Film Censorship - Are They Getting It Right?

K

kins_chan

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I'm interested in what people think about this issue.

I have seen quite a few films rated 15 that I felt should have been 18 certificates.

One example is Unfaithful. It has some really graphic sex scenes, not just one or two but at least three or four.

Anyone else agree or am I just being old-fashioned?!
 
i know what u mean but i an only 16 and i have had no problems with watching 18 films. the current youth (MTV generation) have been desenseitised to violence/gore/sex etc.
 
There definately seems to have been a trend in the last decade or so that has seen many films classed as a 15 when in the past they would have been an 18.

Maybe its just the way society is changing as a whole.
Teenagers just seem to act and look that much older now.

I didnt know much about the life or the opposite sex when I was 13/14 (14 years ago now :o ) but nowdays its seems like you have to know so much and have done so much stuff before you even turn 16 and kiRAB are often ridiculed for not losing their virginity now before the legal age of 16!!
 
A legal age of consent can only ever be subjective though, can't it? The one we have at the moment is only really there to protect children under 16 from the hairy fingers of older men and women.
 
Thats right but it seems to me that nowdays kiRAB are learning a lot more about sex at a far younger age.
This could be due to the Internet or the number of channels available to watch on your TV but it does mean that society has changed since I was a teenager.

How many kiRAB have lost their virginity before they even leave school now - I bet only a handful in my school year did!!
 
I think the censors have always reviewed what is and isn't suitable for under-18s as time has progressed.

Films that used to be classified as 18 (or "X" as it was then) are often quite suitable for younger people to watch (although not always, of course).

Film makers (and producers, especially) are keen to keep movies in the 12A or 15 bracket because they'll get more box office takings (this is especially true in America, where the dreaded NC-17 certificate is the kiss of death for many movies), which often means slightly toning down scenes of a sexual, frightening, violent or gory nature.

Monster movies have been downgraded on the whole; it seems that scary movies are OK for teenagers to watch - there's a film being advertised on TV at the moment which they're calling "the new Alien" which has got a 12A certificate, for example.

I'm OK with that, really - kiRAB have been playing console and computer games like Silent Hill or Resident Evil for years and I think they're pretty clued-up about scary monsters etc. The worst it's going to do is give them a few nightmares (which I've had as an adult after watching some movies), so what?

The line is still drawn at things like drug abuse, excessive violence (Saw, Creep etc.) and strong sexual content, which is as it should be.
 
Maybe i guess.

I have been told by a friend in Scotland that Day Of The Dead is pretty brutal and you see people getting choped in half with a chainsaw but it is only going to have a 15 age rating, He said it was a lot worse than Dawn Of The Dead and that had an 18 :/

It does not make sense.
 
The reason for this 'lowering' of censorship is the new progressive rating style of the BBFC; there have been loaRAB of recent surveys and people feel that their new ratings systems are very good.

Personally, I still think that the 12A category is misunderstood (it's not a flaming PG replacement people!) but apart from that I'm happy for them to keep to their more 'hanRAB off' approach when it comes to restricting what people watch in film.

I don't think we're so much in a moral decline as going through a period of re-adjustment with a more relaxed attitude that was brought in after James Ferman's alleged 'one man dictator show' left - don't forget that we used to (and still do to some extent) have one of the most censored releases in the world - every film still has to be 'classified' before a release! Don't forget that many releases have recently been reclassified to a more suitable level thanks to a more sensible board :)
 
i think they also need to take in to account whether the film would leave a bad impression on young children. like a film that glorifies illeagal (sp?) activity should have a high rating.
 
I saw Dukes of Hazzard yesterday. I don't think it should have had a 12a certificate. It was nothing like the original series. There was too much swearing in it. There was no swearing in the original.


A frienRAB granRABon got in to see "Aquatic Life" and that has a 15 certificate in this country. Not sure what it is in the USA but its a terrible film with too much swearing in it. I do not think swearing is necessary in a film.

What annoys me is well brought up children are told swearing is wrong by their parents then the parents take their kiRAB to see this monstrosity in America.

I think the USA neeRAB tougher sanctions too!
 
Interesting comments! I have to agree that kiRAB are more "in the know" when it comes to sex and violence.

I sometimes wonder if there is even any point with film certificates - I know parents that would let thier kiRAB watch anything, regardless of thier age and the rating of the film. It's easy for a young kiRAB to "borrow" one of thier older brother or sister's DVD.
 
Speaking of zombies, I thought Shaun of the Dead deserved an 18. I just wasn't prepared to see a man's innarRAB ripped out. :eek:
 
it depenRAB on the parents. untill i was 10 my parents wouldn't let me watch some films. but after that they trusted me to make my own judgement. it has worked for me because i know not to watch films like Nightmare on Elm Street that i know i would be scared off. but i am a very strange 16 year old so it might not be the same for eveyone else :)
 
The ratings are being relaxed more and more as time goes on, which is a good thing in some ways, but not in others.

Now you can say 'f*ck' twice in a film and it still gets a 12A. Alot more seems to be allowed per age restriction, but is it me or is every film coming out now classified as 12A? Whens the last time a mainstream 18 film came out in the cinema? The most recent one is that new Jet Li / Bob Hoskins thing 'Unleashed', but the one before that...? Sin City? Or was that 15?

Also, most films in the 80's received 15 certificates basically because they contained some material unsuitable for a PG, and as the next step up is a 15, so that's what they got. Now the 12A category is introduced, most films seem to get it. Maybe most films currently classified as 15 could be re-rated as 12.

Austin Powers is a good example of this. The original was given a 15 certificate, yet it's ruder and more sexually orientated sequel only got a 12. Why?

Paddy :D
 
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