BBFC Judgement on Victim, Brokeback Mountain and Pride

1. Past vs the Present
Film case studies

2. Case study of changing attitudes:
Homosexuality in film
Victim 1961
1. How was the film classified when released? What were the reasons
given?
2. Has this classification changed? If so how often and why?
3. What were social attitudes at the time? Is there evidence of this in the
trailer? Did these affect the classification? Did the film affect social
attitudes?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPXjIySzzC8

3. Case study of changing attitudes:
Homosexuality in film
• Victim (1961)
• http://www.bbfc.co.uk/bbfc-podcast-episode-55-
victim-1961
• Make notes on:
– How was the film classified when released?
What were the reasons given?
– What were social attitudes at the time?
– Did the film affect social attitudes?
– Has this classification changed? If so how often and
why?

4. How was the film classified when released?
What were the reasons given?
What were social attitudes at the time?
Did the film affect social attitudes? Has this classification changed? If so how
often and why?

5. Social attitudes
What were social attitudes at the
time?
• Homosexual Acts illegal
under British Law
• Some felt (in society and
BBFC) that homosexuality is
wrong!
• Social opinion doesn’t
necessarily match the law
Did the film affect social
attitudes?
• The film received lots of
praise
• Was successful in UK as well
as rest of Europe
• Showed there was an
audience for the film
• A key film for LGBT issues
still relevant today

6. How was the film classified when
released?
• One of the key reasons was the themes of violence
• BBFC had to balance public opinion, but also adhere to the law
• Writers worked with the BBFC as early on as the writing stage:
“Number of homosexual characters should be reduced, there are far
too many as it is”
“There are few characters in the film that represent normality in sex.
You’ve conveyed the impression quite unwittingly that the world is
largely peopled with queers”
Request to remove “Queer” written on garage however it made the
final film
“There’s a moment of choice for every adolescent boy” was removed
X Certificate – 16 and over

7. Has this classification changed? If so
how often and why?
Was no rating between 15 and PG
Mild references, no visuals of sexual
activity,

8. Case study of changing attitudes:
Homosexuality
Brokeback Mountain
2005
1. How was the film classified when released?
What were the reasons given?
2. Has this classification changed now ?If so why?
3. What were social attitudes at the time? Is there evidence of this in the trailer? Did
these affect the classification? Did the film affect social attitudes?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDz1fmeyHIA

10. How was the film classified when released?
What were the reasons given?
• The film follows the relationship between two
ranch hands who fall in love whilst watching
sheep in the Wyoming Mountains.
• It was submitted for UK classification in the
autumn 2005 with a 15 request.
• The key issues for classification were some
moderate to strong sex scenes, strong
language, brief violence and descriptions of
violence and nudity.

11. • The film was classified a 15 because it contained
‘frequent strong language’ that could not fall
below this category
• In terms of violence, there were two scenes that
were particularly strong. However neither scene
exceeded the 15 guidelines, which allow for
‘strong violence’.
• The sex scenes were carefully considered by the
BBFC – the strongest sex scene being one
between Ennis (played by Heath Ledger) and his
wife.
• Details such as movement and the length of the
scene meant it could not have been contained at
12A where sexual activity may only be ‘implied’.

12. What were social attitudes at the
time?
• The BBFC has passed gay kissing and gay relationships at
all categories.
• The BBFC Guidelines treat heterosexual activity and
homosexuality equally, just as the law in the UK demands,
stating:
“The portrayal of human sexual activity can range from kissing
and references to ‘making love’ to detail of real sex. This is
reflected in the classification system, in which progressively
stronger portrayal is allowed as the categories rise.
The BBFC Guidelines apply the same standards to homosexual
as to heterosexual activity. It would be illegal under
the Human Rights Act 1998 for the BBFC to discriminate
between depictions of heterosexual and homosexual
relationships.”

13. What were social attitudes at the
time?
• The BBFC received a single letter of complaint
from a cinema goer who was surprised at the
film’s 15 rating, as it contained ‘gay sex’ and
‘extreme language’.

14. Case study of changing attitudes:
Homosexuality
• Pride 2014
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsFY0wH
pR5o
1. How was the film classified when released?
What were the reasons given?
2. Has this classification changed now ?If so why?
3. What were social attitudes at the time? Is there evidence of this in the
trailer? Did these affect the classification? Did the film affect social
attitudes?

15. Pride (2014)
• PRIDE is a British comedy drama,
set in 1984, about a group of
London based lesbians and gay
men who travel to a small Welsh
village to support the striking
miners.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsFY0wH
pR5o

16. How was the film classified when released?
What were the reasons given?
LANGUAGE
• Occasional strong language ('f**k'), as well as a number of discriminatory
terms, including 'queer', 'poof' and 'dyke'. The use of these words as
insults is not condoned.
SEX
• Verbal and visual sex references include sight of men in a club wearing
'bondage' clothing, including one with a ball gag in his mouth, and a scene
in which women roar with laughter as they find a dildo and some porn
magazines in a bedroom. The images in the magazines include strong
sexualised nudity, but the images appear only briefly and in a very clearly
comic context.
• Further issues include some drug use, with one character occasionally
smoking joints. There is also very mild violence, including a clash between
miners and police with angry shoving and shouting, and a scene in which a
brick and lit fireworks are thrown through a shop window, but no one
inside is hurt.

17. Film regulation – the BBFC
Reflecting on the past…
1. Over the last 100 years, what laws have the
BBFC had to follow?
2. How have the BBFC’s classifications changed
over time? Give examples
Why do you think this has happened?
3. How have social events and/or attitudes
changed the BBFC? Give specific examples
4. What historic film examples on your timeline
might you use in the exam and why?
What do they illustrate about the BBFC’s classification system
and/or society?

18. BBFC :Changing approaches research task
Choose one of the following areas of representation
– Homosexuality
– Disability
– Violence
– Sex
– Drug use
Find 3 interesting case study films from the last 100 years which illustrate
changing attitudes to regulation in this area. Choose at least one film where
the certification has changed over time
– Film 1 = pre 1960
– Film 2 1960- 2010
– Film 3 since 2010 – the more recent the better!
For each film you need to give the date of release, the subject matter , some
background context , the certificate at the time.
Then explore the current classification and reasons for changes eg social,
political
Deadline: Wednesday 8th November
Powerpoint – 6 slide max.
Make it visual: images and/or video
links
Use the BBFC site and other sources
and put all sources on PP