The B.B.F.C or the British board of film classification, it is an institution as well as taking a form as a regulator, which censors movies and categorises them for the right age. Not only does the B.B.F.C censor movies but it also censors other forms of media such as video games, DVD’s and more. The B.B.F.C was founded in 1912 which was originally named the British board of film censor which was later changed in 1984 to the British board of film classification after the parliament had passed the video recordings act. The B.B.F.C had started when the cinematograph act 1909 was introduced, fearing that the governmental bodies will put down some films, so in response to this fear the film industries had come up with the B.B.F.C to deal with the censoring of films. The B.B.F.C also has a job which is to pass movies, DVD’s etc. this job is taken very strictly as seen with the censoring of movies as well as the advice and critics given to the film industries.
The B.B.F.C does this by viewing the movie more than once to clarify any mistakes which needs censoring and files a review/report based around what needs to be censored and edited. After filing the review/report and advice on what needs to be edited and censored the B.B.F.C will then send back the movie to the institute which produced the movie for the final cuts along with the review. The B.B.F.C will also give feedback to the institute such as comments, suggestion etc. to improve the movie and so that these improvements would be able to bring out the movies full potential. The B.B.F.C will censor the movie or media according to the appropriate age category that the institute which has developed that form of media has chosen. The institute will then have to follow the censor rule and edit the clips which must be taken out but is compulsory if they want to follow the advice or not which gives some freedom to the institute, most institutes follow the advice as it will help them achieve their conventions for the intended audience and in some cases make them change their mind about their target audience for e.g. The bourne identity was the first ever film to be classified as 12a because of its violence and storyline, based around this decision it shows how heavy B.B.F.C can influence an instate.
The B.B.F.C censors movies and other type of media forms so that it can be released legally and so that it can also be released for the right and intended audience. The B.B.F.C also gives information and advice on censoring to the producers so that they can edit it and so that it can also be released in England and other parts of the U.K. The B.B.F.C has a major role to do which is critical in terms of media, the role that they play in media is that they regulate it by viewing different media forms such as magazines, movies etc and give it an age certificate so that it is appropriate for the right audience and age group, also the B.B.F.C gives a brief warning of what the movie contains, this warning is usually seen on the back cover of the DVD box set at the bottom of the cover. The warning that B.B.F.C gives us are: Language: mild, Run time: 1:37 mins, age rating and more. This information also tells us why it is certified for that age group as well as giving us a warning about any offensive material.
The reasons that the B.B.F.C censors most media forms is because it is simple to pick up a weapon/tool to hurt someone else for e.g. picking up a knife and to go out and use it as shown in various movies. Not only are movies imitable but also video games as most video games tend to revolve around pure violence such as games like Call Of Duty.
A prime e.g. of this violent epidemic would be manhunt. The reason that manhunt is a good example to use is because it had been banned in the U.K by the B.B.F.C as it was too violent and too easy to imitate, another e.g. is how Stanley Kubrick had banned his own movie, a clockwork orange. The reason that he banned his own movie is because of his knowledge about how things could be imitable he knew that if it were to be released then crime rates may increase because of all the imitable violence in the movie which can simply be copied, because of these fears that crime rates may increase, the B.B.F.C censors movies, they also censor movie for other reason like:
• Some scenes are not suitable for the intended audience.
• Some scene may be racist and offensive for viewers.
• Many movies have been copied all over the world and has had an heavy impact on society.
• Copying movie stunts has become a major problem as many of these stunts lead to severe injury.
The B.B.F.C uses the age certificate system to classify the movies category regarding age groups. There are many reasons why the B.B.F.C uses an age certificate system for e.g. there may be scenes in an adult movie, which may not be suitable for a child such as sex scenes, racially abusive and sexually abusive scenes. All if not most media forms have classifiers as some do not, for e.g. a media institute which creates educational documentaries do not, this is because it can be used for educational purposes and its intentions are to give knowledge to viewers, not just the educational documentaries which have no classifiers but there are other forms of media which do not have classifiers such as an advertisement’s in magazines and other sources as its intentions are to create consumer awareness.
The B.B.F.C is also there so that violent, unsuitable and abusive scenes are not imitated or shown to the wrong audience, since violent, unsuitable and abusive images can easily influence the audience/viewers to imitate or mimic the scene as well as the behaviour and actions that are shown with in that scene. In our own opinion we think that T.V as well as other types of media forms are being mimicked and imitated heavily. Also the elders have the moral responsibility of setting an example which means that if they start abusing that responsibility by doing the wrong things, then the children who view these elders as role models then they might end up doing the same thing that they see on T.V as they do not know the concepts between right and wrong since they are not up to the level of maturity as we are as well as imitating these scenes as they would want to be like their role models.
There are many reasons for the evidence of mimicking behaviour from what children see on T.V one of these evidence is by viewing the activities on the school play ground or outside of school or during any of their free time. What is seen is that children imitate behaviour from their favourite T.V shows for e.g. YU-GI-OH, Pokémon, Dragon ball z and much more. These behaviour and imitations can be seen in the form of trading card games. This is where the owner of the trading cards can be like the characters from their favourite show.
Even though the B.B.F.C is doing what they think is for our safety and benefit, I think that we should have the freedom of choice based on what we want to watch with out censoring the movie but at a certain age since if the viewer is too young then they might try and take advantage and watch movies which are unsuitable for them. The age group which should be the age that we get to view whatever we like is 16 and over. The reason that I think it should be this age is because if people/audience at any age could be able to watch what they like then many of the younger generation may abuse that privilege and end up watching scenes which may affect them heavily and how they think and also by watching something which can easily be imitated.
Also the reason that I think this age group to watch what they like should be 16 is because at this age group the audience should be mature in what they watch and also before they imitate something from a movie, T.V etc then they will take account of the consequences of their actions and how it can affect them and others around them. These consequences could be:
• Getting in to trouble with the law and ending up in prison
• Harming people around them such as family and friends (mentally and physically)
• Relationships (family and friends) leaving relationships in a negative state
• Society out casting them, not helping them out in times of need
• Reputation turning bad which may result in no one taking them seriously
The opening sequence of our movie will be aged at 15, the reason this is, is because our movie may contain violent images which can easily be imitable since our genre is drama which means that it will be based heavily on realistic themes as well as issues in society.
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