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Censorship & Film

OCR A2 MEDIA STUDIES


learning outcomes

• Understanding the concerns regarding


violence by the BBFC

• Applying a violent scene to the BBFC


guidelines.

• Understanding arguments for and


against violence on film.
Last Lesson
Key Themes: Controversial issues, causes for concern
and motives for Censorship

• Violence
• graphic representation and realism
• audience effecting the audience
• Corrupt the young
• Controversy and the Press
• Sex and Nudity
• Sexual violence
• Religion
• Class
• Language
• Shock
Violence
• What concerns might the BBFC have
about on-screen violence?
Violence – major concern for the BBFC

• possible relationship between violence


on screen and violence in the real
world.

• In making decisions BBFC concerns


are.

• Portrayal of violence as a normal


situation to problems
Violence – major concern for the BBFC

• Heroes who inflict pain and injury

• Callousness towards victims

• Encouraging aggressive attitudes

• Taking pleasure in pain humiliation


Daily Mail – Article.
‘Casino Royale’

• Lesson Recap

• This film was cut in order to achieve a


12A rating.
Casino Royale
• Apply the scene shown or any other
scene within the film to the themes
given under the 12A rating.

• Do they fit within the 12A or would you


put them in a different rating?

• Stairwell Fight Scene


There are some assumptions here, underpinning a
decision to cut a film for a 12A rating.

• There is a line that can be drawn in a


representation of fictional violence beyond which
it is possible to describe it as ‘excessive’

• This portrayal of violence may in some way be


harmful or damaging to some viewers.

• Both of these assumptions are problematic.

• Why?
• Interpretation – some audiences will
have different thresholds.
‘Moral Panics’

• A large scale response amongst the general


public (often generated or intensified within
the mass media’ that sees a particular group
or behaviour pattern as threatening to
traditional values).

• Example – Hoodies

• Actual crime rates!


‘Deviance Amplification’

• This theory suggests that the intensity


of the media spotlight magnifies the
true extent of any anti-social behaviour.

• Example - recent gun crime in London,


Birmingham.
Group task
• “There is a relationship between violence on
screen and violence in the real world”

• In 2 groups prepare arguments for and


against this statement:

• Come up with at least 5 points, each member


of the group must present one of the points
you have come up with.
Conclusion.
• The BBFC are concerned about on-screen violence
influencing real life violence.

• We have argued possible reasons for and against.

• The BBFC set a guideline for certain ages which can


be argued is generalising audiences rather then
treating them as individuals.

• Understanding how BBFC guidelines work in


relation to ‘Casino Royale’
Next lesson

• Investigating films which have caused


controversy

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