Importance of Censor Board
When classifying a film many aspects have to be put into consideration. The use of violence, sex and bad language can change the certification dramatically. British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) is a private body, which has considerable power over the showing of films. The BBFC has developed a system of certification for films that provides guidance on the public acceptability of the film. Distributors pay a certification fee, and the Director of Public Prosecutions will not prosecute films that have been granted certificates. The Video Recordings Act 1984 gives the BBFC statutory recognition as the regulator of licensing of videos charged with monitoring material that is “suitable for home viewing”.
As the BBFC, we have the Indian Censorship Board. The Censor Board in India is trying to protect it’s viewers from viewing things that may disturb us, even though violence, hatred and usage of bad language goes on all around us everyday. Censorship bodies have written the rules about what is prohibited in films, and these have been subject to change over time, depending partly on the expressed concern of the public, but mainly on what the government and the main viewers of the country want. In more recent times, such censorship bodies have surrendered to their power, particularly in the United States and to a great extent in India, where censorship has returned to the local level, and the central body only classifies films with respect to their content as suitable for various age groups.
Letting the public watch films which have violent content can be blamed to an extent on the film industry towards contributing in the rise in crime in India. There has been a large amount of research in trying to identify the effects of media on the public, especially in relation the effects of media on the public, especially in relation to violence. Hollywood films are now classified “U” when considered suitable for the whole population, “PG (Parental Guidance) when they contain scenes that may be unsuitable for young children, “12” as suitable for children over the age of 12, “15” when suitable for people over 15 years, and “18” when suitable for people over 18 years and this trend is quickly catching up in India too.
Finally the question is would it disturb you? If the answer to that is yes, then maybe that film is not for you. If you don’t like horror films and get scared, why watch them? The age guidelines should not tell you if you are or are not allowed to watch the film, it should be your choice, and if you are considering watching an 18 film, at that age you should be old enough to make the decision by yourself. The age boundaries shouldn’t stop the public from watching the film; it should just be a warning to the viewer that they are about to watch a film, which more than likely will contain scenes of violence and/or bad language, it is then up to them if they want to view such material. After all if there is a glass of wine, it is one’s choice to drink it or not to.
