How has the BBFC changed throughout its history?

• The basis upon which the BBFC classify films has changed with social and moral views in society.

• The board has gone from a censorship body, who determine what we can and cant see, to a much

•  less strict regulatory body, working on the basis that all adults should be free to watch what they want.

• The categories of classifcation have changed as the board has developed

• The board hsa also had to adapt to certain legislation, eg The Video Recordings Act

• The board has had to broaden its thinking in order to classiffy things like DVDs and games, which may be much more easily accessible to children

BBFC: 2000s

New Guidelines

The board embarked on an extensive consultation process to gauge public opinion before making new guidelines. These found that depictions of drug use was the greatest cause for concern for parents, as was violence in lower classifications. However sex and nudity was less of an issue than previously.

Controversies

• The Idiots and Romance (both 1999) contained unsimulated sex that would normally be unsuitable for 18. However, because of the brevity of the images and the serious intentions of the film, the scenes were passed uncut.
• The torture scene in Casino Royale had to be cut to get a 12A classification

The 12A rating

In 2002, the new 12A category replaced the 12 category for film only, and allows children under 12 to see a 12A film, provided that they are accompanied throughout by an adult. The decision to introduce this new category was taken after a pilot scheme and research had been conducted to assess public reaction. The new category was also conditional on the provision and publication of Consumer Advice for 12A films.  The Board considers 12A films to be suitable for audiences over the age of 12, but acknowledges that parents know best whether their children younger than 12 can cope with a particular film.

BBFC: 1990s

Video legislation

Dispite the video legistlation in place since 1984 public concern about the new technology, particularly surrounding the James Bulger case (Child's Play III). Parliament supported the amendment to the Video Recordings Act, and contained it in the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. This requires the board to make separate and more specific decisions when classifying video material, because children are more likely to be able to access the material at home.

Digital Media

The 1990s saw a rapid development in video game technology, becoming more realistic and sophisticated every year. From 1994 the BBFC started recieving some stronger video games for classification. Carmageddon became the first film to be refused classification in 1997 on the grounds that it encouraged anti social behaviour, although this was later overturned.

BBFC: 1980s

The 1980s was when we saw the Uc, PG, 12, 15, 18 and R18  ratings that we are more familiar with nowadays.

• Uc was introduced for video, indicating films suitable for all
• PG took the place of  'A'
• 15 took the place of 'AA'
• 18 took the place of 'X'
• R18 was introduced for sex works
• 12 was introduced to bridge the gap between PG and 15

The 80s saw the release of the Rambo series, with 1 and 2 passed uncut at 15, and 3 cut to obtain an 18 certificate. Batman became the first film to get a 12 certificate.

BBFC: 1970s

Changes to the category system

• The 'AA' category (for those over 14) was approved in 1970
• The 'A' rating allowed children under 5 to see the film wether accompanied or not, but the BBFC said that A rated films may contains material that parents may not want their children under 14 seeing
• The minimum age for 'X' rated films was raised from 16 to 18

The idea was to allow more content to be passed uncut for adult audiences while at the same time protecting children from this content.

Controversies

• A Clockwork Orange (1971) and Straw Dogs (1971) came under scrutiny due to controversial rape scenes
• The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was denied certification due to sadistic violent content

BBFC: 1960s

There was an apparent strong shift in the public social and moral views in the late 50s and 60s, such as various challenges to the Obscene Publications Act (1959). John Trevelyan, the Secretary of the Board responded by saying:

 "The British Board of Film Censors cannot assume responsibility for the guardianship of public morality. It cannot refuse for exhibition to adults films that show behaviour that contravenes the accepted moral code, and it does not demand that ‘the wicked’ should also be punished. It cannot legitimately refuse to pass films which criticise ‘the Establishment’ and films which express minority opinions".

