Options

BBFC to scrutinise impact of horror films

StrmChaserSteveStrmChaserSteve Posts: 2,728
Forum Member
✭✭✭
BBFC to scrutinise impact of horror films
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-25684461

My thoughts:
The article quickly veers off and starts talking about
sexualisation of young women in film and music videos

That is not specific to the Horror Genre

Thing is, pretty much every movie in existence, can be found online, with a simple search.

The age ratings can be enforced at the cinema

These age ratings are only good in so far as it goes.
If parents do not monitor what their kids access online, then it's all a bloody waste of time

Comments

  • Options
    LyricalisLyricalis Posts: 57,958
    Forum Member
    That David Austin guy (from the BBFC) was on the BBC news just now talking about changes to U rated films too. Mentioned that they'd be adopting a zero tolerance attitude to 'rude' words in films with that rating. He then explained it was because young children tend to repeat what they hear and could 'say it in front of the vicar'. Vicar? That pretty much tells you all you need to know about the BBFC. What decade do they think we live in?
  • Options
    roger_50roger_50 Posts: 6,928
    Forum Member
    Lyricalis wrote: »
    He then explained it was because young children tend to repeat what they hear and could 'say it in front of the vicar'. Vicar? That pretty much tells you all you need to know about the BBFC. What decade do they think we live in?
    That's just an expression....
  • Options
    roger_50roger_50 Posts: 6,928
    Forum Member
    With swearing, I wouldn't have that much of a problem with multiple f-words in 12-rated films. But because it's this stupid 12"A" then it's not appropriate to have *any* f-words IMO, since half the audience will be 7 or 8 years old or whatever.

    The 12A rating has clearly been a complete shambles and has ended up being viewed the same as PG by parents being hassled to take their kids to the cinema.

    If they had kept the original 12-rating and not messed around with it, a lot of these problems wouldn't have come in I think.
  • Options
    LyricalisLyricalis Posts: 57,958
    Forum Member
    roger_50 wrote: »
    That's just an expression....

    Not one I've ever heard before, not outside a 70's sitcom anyway.
  • Options
    edExedEx Posts: 13,460
    Forum Member
    ✭✭
    Lyricalis wrote: »
    That David Austin guy (from the BBFC) was on the BBC news just now talking about changes to U rated films too. Mentioned that they'd be adopting a zero tolerance attitude to 'rude' words in films with that rating. He then explained it was because young children tend to repeat what they hear and could 'say it in front of the vicar'. Vicar? That pretty much tells you all you need to know about the BBFC. What decade do they think we live in?
    If the vicar's read the Old Testament he already knows far more terrifying stories than the average horror film.
  • Options
    Big Boy BarryBig Boy Barry Posts: 35,389
    Forum Member
    Here we go again

    The Puritans are back.
  • Options
    JCRJCR Posts: 24,070
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    LOL at the Mail saying the 506 ****s in Wolf of Wall Street may have got a 15 not an 18 now.

    The swearing might of, but I'd suspect the candle up the arse scene would still be 18 even under new guidelines. :o
  • Options
    dee123dee123 Posts: 46,271
    Forum Member
    Here we go again

    The Puritans are back.

    Yeah, at least we got a couple of decades where horror films where left alone.

    Besides the whole brew-ha-ha about The Woman In Black and the complaints it got is partly because you had kids wanting to see "Harry Potter" in his next film no matter what that film actually was.
  • Options
    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7,488
    Forum Member
    JCR wrote: »
    LOL at the Mail saying the 506 ****s in Wolf of Wall Street may have got a 15 not an 18 now.

    The swearing might of, but I'd suspect the candle up the arse scene would still be 18 even under new guidelines. :o

    The Mail are idiots, you can get away with any number of f words in any context at a 15, it's the c words they limit. And it's the c words you'll be able to get away with more of.

    So for example, Ken Loach complained in the past that he was only allowed 8 c words at a 15, even though most of them were friendly and unaggressive, it sounds like now they will only be paying to attention to context, unless there's one every 5 minutes or something else that's a bit OTT, you'll be able to get away with using the c word at a 15.
  • Options
    roger_50roger_50 Posts: 6,928
    Forum Member
    Lyricalis wrote: »
    Not one I've ever heard before, not outside a 70's sitcom anyway.
    Well, it's a reasonably well-known expression, banked away with all the others I've heard over the years. I don't think it signifies anything at all that they used it.

