retrieved May 15, 2014.
  6. ^ Sneed, Tierney (January 7, 2014). "Don't Expect Any Major Changes to the MPAA Ratings System in 2014". US News. Retrieved May 15, 2014.
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