The 60s saw the birth of the Carry On... series, famous for its risque humour, eg. comedic nudity and innuendos. Some of these films had to be trimmed to get an 'A' certificate. We also saw the beginning of the Bond series, beginning with Dr No in 1962. They were all passed at 'A' with mild cuts to scene involving sex/ nudity.

BBFC: 1950's

The 50's was when we first saw the 'youth' as a social group, who were quickly targeted specifically as consumers.

• The 'X' rating was introduced and incorporated the former 'H' category and excluded children under 16.
• Examples of X rated films are La Ronde (sex themes) and Smiles of a Summer Night (sex references)
• Films such as Rock Around the Clock (1956) drew teenage audiences and caused  controversy after there was rioting in some cinemas
• The Wild One (1954) was denied certification for 13 years because of its 'unbridled hooliganism', and Rebel Without a Cause (1955) had to be substantially cut to be shown at X due to its depictions of teen violence

BBFC: 1912 - 1949

The BBFC prides itself on the facts that the basis for its guidelines are a reflection of current views in society. Although there were no published guidelines in the early days of the BBFC, T.P O'Connor and the early examiners came up with 43 grounds for deletion in 1916 which they felt reflected what was correct and decent to be shown publicly in cinemas. These were:

1. Indecorous, ambiguous and irreverent titles and subtitles
2. Cruelty to animals
3. The irreverent treatment of sacred subjects
4. Drunken scenes carried to excess
5. Vulgar accessories in the staging
6. The modus operandi of criminals
7. Cruelty to young infants and excessive cruelty and torture to adults, especially women
8. Unnecessary exhibition of under-clothing
9. The exhibition of profuse bleeding
10. Nude figures
11. Offensive vulgarity, and impropriety in conduct and dress
12. Indecorous dancing
13. Excessively passionate love scenes
14. Bathing scenes passing the limits of propriety
15. References to controversial politics
16. Relations of capital and labour
17. Scenes tending to disparage public characters and institutions
18. Realistic horrors of warfare
19. Scenes and incidents calculated to afford information to the enemy
20. Incidents having a tendency to disparage our Allies
21. Scenes holding up the King’s uniform to contempt or ridicule
22. Subjects dealing with India, in which British Officers are seen in an odious light, and otherwise attempting to suggest the disloyalty of British Officers, Native States or bringing into disrepute British prestige in the Empire
23. The exploitation of tragic incidents of the war
24. Gruesome murders and strangulation scenes
25. Executions
26. The effects of vitriol throwing
27. The drug habit. e.g. opium, morphia, cocaine, etc
28. Subjects dealing with White Slave traffic
29. Subjects dealing with premeditated seduction of girls
30. 'First Night' scenes
31. Scenes suggestive of immorality
32. Indelicate sexual situations
33. Situations accentuating delicate marital relations
34. Men and women in bed together
35. Illicit relationships
36. Prostitution and procuration
37. Incidents indicating the actual perpetration of criminal assaults on women
38. Scenes depicting the effect of venereal disease, inherited or acquired
39. Incidents suggestive of incestuous relations
40. Themes and references relative to 'race suicide'
41. Confinements
42. Scenes laid in disorderly houses
43. Materialization of the conventional figure of Christ
1918-39

• Major concerns for the board at this time were horror and gangster films, as well as those that dealt with aspects of sexuality.
• Some councils started banning children from seeing films classified 'A' even after having been cut to get a certificate.
• The certificate 'H' (for horror) was agreed in 1932 to indicate films potentially too scary for children. This was in response to such films as 'Frankenstien' (1931)

1948 - Arthur Watkins

• Arthur Watkins was appointed secretary of the board in 1948, under the Presidency of Sir Sidney Harris.
• Both men had a background in politics

The two men came up with new terms of reference based on 3 principles

• was the story, incident or dialogue likely to impair the moral standards of the public by exentuating vice or crime or depreciating moral standards?
• Was it likely to give offense to reasonably minded audiences?
• What effect would it have on children?