    You're making something out of nothing IMO.
  • Options
    James2001James2001 Posts: 73,665
    Forum Member
    ✭✭
    Part of the problem is people just don't seem to understand what the 12A rating actually means. Far too many people seem to think that because you can take kids to see them, then it must be suitable for kids, then get shocked, disgusted and complain because of it.

    On the news report yesterday they were talking about how a U rated film had the word "crap" in it, as if, oh no, hearing the word will corrupt our children. Of course, it was immediately followed by a representative from mumsnet, which says everything- they think everything should be banned because they can't be bothered to bring their kids up themselves.
  • Options
    roger_50roger_50 Posts: 6,928
    Forum Member
    That's why it would have been better to keep the original cinema 12 rating, which had the same red logo as the 15 rating. It's a clear warning that a film is only suitable for a certain age - parents could understand that and easily say no to their kids.

    Now we have this tangled mess where the BBFC are trying to find ways to tone down the 12A content even more, or start upping films to 15 which would have fit in the original 12 rating.

    They've put themselves in a really awkward spot with this rating.
  • Options
    yaristamanyaristaman Posts: 1,844
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    James2001 wrote: »
    Part of the problem is people just don't seem to understand what the 12A rating actually means. Far too many people seem to think that because you can take kids to see them, then it must be suitable for kids, then get shocked, disgusted and complain because of it.

    On the news report yesterday they were talking about how a U rated film had the word "crap" in it, as if, oh no, hearing the word will corrupt our children. Of course, it was immediately followed by a representative from mumsnet, which says everything- they think everything should be banned because they can't be bothered to bring their kids up themselves.

    E.T. has had two 'shit''s in it for 30 years at the U rating. Doesn't seem to have affected people too much.
  • Options
    Johnny ClayJohnny Clay Posts: 5,328
    Forum Member
    These age ratings are only good in so far as it goes.
    If parents do not monitor what their kids access online, then it's all a bloody waste of time
    Absolutely.
    James2001 wrote: »
    On the news report yesterday they were talking about how a U rated film had the word "crap" in it, as if, oh no, hearing the word will corrupt our children. Of course, it was immediately followed by a representative from mumsnet, which says everything- they think everything should be banned because they can't be bothered to bring their kids up themselves.
    Both parental ignorance and the (typical) attention-seeking blather from mumsnet point to the same thing: handing personal responsibility to governing bodies. Thus, the BBFC get more aggressive, ISPs get more aggressive etc, etc.
    roger_50 wrote: »
    That's why it would have been better to keep the original cinema 12 rating, which had the same red logo as the 15 rating. It's a clear warning that a film is only suitable for a certain age - parents could understand that and easily say no to their kids.
    True, 12 was probably the better, clearer certification. But does 12A sell more tickets?
    roger_50 wrote: »
    Well, it's a reasonably well-known expression, banked away with all the others I've heard over the years. I don't think it signifies anything at all that they used it.
    Indeed. IIRC, 'More Tea, Vicar?' is an old gag one would repeat after breaking wind. See also: 'Better out than in.'
  • Options
    Peter the GreatPeter the Great Posts: 14,230
    Forum Member
    ✭✭
    yaristaman wrote: »
    E.T. has had two 'shit''s in it for 30 years at the U rating. Doesn't seem to have affected people too much.
    The same with flight of the navigator which had more shits than E.T.
  • Options
    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 794
    Forum Member
    ✭✭
    The real problem is that there are far too many lazy parents that are completely devoid of any sense of responsibility to what their progeny get up to and far too many organisations that are willing to spout reactionary rubbish in order to control what media we consume.

    The recent furore around the second Hunger Games movie had this choice quote in one report:

    "Pippa Smith of the Safer Media campaign said: ‘The film industry puts too much responsibility on parents. It isn’t fair they should have to make the decision whether they take their child or not."

    Presumably it isn't fair that parents should have to make the decision whether little Johnny should run with scissors or drink bleach either.
  • Options
    InkblotInkblot Posts: 26,889
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    Minion wrote: »

    The recent furore around the second Hunger Games movie had this choice quote in one report:

    "Pippa Smith of the Safer Media campaign said: ‘The film industry puts too much responsibility on parents. It isn’t fair they should have to make the decision whether they take their child or not."

