"...the power of Christ compels me..."

Well, it was either that for a header or "Your mother sucks cocks in Hell"... :)

I figured, this being the 18th post of the year, and that "18" is one of the BBFC's cinema certificates that I'd jibber jabber on about movie classification and censorship, given the recent announcement of forthcoming changes...

Now, I'm broadly of the same opinion as the good Dr Kermode when it comes to this area, in that at the 18 certificate it should be permissible to show any content on the screen, so long as no laws were broken in the making of the film. Then, every lower classification is about rating, and where to place a film. And that's where the arguments often sit. 

One of the things that some have got their knickers in a twist about is that at the 15 certificate there will be an increased level of "very strong" language. This, basically means, there'll be more "fucks" and "cunts" in 15 films. Some have said how this is a disgrace, polluting the minds of those who are still children, etc, etc, etc... Hmm. I'm sorry; but the only way you could show me a 15 year old that doesn't know the words "fuck" or "cunt" would be if you found them hiding in a cave on Mars with their fingers in their ears...! (Yes; I nicked that line from Niles.) The movies are hardly going to be a corrupting influence in this respect...

At the other end of the scale they're going to be tougher at the lower end of the scale as well, being much tougher with the milder swears at U. I'd actually say they should be tougher with the 12a certificate; "fuck"s are permitted there, but I'd say they shouldn't be. If it were a hard 12 certificate, with no-one under 12 in there then I'd say, yeah, probably okay. But the "a" makes it more problematic as younger children are permitted in to the cinema (with an adult). You get some parents taking very young (probably too young) kids in to 12a films...

There have even been people who say that the BBFC shouldn't be all touchy feely and asking the public their opinions, and that they should just enforce whatever rules they see fit with an iron fist. Or, basically, a desire for the bad old days when James Ferman was in charge of the board; a time when the entire range of policies they had were based completely on Mr Ferman's whims. The BBFC has improved in leaps and bounds since he left, and in becoming more open, and by consulting with the public on a regular basis, they ensure that the decision they make are broadly in step with both public opinion, and don't lead to bizarre decisions.

Yeah, there'll be some classification decisions people don't agree with, but you don't get things like the nunchuk ban, or the endless refusal to even look at The Exorcist for video classification, or continued bans of horror movies that look so very tame next to the likes of Saw, and so on.

The BBFC aren't perfect, but they are much better than they used to be.