BBFC History: How has it changed?

• In the past, the BBFC was the '...Board of Censorship' and, like it's name, was a much stricter governing force on what was not allowed to be shown in films. The 43 grounds for deletion sum this up.
• Over time, the BBFC had different leaders and directors, and each one tried to make the process less strict to allow films to be expressive forms of artwork.
• The categories for classification have changed and continue to change as the 'A' and 'X' were replaced with '15', '18', '12', 'PG', 'R18', 'U', Uc', and most recently '12A'.
• Changing public views which resulted in ammendments to laws have also greatly affected how the current BBFC is shaped, and on what it's classification process is based.
• The introduction of the home-cinema system, and multi-platform media, has given the BBFC a bigger job as a result of so many titles coming out not just in cinemas, but on DVD and Blu-Ray, Video Games, and Trailers.

Film Classification: Thoughts on the Current System...

What are the pros and cons of the UK's current system of film classification?

PROS:

• The system is simple and understandable, with clear guidelines and ratings, the BBFC's classification is a good guide to pick an appropriate film of your choice.
• The BBFC do not have the final say; although their ratings are normally justified by thier guidelines, local authourities can still overule a descision by the BBFC in their area.
• The updated guidelines provided and published by the BBFC keep up to date with the current social climate and culture.
• Parents do not have to watch a film first themselves to decide wether or not to let their child watch it, the ratings are clear, and if they won't suffice, there is detailed information about all classified works on the BBFC's website.

CONS:

• Many people, particularly parents, are not aware of all of the information available to them on the BBFC website.
• Some people argue that films should not be classified by age as some children are more mature than others, and all children are afraid of different things.
• The classification ratings are not well enforced - it is all to easy for a  younger child to watch an 18 rated film on the internet or on DVD, fake ID is also used at cinemas and becoming increasingly hard to police. 

Do you think the way films are regulated is sensible, useful to society and achieves its aim of protecting the vulnerable and upholding the law?

On the whole, I believe the BBFC does a very good job of regulating films. The guidelines are clear, current to the modern society, and adheared to consistantly. The guidelines will enforce the law, if that means making cuts to films or banning works altogether. The current classification system is very useful to society as it helps parents let their children watch suitable films for their age without the parent having to watch the film first themselves.

Is there anything you think could be done to improve the system? 

More awareness of the information available to the public on the BBFC website would greatly improve the system. All to often have parents complained about the ratings given to certain films by the BBFC without actually viewing any of the information availabe regarding the film. If this information was advertised by the government then complaints by ignorant parents could be reduced.

Reflections: Lessons 1 & 2

Learning about film classification has been really interesting so far, here are some interesting facts I learnt:

• The Film Industry did not want the government to be directly involved in the classification of films and as a result set up their own classification companies, such as they BBFC in Britain, so that the film industry could become independant and self-regulating. 
• The local authorities can overrule the decision made by the BBFC and this can lead to the film not being shown in the area - so certain films cannot be watched in certain areas.
• Although the BBFC follow their own guidelines extremely well, and normally make the right decision, some parents still complained when they thought that the 'Dark Knight' should have been a 15 even though the definition of the 12A it received says that it is up to the adult to decided whether their child can see the film. A lack of knowledge about the information availble is found here as most parents do not know that there are detailed summaries of every regulated film on the ParentBBFC website.