    Presumably it isn't fair that parents should have to make the decision whether little Johnny should run with scissors or drink bleach either.
    By editing Pippa Smith's comment you've made it sound like she's saying parents shouldn't have to take responsibility for what their kids see. However the full quote - ‘The film industry puts too much responsibility on parents. It isn’t fair they should have to make the decision whether they take their child or not when the guidelines are so vague. Classification on films needs to be much stricter.’ - makes it clear that she's actually advocating censorship.

    If you look at her organisation's blog site (http://www.safermedia.blogspot.co.uk/) you'll see what Safer Media is really all about. Hint: the word "pornography" appears 45 times on the first page.
  • Options
    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7,488
    Forum Member
    Inkblot wrote: »
    By editing Pippa Smith's comment you've made it sound like she's saying parents shouldn't have to take responsibility for what their kids see. However the full quote - ‘The film industry puts too much responsibility on parents. It isn’t fair they should have to make the decision whether they take their child or not when the guidelines are so vague. Classification on films needs to be much stricter.’ - makes it clear that she's actually advocating censorship.

    If you look at her organisation's blog site (http://www.safermedia.blogspot.co.uk/) you'll see what Safer Media is really all about. Hint: the word "pornography" appears 45 times on the first page.

    That's retarded, and the BBFC provides detailed information on it's website about the contents of a film, just because she can't arsed to google it doesn't mean we should all suffer censorship...
  • Options
    Residents FanResidents Fan Posts: 9,204
    Forum Member
    Lyricalis wrote: »
    That David Austin guy (from the BBFC) was on the BBC news just now talking about changes to U rated films too. Mentioned that they'd be adopting a zero tolerance attitude to 'rude' words in films with that rating. He then explained it was because young children tend to repeat what they hear and could 'say it in front of the vicar'. Vicar?

    Not to mention many Britons worry about kids saying stuff
    in front of the preacher/priest/ rabbi/ iman etc....
    Minion wrote:
    The real problem is that there are far too many lazy parents that are completely devoid of any sense of responsibility to what their progeny get up to and far too many organisations that are willing to spout reactionary rubbish in order to control what media we consume.

    Yeah. It's the parents job to monitor their kids'
    viewing, not the UK government's.
  • Options
    augusta92augusta92 Posts: 8,677
    Forum Member
    Minion wrote: »
    The real problem is that there are far too many lazy parents that are completely devoid of any sense of responsibility to what their progeny get up to and far too many organisations that are willing to spout reactionary rubbish in order to control what media we consume.

    The recent furore around the second Hunger Games movie had this choice quote in one report:

    "Pippa Smith of the Safer Media campaign said: ‘The film industry puts too much responsibility on parents. It isn’t fair they should have to make the decision whether they take their child or not."

    Presumably it isn't fair that parents should have to make the decision whether little Johnny should run with scissors or drink bleach either.
    Inkblot wrote: »
    By editing Pippa Smith's comment you've made it sound like she's saying parents shouldn't have to take responsibility for what their kids see. However the full quote - ‘The film industry puts too much responsibility on parents. It isn’t fair they should have to make the decision whether they take their child or not when the guidelines are so vague. Classification on films needs to be much stricter.’ - makes it clear that she's actually advocating censorship.

    If you look at her organisation's blog site (http://www.safermedia.blogspot.co.uk/) you'll see what Safer Media is really all about. Hint: the word "pornography" appears 45 times on the first page.



    But....it isn't just the initial rating that matters!! What happens when a film gets out on DVD and can be just picked up and watched by anyone who can work a TV remote?

    Ok so my kids are older now, but I used to get so frustrated when they were younger, from about 10-15, when they would go round a friends house for a sleepover and have unrestricted access to any film from their friends parents and older siblings DVD collection. It never seemed as if other parents were scrutinising anything the kids were watching at these informal parties.

    Which put me in a horrendous and very difficult position. At home I would be enforcing age restrictions, whilst outside the home, my kids could see anything. And there seemed to be nothing like the excitement of an 18 film on a sleepover.


    Should I have been banning my kids from going to anyone's house in their teens in case they saw something unsuitable, or was it better to try and at least keep an open dialogue going, so that at least they were willing to tell me what they had been watching?
Sign In or Register to comment.