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“Film
censorship is motivated by fears about audiences and technologies.”
Discuss this statement in reference to the concerns expressed about
uncensored and unregulated video content in Britain in the early
1980s. [30 marks]
I feel that film censorship
is strongly motivated by fears about audiences and technologies –
don't need to write out the question
however there are some other factors that motivate film censorship
which do not fall into either of the above categories. Just
start here...? Through improvements in technologies such as
VHS players which were now??? present in many British homes
the public could easily get easy access to unregulated and uncensored
films known as video nasties, why
were they unregulated & why watch them at home? these led
to fears that the quality? Morality – a
'Moral Panic' of society in Britain could fall if they were
allowed to remain being easily obtainable to the public. These video
nasties were a sort of scapegoat for any troubles within the country
possibly arguing that film censorship could be motivated by personal
ideals but i will explore this later in the essay. Good
point – look forward to it.
These VHS tapes and video nasties also presented a great threat to
the multiplexes as the viewers could now view previously unobtainable
footage from the comfort of their homes, leading to fears of an even
greater economic decline. For cinema
attendance
Through the technological improvements that
took place throughout the 1970s the public now had the option of both
Betamax and VHS on which to watch films at home. Despite its better
quality betamax was soon defeated as VHS not only allowed for a
longer recording but had also become a social trend throughout
Britain as visiting the multiplexes had been in the past. It did
however have a darker side which played a large role in its triumph
over betamax which was that VHS tapes were easier to copy and
therefore pirate. It was this piracy that led to unregulated tapes
being produced in mass numbers and therefore widely distributed
across the country. This piracy of tapes allowed prices to fall
therefore making it a much more appealing option for the public than
to visit their nearest multiplex creating a fall in cinema
attendance. Good & accurate but need to
make it clear how does this affect censorship or regulation?
The
main fears of what audiences of watching came with the introduction
of the video nasties. These tapes allowed the viewers to see content
that had been deemed either to horrific or obscene for the screens of
the cinemas. Good The films focused on
the genres of horror and pornography. Through being uncensored they
were able to explore much darker concepts than anything before them
had been, such as the idea of rape or extremely gory deaths. Refer
to specific films please Through these new themes came a
certain sense of intrigue which appealed in the main to teenage
audiences as it was new and captured their attention and curiosity.
This led to great levels of fear in parents as they no longer had any
control over what their children were watching and no guarantee that
the film was appropriate as it was unregulated. This created a great
sense of moral panic as many adults felt that what their children
were watching was wrong and should be banned altogether. Good.
Amidst this moral panic the government saw a window
for them to take advantage and use this for their gain. This argues
that film censorship was not motivated by fears about audiences and
technologies but rather as a tool to defeat the scapegoat which took
the blame for a broken Britain. In the 1980s
Under Margaret Thatcher the conservative government claimed that it
was the fault of these video nasties for the state of some of the
problems in Britain, Her government held very traditional views and
felt that these tapes were not appropriate for viewing by anybody and
should be gotten rid of. Through the media the government pushed the
idea and created a larger sense of fear that it was these films
damaging youth and the morals of the country, therefore rallying
greater support for their disposal or censorship and also taking more
blame away from Margaret Thatcher for the violence and poorness of
the country. This gives the idea that it was not fear of how the
audiences react but rather through the use of power to create a fear
that had previously not been there in force for a governments own
gains. Very good – how does this frame the
Censorship debate?
Eventually in the year of 1985 the
regulation of home video came to be through an organisation called
the BBFC meaning the British Board of Film Censorship. After being
given permission by the conservative government the BBFC was allowed
to apply age ratings to home video allowing the videos with the worst
content to be flagged warning any potential viewers of what they
would be watching. This shows that film censorship was done for the
benefit of the audiences as they now knew what they were viewing and
the country could have proper control over what was being
distributed. Good – so 'legislation' could
keep up with the new technology. What were these fears though –
shouldn't the public be free to watch what they think is appropriate
– shouldn't they decide themselves?
In conclusion i
agree with my original point that film censorship is strongly
motivated by fears about audience and technologies. It is the fear of
the kind of content audiences are exposed to and through improved
technologies the ease they can obtain it which pushed censorship
forward as a major issue and led to home video being censored so
strongly. Good Although other factors
like the governments traditional conservative views affected
censorship i still feel that fears for the audience and the
advancements of technologies were more significant. The same issues
of piracy causing film censorship to be difficult are still around
today but in the form of internet movie piracy rather than VHS
piracy, the audience however are now 30 years on a lot more
desensitized to what they see it is almost as if films need to be
extremely horrific just to capture our attention and become popular.
An example of this is the human centipede (put
in year of release) a film viewed by many teenagers despite
almost all of them being disgusted and horrified. All viewing however
knew what they were about to watch which leads me to the conclusion
that films should have age ratings and content warnings but
that films should never be censored as it is the viewers choice if
they are sufficiently warned to undertake the viewing of the film.
Good
use of P E E, all contexts & significant events discussed &
applied to the question
A
sense of argument throughout & strong introduction which answers
the question
Refer
to films of the era
28/30
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