BBFC Seminar

We also had a talk from a woman from the BBFC, all about film classification. We were shown some clips and were told some of the issues that came up while classifying those scenes. It was interesting to see how filmmakers are very aware of the classification process and are able to push up to the limit of what can be shown at different certifications and show content which is allowed by the guidelines but may still seem very strong, for example the murder scene in Killer Inside Me or the robbery scene in The Dark Knight.

PCC Seminar

We went down to The PCC offices in Holborn to attend a talk on the PCC. It was an enjoyable morning and very interesting to hear from a commissioner what their job is and the issues they need to think about when making desisions on cases.

I found it especially interesting to find out that the PCC will actively contact people who may be in the public eye and could have grounds for a complaint, but may not realise it or may have not even heard of the PCC. I also thought it was particularly interesting to hear about the decision processes that the commissioners go through to ensure that they remain objective to come ot a fair decision.

Complaints

• The PCC accepts complaints from anyone who believes that an article involving them breaches the Code of Practice in some way. The vast majority of people are members of the public, who may not be able to risk the money of to go to the courts, even if they feel they have a strong case.

• The code provides special protection to particularly vulnerable groups of people such as children, hospital patients and those at risk of discrimination

• The majority of complaints are about local publications

History

• The PCC was set up in 1991, replacing the Press Council, after a small number of publications failed to observe the basic ethics of journalism in the 1980s, causing many MPs to doubt the Press Council's effectiveness. Some believed that a body should be set up that was under government control.

• The government appointed a Departmental Committee to consider the matter. Its task was 'to consider what measures are needed to give further protection to individual privacy from the activities of the press and improve recourse against the press for the individual citizen. The report did not recommend statutory control.

• A committee of editors was set up, who produced a code of practice for the PCC to administer. The Press Standards Board of Finance was set up to organise funding.

How is the PCC funded?

• Through a body called the Press Standards Board of Finance, which is responsible for collecting money from newspapers and magazines in the UK. The press have agreed that each publication should pay an amount proportional to its circulation figures.

• The public do not have to pay for the service either directly or indirectly through taxes

What Does the PCC Do?

• The Press Complaints Commission is an independent body which deals with complaints about the content of newspapers and magazines in the UK. It has drawn up a 16 clause Code of Practice, which complaints and decisions must be based upon.

• The Commission investigates when it believes that the code has been breached, either in a published article or in the ways in which a journalist obtained their information. Where there is a problem, the PCC will act as a mediator to try to resolve the dispute.

• Where this fails, they will make an adjudication, based on the code. If the complaint is upheld, the newspaper must publish the full adjudication on a prominent page where it is likely to be read.

How does the system work?

The PCC is not a governmental body nor is the Code of Practice Legal Statute. Instead it is based on an agreement by the industry to be regulated by an independent body. The code is drawn up by a team of editors, but 10 of the 17 commissioners have no connection to the industry at all.

PCC Code of Practice

Here are the 16 clauses:

Accuracy
Opportunity to reply
*Privacy
*Harassment
Intrusion into grief or shock
*Children
*Children in sex cases
*Hospitals
*Reporting of Crime
*Clandestine devices and subterfuge
Victims of sexual assault
Discrimination
Financial journalism
Confidential sources
Witness payments in criminal trials
*Payment to criminals

The Public Interest

Clauses marked by an asterix may have exceptions where it can be demonstrated that there is strong overriding evidence for public interest in the story.

What does the code cover?

The 16 sections cover 4 main areas:

• Accuracy
• Privacy
• News gathering
• Protecting the vulnerable

It is the editors responsibility to make sure that the newspaper complies with the code. However, sometimes the editor may defend an article or journalist, arguing that it was in the 'public interest'. The code defines when this may be acceptable.

The code doe snot cover issues of taste and decency. This is because the PCC recognises the importance of a free and fair media who may publish what they like in a democratic society, and that people choose to look at a newspaper based on their own tastes.