This article is open to discussion as I always find the topic of censorship in the UK interesting, but I have often seen the debate having two main sides: one (extreme side) is that a film is outrageously obscene and should be regarded as a hazard to public mentality if ever exposed to it. On the other hand, you have those believing that a few members of a board should not judge the suitability of content for the rest of the country. Upon learning of the recent sequel to The Human Centipede‘s certification, it’s made me think that our regulators, the BBFC, are trying to position themselves on both sides. First of all they actually refused its certification, claiming that “It is the Board’s carefully considered view that to issue a certificate to this work, even if confined to adults, would be inconsistent with the Board’s Guidelines, would risk potential harm within the terms of the VRA, and would be unacceptable to the public” (David Cooke, Director of the BBFC).
However, they have gone back on their word and accepted a cut version of it (by about 2 mins) which raises the question as to what image the board is trying to put across, because here it seems that they want to initially appear strict and responsible, whilst at the same time trying to appeal to those who don’t believe in censorship by releasing it shortly after. In time I will cover more on this as with it’s screening at the Abertoir festival, it is sure to raise some debates.
By Elliot McIntosh
I think most censorship is absolutely ridiculous.
I don’t live in the UK, but I know they are more strict than where I live, which is Denmark – probably one of the least strict countries.
I think actually banning a movie from a country is going too far. No one should decide what movies I should watch, that’s a personal decision, no matter how disgusting or violent the movie is.
Age restricting movies is okay to warn people, of what the movie contains, but often I think the mark is put way too high.
When America or the UK put the restriction to 15 years old it’s 13 in Denmark, when it’s 18 in the US or UK it’s 15 in Denmark, and so on.
The danish censorship makes more sense to me!