The BBFC

THE BBFC

compiled from http://www.bbfc.co.uk/news/press/19970101.html



1. The BBFC, or British Board of Film Classification, is the UK censorship organisation, responsible for classifying all films and videos.
2. It was established in 1912. The 1909 Cinematograph Act, which offered guidelines about the running of cinemas, was said to be what led to the film industry founding the BBFC.
3. Local council legally have the final say in the classification or showing of a film in their area, although the majority of the time they leave this up to the BBFC. Occasionally, local councils will go against BBFC decision
4. The BBFC is the strictest film regulator in the Western World, providing stricter censorship than anywhere else in Europe. It is also stricter than the regulation of other media forms; for example books, artwork and theatre, which are all censored far less heavily, or not at all.

LEGISLATION

1. The Video Recordings Act of 1984 stated that all video releases must be classified by an authority, with the responsibility given to the BBFC. This was to combat the increasing lack of control that came with the invention of the VCR. The criteria used to classify videos were stricter than that of cinema releases due to the ability to rewind and pause. The supply of unclassified) videos was made a criminal offence, as was supplying 15 and 18-certificate videos to people under age. R18 videos could only be sold in licensed sex shops.
2. In 1994, the Criminal Justice Act was passed. Althouygh not aimed at film classification, it had an effect on it nevertheless. It extended the power of the 1978 Protection of Children Act to the Video Recordings Act. It also included a clause that restricted videos that showed ways for crimes to be committed. There was also a clause covering potential harm "caused to potential viewers or, by their behaviour, to society," to cover the new idea that film has the power to cause harm to viewers.
3. Other acts that the BBFC has to take into account are:
• 1936 Cinematograph Films (animals) Act – This piece of legislation banned deliberate animal cruelty from cinema films
• 1959 Obscene Publications Act – The Act that defines obscenity, which can then be applied to film
• 1988 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act – The British copyright legislation paperwork, which covers works across all media



CATEGORISATION

• Classifications currently in use are Uc (particularly suitable for pre-school children), U (suitable for everyone), PG (suitable for anyone, but might contain some material unsuitable for children) , 12 (suitable for people aged 12 and over), 12A (suitable for people over 12, and those under 12 provided they are with a parent), 15 (suitable for people over 15), 18 (suitable for people over 18) and R18 (works that can only be sold in licensed sex shops).
• Classsifications that have been dropped along the way are A (Adult, suggesting it might contain material unsuitable for children. Replaced by PG), H (Horror, which was advisory, although used by local authorities to ban children under 16. Replaced by X), X (which excluded people under 16 until 1970, then people under 18. Replaced by 18), AA (which excluded people under 14. Replaced by 15)

Imitable Techniques

The BBFC is concerned about detailed portrayal of criminal and violent techniques and the glamorisation of easily accessible weapons. Action which may promote illegal or anti-social behaviour, and portrayals of potentially dangerous behaviour which young children are likely to copy, are of particular concern. Examples of the Board’s concerns in this area include combat techniques, hanging, suicide and self-harm.

Research conducted by the Policy Studies Institute in 1993, was the first major survey of the tastes and viewing habits of violent young offenders and a comparable group of non-offenders of the same age range (12 to 17). The research findings were announced at a BBFC Press Conference on 11 April 1994. These were that:

(1) all teenage boys were watching much the same films, with a strong preference for macho heroics, in particular films and videos featuring the lethal escapades of the action stars of the nineties, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Lee, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Steven Seagal and the ever popular Bruce Lee; but

(2) the offenders' backgrounds were so different from those of the non-offenders, and the conditions of their lives so chaotic that it was possible that they might be bringing different attitudes to the viewing and drawing different things from it.

Thus the report stressed the need for a follow-up study which would look into not just what young offenders watch, but how they watch and how they interpret what they see.



In June 1994, the Home Affairs Select Committee of the House of Commons supported the Board's plans for just such a follow-up study into the viewing of violence by serious young offenders in custody, and later that year the BBFC approached the Home Office together with a long-time member of the Board's Video Consultative Council, Dr Kevin Browne of the University of Birmingham. In 1995, the Home Office approved Dr Browne's research proposal and agreed to fund it over the next two years.

The BBFC is a research-based organisation. For many years, it has been concerned at the capacity of videos to teach copycat crime, and it is currently the only classification board in the world that regularly cuts the use of imitable weaponry, dangerous techniques of unarmed combat, and imitable techniques of criminal activity, like the stealing of cars, or breaking and entering premises. We needed to research the validity of the Board's approach, particularly the extent to which youngsters with a criminal record were likely to bring to the viewing of such scenes a knowledge of crime which enables them to use videos as a source book of criminal techniques. The second phase of the Board's research programme, conducted by Dr Browne, was designed to provide such information. It is due to be published at the end of October.

Phase Three of this research is currently in the planning stage. It will involve weekly in-depth interviews with violent young offenders over a period of months, exploring their fantasies and noting the extent to which mediaviolence contributes to those fantasies or triggers their acting out. This research will bring together some of the country's leading experts in the field. Details will be announced later this autumn.



All three phases of the Board's research into the effects of screen violence were discussed at the world conference on screen violence held by the BBFC in London in September 1996. The conference also discussed the possibility of international joint funding for such research in the future. The progress of these research initiatives will be discussed again at an international conference of European classifiers and media regulators to be held in London at the end of September 1997.