''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
The 4 contextual points that show these fears are economic, social, political and technological. Economically, the BBFC started to issue age classifications to objectionable content on home video releases, which meant that they could control the content people watched whilst also making money off people buying these home releases. Socially, film censorship was evident in the video nasties which were refused a classification by the BBFC so they could not be viewed in cinemas or legal home video. These video nasties attracted attention because more people wanted to see why they were banned and they turned into a social event for people. Politically, the conservative government feared that people watching objectionable content in horror films and video nasties would inspire copycat behaviour from society to re-enact these films, which would raise the crime rate of the country. Technologically, the format wars between VHS and Betamax were ongoing. VHS won the format wars between the two video tape players because VHS was easier for people to pirate films and video nasties onto thus showing why film censorship had a role to play in the format wars.
In the early 1980's people were less interested in going to the cinema and instead it was more popular for people to stay at home and watch films on VHS or Betamax. This turned into a social event, with people inviting their friends over to watch films at their homes. The emergence of film censorship and regulated video content meant that some films were deemed too horrific, obscene or violent to be shown to the public by the BBFC, under the conservative government. Films that were refused a rating, which meant they could not be publicly released were placed on the 'video nasties' list with films like 'Driller Killer' and 'Cannibal Holocaust'. However criminals simply copied bootleg copies of the films from other countries and distributed them illegally to people wanting to watch them. This boosted the social aspect of staying at home and watching a film with friends because these films has gained notoriety and interest from being banned which is the exact opposite effect that the government wanted these films to have. This social context justifies that film censorship is highly motivated by fears about audiences and technologies because the new technological advancement of video tape players and recorders changed the way how people watch films entirely and film censorship is how they tried to stop this change.
These video nasties and other banned films were the end product of the countries moral panic caused by the conservative government led by Margaret Thatcher. The conservative government believed that content in films reflected on society and that very violent and obscene horror films could inspire similar or copycat behaviours in young people. To fight this, the National viewers and listeners association formed to protest against objectionable films, they protested and applied pressure on the BBFC to ban or censor films. The BBFC eventually did listen and they formed the video nasties list, where certain films were banned outright. This is a political context which justifies how film censorship is heavily motivated by fears about audiences, the conservative government felt that by allowing public access to these films content, it would incite violence into people and desensitise people. They also feared that the crime rate would go up in the country so they could have used the video nasties as a scapegoat for the increase in crime or violence.
Expanding on the moral panic surrounding these films, the government and the video tape industry suffered from the moral panic economically ,the National Viewers and Listeners Association protested against violent films and wanted the government, specifically the BBFC to regulate video content on home video. Eventually the BBFC regulated the content via age restrictions that they were already using in cinemas but now they were also using these certificates in home video releases. This restricted children or young teenagers from buying horror film tapes. This limited the sales of their tapes and people chose to buy pirate copies from criminals who didn't care how old you were. This combined with the accessibility of piracy on VHS meant that the video tape industry lost money. This links back to a economical context, because their fear is justified here because they lost money due to film censorship in that it reduced their buyers market.
Finally, the BBFC acted as a censor and regulator for the film and decided to ban films that formed the video nasties list. It also regulated what age group could watch a film via its classification system. Specifically, it was illegal to distribute or sell a video nasty in a shop. They could only be pirated in order to see them. Social demand was for people to watch these video nasties to see why they were banned. It was considered fashionable or popular to watch them and own them. This links to a technological and economic context with the format wars between VHS and Betamax which VHS won. VHS was easier for criminals to copy films, which meant people needed to watch pirate films and video nasties on VHS's. VHS was more popular. This links to film censorship and fears surrounding it because essentially, film censorship was made to fight piracy.
In conclusion, I think that film censorship was highly motivated by fears about audiences and technology. The conservative government and National Viewers and Listeners Association were worried about a moral panic in England whilst cinemas and film distributors found it hard to sell their regulated content tapes whilst piracy grew in popularity. Ultimately, the attempt to stop people being exposed to obscene content failed because by making a list of films that no one should watch, they inevitably attracted attention for people who wanted to see them. Ironically, the video nasties were probably more popular than they would have ever been if they were not on the video nasties list. Also, directors of video nasties like Wes Craven and Sam Raimi went to direct mainstream horror films so being on the video nasties list helped their career. For cinemas and film distributors, there is little they can do to stop piracy, with film classification being necessary in terms of content. There is always going to be piracy. However, censoring and banning content is ineffective in the long term as the video nasties have shown.
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