Introduction of the digital distribution in the UK and the extended audience choices...

Digital Distribution: Social

Grades

Mock Essay

"Film censorship is motivated by fears about audiences and technologies." Discuss this statement in reference to the concerns expressed about uncensored and unregulated video content in Britain in the early 1980s.

When it comes to film censorship it's difficult as many people have different views on whether films should have censorship or not. When you look at critic reviews, directors reviews and studio reviews they all have different ideas and views on whether censorship be on or not and this is the same for the audiences. For example, we studied the film The Human Centipede, we discussed with our classmates that maybe they should use some censorship on this movie as there are some gory and un-human scenes. However, we have the choice on whether we want to watch this sort of film or not. These films usually have an age rating on and they would be things such as PG, 15 or 18. However, when we go back to the 1980s there are films such as 'I Spit on your Grave' and 'Evil Dead' all banned and put under 'video nasties'. At the time of the release of these movies there was things such as VCR, this meant that people who were under the age were able to watch these movies through piracy. They were able to record the banned films via TV etc and watch them whenever they want. Also there was VHs and Beetamax too, these were a fashionable thing to have. People liked VHS more because it was affordable and then Beetamax was more expensive and of higher quality. Beetamax is an old school entertainment device, invented in the 1970s, it's a loud video cassette that was later replaced by VHS.

Referring back to the video nasties and how they came about in the 1980s was when all the horrors film were banned. This also relates back to piracy and the unregulated films. A lot of the multiplexes began to get annoyed with the pirating and how they are copying their movies. Especially seeing as they are so expensive to distribute. The multiplexes and cineplexes were in trouble when it came to piracy, they began to lose their cinema attendance and the money that comes along with it. Also, children were then able tow watch films that aren't censor-shipped as they are unregulated films and you can watch them when you please. They can watch the horror movies that had been classed under 'video nasties' because of the pirating. This could therefore influence the children/teenagers whom watch them - corrupting society via violent, gory and terrorist films. Video nasties are also popular because its controversial and extreme, and people can become intrigued by them and teenagers are the main target audience of these movies, even when the regulation of the film is high. These sort of horror movies back in the 1980s were easy and cheap to make, they all had very basic stories and had virgin teenagers and no star's involved, therefore the budget was cheap. With having these teenagers involved it then meant that the teenagers were the target audience, it'd thrill them too because it was gory and involved a sex or rape scene. Reinforcing how the teenagers could be influenced by these movies!

Furthermore, at the time when the 'video nasties' were named and grouped, there was several political issues that were around. One example is Margaret Thatcher and how she was the first woman president in the UK. Thatcher was a conservative and with her being so, she was one to think about the people who had money and were rich, rather than some of the poorer civilians. Seeing as she mostly cared about money, she didn't exactly want to spend fortunes on the 3D movies and she didn't want any form of horror movies, she wanted them stripped back and original. The government at the time of the 1980s took control and wanted to know they had control, and wanted to control what you watched, what you played, Christian Beliefs, Marriages, gays, you could say they were like the Nazi's. With the conservatives just thinking about the money, it was a difficult period for the cineplexes because they didn't have a lot of money and some began to be shut down because they didn't bring enough money in. Also another MP that caused a lot of hassle for the film world was Mary Whitehouse, she wanted to ban movies completely from the BBC because it wasn't what she wanted people to see, and she was being selfish because she didn't want to see it herself. She didn't want to watch the blood and gore, but you don't have to watch it, do you? In addition, she said that: "Britain is broken because of the video nasties." However, video nasties were exploited by the government. During the 1980s, the dawn of the home video was approaching and it was becoming more and more popular as the years grew by. By the 1990s it was the most fashionable device to use, if ever there was a film on TV you could simply tape it on your VCR and watch it whenever you want. This was all great for the people at home, however, not so much for the cineplexes. The cinema attendance began to drop dramatically and caused even more cineplexes to go down and it also meant that the age regulations don't mean a thing at home. This meant that children and teenagers were able to watch films that had age regulations of around 15-18, some that named and banned under the 'video nasties.' This was worrying for the government as they didn't know how this would influence the younger generations! To conclude, in the 1980s there was definitely a lot of fear revolving around the cineplexes, typically because the way in which young teenagers and children could be influenced by these types of horror films and how they may or may not have cause them to try something from those films. Another fear would be whether the cineplexes would be taking in enough money to keep going, whilst Margaret Thatcher and Mary Whitehouse were around with the different views on the 'video nasties' and how they didn't want some films shown on TV and in the cineplexes. This was potentially the biggest threat to the cineplexes and meant that they could have shut down by the dramatic fall in cinema attendances. The same age regulations apply to films to this day, films such as Human Centipede is a film that makes audiences side on whether it should be shown or not. There is also still a fear that young teenagers who are under the age consent are watching these films online on pirated sites, such as megaupload, many government members to this day fear what some teenagers may do, but that's just stereotypical. I reckon that we are de-sensitized by these horror films now, simply because the 1980s Horror films were so low budget and sometimes shocking. Especially when we watch the new, remakes that are mainstream and we go back to the 1980s, it's nothing. We have become so familiar with these types of films that yes, we have been de-sensitized by them.

I don't think that films should be censortised as such, it's your choice as to whether you want to see that movie, you tend to make up your decision by watching the trailer or reading reviews. With the mainstream remakes, the directors of the 1980s are now critically appreciated by many and they are getting more praise now to what they used to get. Overall, the film censorship is definitely motivated by fears, because the more the audience don't like it and find it gory, the more gory the film directors would make them. They'll then draw you in with special effects nowadays and try to intrigue you with the special effects and the horrific stories.