Regulations - Slumdog Millionaire, Pride & Kick-Ass

The BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) regulate all films in the UK. The BBFC one known as film censors no alter accessibility and viewing of films rather than censor films. The BBFC has many aims that it hopes to achieve through its line of work such as: empower the public, respect peoples freedom and choice, reflect social change and opinion, have an effective enforcement and most importantly protecting the public from harm, mainly protecting children.

The procedure carried out when classifying a film is simple for the BBFC. They get two examiners to view the film and decide on rating and give justification for the rating of the film. Usually the senior examiner will confirm the recommendations and look through the justification for the classification and confirm. If the examiners are in disagreement then the film will be viewed by many other examiners to get an overall classification and judgment these examiners are usually of a higher level. In addition the film could also go to the director and presidential team to gain an insight into what they believed the film would have gotten. Once this is decided the BBFC will get back to the film makers with an overall judgement and give advice on cuts to be made if the film is wanting to achieve a lower rating. Some of the issues that must be considered when classifying a film are: sex, drugs, violence, nudity, language, dangerous behaviour, discrimination etc. Finally once the classification process is complete the age rating is put of DVD’s and Blu-ray’s, however the rating on the DVD’s can be higher than in cinemas as there is more chance of underage viewing at home, meaning a film make have multiple classifications.

When the BBFC age rated the film of Slumdog Millionaire it achieved a 15 certificate. When gaining a 15 certificate strong language may be used and very strong language may be permitted, due to its occasional use of the F word in English and also untranslated in Hindi Slumdog was unable to get the 12A certificate it wanted. In addition violence may be strong but pain must not be dwelled on, and in Slumdog there is strong violence such as: a group of Muslims attacked and beaten, a shooting, blinding of a young boy, man set on fire and repeated scenes of Jamal being tortured. There is also sex working which is eluded too as well as small elements of nudity. Once this decision was made the BBFC contacted Danny Boyle and told him cuts that could be mate to reduce the certificate down to a 12A, in particular removing the shot of the many being set on fire and running across the shot. However, this was rejected by Boyle as he did not want to remove any scenes from the film as he believed if a scene was cut then the true essence and reality of the film would have been lost. The film could be seen as a social realism so Boyle believed that the gritty realism of this film had to be displayed and conveyed. In addition to this there was a set time for the film to come out and if Boyle had decided to take on this and cut the film the date would have been set back meaning it had more competitors and would probably not have done as well as it did in the box office. Also the fat that the main scene that was to be cut was the man on fire would have posed a problem for Boyle as the flashback is how Jamal remember the answer meaning there had to be something significant over everything else that engraved that memory into his head and the idea that a man was running through the slums on fire is something that would never be forgotten. If any of the scenes had been cut from the final edit of the film then the essence and impact of the film would have been lost, Slumdog works as a cause and effect and works perfectly the way it is cutting parts would simply make the film less effective and the impact wouldn’t have been so strong on society. The gory violence of this film encourage the audience to empathise with Jamal and understand his hellish childhood as well as teen years as he enters into adulthood, therefore having an audience who are not adults themselves would not allow them to relate to Jamal quite like a 15 year old might

Another film that gained a 15 certificate was the film Pride. This is due to the occasional strong language used such as the F word, as well as discriminatory language such as ‘queer’ and ‘dyke’ etc. There is also verbal and visual sex references and brief nudity used for comedic elements. There is mild drug use (smoking a joint) and minor violence shown when the miners and police fight and when a brick is thrown through the book shop window. All of these elements are not suitable for a 12A certificate are the behaviour displayed within the film is easily imitable behaviour and is not suitable for viewers who do not understand the context in which the behaviour is displayed, for example when Johnathan is smoking a joint it is clear that in that society it was acceptable however in today’s society it is not as accepted and could be looked down on. However this is in contrast as in the USA Pride was granted an aged 17 certificate meaning you would only view it if you were 17 or older and if you’re younger than 17 you must be assisted by an adult. The film was seen as being of this age rating as it displayed homosexuality which is unfit for under 17’s, the MPAA said there was enough homosexuality in the world without manufacturing any more. They believed that children under 17 were vulnerable so viewing homosexuality would be wrong for them and could potentially corrupt their vulnerable minds, they should be seen heterosexual relationships rather than homosexual relationships. This raises the question about if this this rating was correct or was it more homophobic than anything else?

Another controversial rating was the rating of the superhero film Kick-Ass. Kick-Ass received a 15 certificate from the BBFC but could be argued that it also fit will with an 18 certificate. The main argument that the film could have been granted an 18 certificate is the fact that during the live stream Kick-Ass and Big Daddy are repeatedly beaten and tortured, after the beating Big Daddy is set on fire and we watch as he is burned alive. This is a problem as for a 15 certificate the BBFC specifically says pain should not be dwelled on, glory and sadistic is not accepted, however in this case it seems that it has been accepted. Another problem comes from the scenes where Hit Girl brutally murders criminals with no remorse (Frank D’Amico’s men and in Rasul’s apartment) the viewing of these murders is accepted by a 15 certificate however it is the context of the murders, there murdered are being carried out by an 11 year old girl with raises many questions for the BBFC. In addition to this the strong language used such as the C word must be considered and have been liable for an 18 certificate as once again this is extremely strong language and in today’s society is classes as one of the most foul and explicit words that can be used, let alone the fact that once again it is a 11 year old girl who is saying it. The strong sexual nature of this film could also allow the film to be an 18 certificate as Dave sexualised his English teacher for no apparent reason and fantasies about women as well as sexualising his girlfriend Katy at any opportunity he can. However this film was given a 15 rating and this can be down to the fact that it does not depict strong sexual activity, the only scene with Dave and Katy they are both fully clothed so could be a reason why the film was given a lower rating. In addition some of the violence in the film can be seen as comedic and or really unrealistic and unbelievable. There is also the idea that as society changes many of these things are not as shocking as they used to be resulting in a 15 rating.

Overall the BBFC does accurately reflect its ethos and aims and is important as it does try to protect people from viewing things that could potentially harm them or have a negative effect on their life. However, it may be seen as outdated as topics such as sex and drugs are no longer taboo subjects in today’s society meaning the BBFC may want to review some if its rules for classification and alter them.