Film Censorship is Motivated by Fears About Audiences and Technology –

Discuss this statement in reference to the concerns expressed about uncensored and unregulated video content.

Introduction: 

This essay will discuss about film censorship in the 1980s. It was motivated by fears about audiences and technologies to a certain extent. One of the main fears was of people being able to view graphic and unsuitable content from video nasties; which were both unregulated and uncensored. This was accessible through the use of technological advancements such as the video cassette recorder (VCR).  Another fear being the impact these films would have on society, acting as a threat and compromising the governments “nanny state” which is sought after for a perfect society. The construction of this fear was being fuelled by the conservative government and the media. Concerns were also raised in relation to the economy of the multiplexes, whether there would be a substantial impact on the film industry due to factors such as the recession.        

Point: fears fuelled by the technological aspect/ advancement.

Example:  This is on the basis that at the time, technology such as the VCR was developed in the late 1970s, which remained in use throughout the 1980s. It became a very popular method of watching films, as home videos were seen as quite fashionable, as well as being easier than traveling to the nearest multiplex. With this came the format wars, between VHS and Betamax. It later surfaced that VHS was successful, leaving Betamax obsolete. Despite the fact Betamax offered a better quality, VHS was more popular and also allowed for a longer recording. Technology was then used for criminal activity, resulting in pirated home videos. Due to piracy, people could watch home videos that included banned titles and various video nasties.

Analysis: Having access to video nasties, meant that people were able to view contents that were considered to be gory, violent and inappropriate for the screens of Britain. At the same time, these films were unregulated and uncensored, therefore not available to the public through the multiplexes. The main audience for these films were teenagers (young audiences), on the basis the horror genre of video nasties inspired curiosity and a fun alternative means of entertainment. The films became a success, as the controversy they caused generated publicity and made them intriguing; part of this being a result of the extreme concepts which were explored such as rape, murder and torture. In addition to this, parents grew concerned that it was easier for their children to access such content.

Point: Moral panic arose over whether this would have an impact on society as a whole. This fear was pushed forward by the conservative government and the media.

Example: A possibility is that the government used this to their advantage, by promoting this as reason for why Britain was broken; acting as a temporary scapegoat for some of the nation’s problems at the time. Under Margaret Thatchers rule, the right-wing conservatives also held up many traditional and Christian (religious) beliefs. This meant that the criminal activity of piracy, and access to graphic content, was greatly looked down upon. An organisation that went hand in hand with the governments views was the National Viewers and Listeners Association, which was established by Mary Whitehouse.

Analysis: The British Board of Film Censorship (BBFC) was used in response to counter some of the fears that went with video nasties. Only in 1985 did the government designate authority to the BBFC to apply age ratings to home videos. This was in an attempt to flag the severity of the content in films like Evil Dead and Driller Killer.

Conclusion:

Film censorship is motivated by fears towards audiences and technologies, although there are other contributing factors. These include things like influence from the government. When we relate this to todays society, it can be seen as a repeat of some of the same issues. Through technological advancements and worldwide implementation of the internet, people can access a much wider and more graphic range of films. At the same time it can be argued that we have become desensitised over time and no longer see the video nasties from the 1980s as unsuitable for us. Whether it is seen as morally right for these films to be viewed, it is apparent that they have helped Hollywood in shaping the horror genre. It has been only beneficial to the directors who have moved on to created films with a much larger budget. Such as:  Wes Craven director of the Scream series and The Hills Have Eyes, and Sam Raimi - director of Spiderman.