What is goign on with censorship in the uk? All of a sudden what's accepted and what's not has changed dramatically. Melonfarmers reports today that 'The Good Old Naughty Days' has been passed BBFC for general release completely uncut. This black and white film nearly 100 years old containts not only hard ons (gasp), full penetration (holy cow) but bestiality. How the fuck did this happen? There's been no change of laws, no change of guidelines, yet all of a sudden we've gone from not being able to see an open vag or a hard on to be able to see them both together in their natural environment with the family pet involved for good measure!
It's the same with the satellite pron sub channels. They're notoroisly softcore, but just for the last few weeks they've been shoving in hardcore material almost at random. One second your can see a coupling having sex apparently using their belly buttons instead of their genitals, the next you've got closeups of equipment being inserted in full detail.
I'm not complaining about any of this, if you pay for porn, you should be able to watch it. If you get offended by porn, don't pay to see it, see? What I would like to see is some clarity on why it is this stuffs suddenly allowed, what exactly is allowed, and where can we get hold of it!
Monday 26 April 2004
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In fairness, the BBFC and other bodies which look at the issue of censorship, have always had a fairly sensible outlook in the UK in that what is and is not acceptable is based on whether or not such content is likely to offend various bands of adults etc. There is not a list of what you can and cannot show, as far as I am aware.
ReplyDeleteSo I'm guessing that there's been some change of staff or a review of what people find acceptable now. It's probably a bit late in coming really, I mean... we're courting Europe and their attitudes and the content available is so liberal that anyone in the market for pornography has had pretty easy access to the real stuff just the same.
Here you go slim, enjoy the read www.bbfc.co.uk
ReplyDeleteThat's not really appropriate. The 2002 guidelines are contradictory anyway, especially in the R18 bits.
ReplyDeleteThe guidelines that I work to for broadcast tele tend to be fairly vague. 90% of the time its up to me, do I think that it should be broadcast in its current state. Like with all rules you can stretch and bend them to suit your purposes. I've actually allowed footage to be broadcast that 5 years ago would of lost me my job.
ReplyDeleteExactly, they shouldn't be vague. You wouldn't shoot someone to see if murder was illegal would you?
ReplyDeleteAs far as I understand it the law isn't particularly vague as far as laws go (no no bear with me on this one!). Laws are usually drafted to allow them to adapt over time to the society that develops. So negligence for instance has gone through several redefinitions through the ages. So with the concept of 'can you show hard cocks and stuff', the law focuses on the idea of obscenity and the point is that what society considers obscene today as opposed to say 20 years ago is pretty changed.
ReplyDeleteObscenity doesn't mean 'stuff you wouldn't like to watch yourself' but of a level that would 'outrage society'. What the pornographers and from a different motivation the BBFC have been saying / enacting is, in effect, 'well come off it, no-one is outraged by the view of a hard cock doing it's thing in 2004' and that's probably right almost all down to the fact that these days we have the interweb. It's so prevelant and available that it's a rather ahem flaccid argument to say it's shocking anymore. Youngsters won't remember that in the UK pre-interweb it was *incredibly* rare in the UK to see a mag with so much as simulated sex. Actual shagmags were the things that the people at school who had been over to scandanavia brought back and were considered to be utterly mind as well as wad blowing. In those times, a few years ago the BBFC followed 'ILOOLI' - inner labia out, outer labia in - what could not and what could be shown. But in these days that you !get a popup to link to Paris Hilton winning the Chow Down Preppie Olympics off every fourth website it's all a bit redundant.
So collectively everyone from the broadcaster perspective gets braver over time and so it develops. In Tottenham Court Rd as we all know, hardcore shops have been selling vids and dvds with totally hardcore covers and content since the early 90's (maybe before) right next to Tottenham Court Rd Police Station. I suppose from a broadcast perspective it was always going to be a slower process but in the end inevitable.
However just how you get to shagging fauna I don't know. Maybe the BBFC thought it was a small bush in Vietnam. But that, as they say, is another story altogether......