18 certificate
Encyclopedia
British Board of Film Classification
The British Board of Film Classification , originally British Board of Film Censors, is a non-governmental organisation, funded by the film industry and responsible for the national classification of films within the United Kingdom...
(BBFC) to state that, in its opinion, a film, video recording, or game should not be seen or purchased by a person under 18 years old.
As with other British film certificates, the 18 certificate theoretically only has advisory power for films shown in public cinemas, with the ultimate say being held by local authorities. In practice, the local authorities tend to follow BBFC rulings in all but a few exceptional cases.
For video and game sales, the BBFC rulings have statutory power, as under the terms of the 1984 Video Recordings Act
Video Recordings Act 1984
The Video Recordings Act 1984 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that was passed in 1984. It states that commercial video recordings offered for sale or for hire within the UK must carry a classification that has been agreed upon by an authority designated by the Home Office...
all videos sold or distributed within the UK must either be given a certificate by the BBFC, unless they fall into a number of exempt categories. Uncertificated recordings which are not exempt cannot legally be sold, regardless of content.
The 18 certificate was created in 1982 as the successor of the previous X certificate, which in turn was the successor of the H certificate (with H standing for "horror
Horror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
"). See History of British Film Certificates
History of British film certificates
-Overview:The UK's film ratings are decided by the British Board of Film Classification and have been since 1912. Previously, there were no agreed rating standards, and local councils imposed their own - often differing - conditions or restrictions...
for more details.
Typical reasons for restricting films to the 18 certificate category have included scenes of hard drug use, supernatural horror, explicit sex, sadistic violence and sexual violence — the last two of which have in the past led to a certificate not being issued at all, effectively banning the film in the UK.
It was only recently that the censors passed films with explicit ('hardcore') sexual acts despite the 18 certificate existing for many years.
It is also issued by the Irish Film Classification Office.
Sex and the 18 certificate
Until recently, 18 certificate films could not contain the depiction of actual sex acts. With the relaxation of restrictions on the depiction of sexual acts, the R18 certificateR18 certificate
The R18 certificate represents a film or video classification given by the British Board of Film Classification . It is intended to provide a classification for works that are within British obscenity laws, but exceed what the BBFC considers acceptable for its 18 certificate...
was created to allow the sale of these films in sex shop
Sex shop
A sex shop, erotic shop is a shop that sells products related to adult sexual or erotic entertainment, such as sex toys, lingerie, clothing, pornography, and other related products...
s. Although the BBFC allowed the depiction of simulated sex scenes in 18 certificate films, actual sexual acts were still not allowed to be depicted in 18 certificate films until recently.
This precedent appears to have been set when the BBFC granted 18 certificates for films containing short scenes of unsimulated sex, such as Catherine Breillat
Catherine Breillat
Catherine Breillat is a French filmmaker, novelist and Professor of Auteur Cinema at the European Graduate School.-Life and career:Breillat was born in Bressuire, Deux-Sèvres, but grew up in Niort...
's Romance
Romance (1999 film)
Romance is a 1999 French movie written and directed by Catherine Breillat. It stars Caroline Ducey, pornographic actor Rocco Siffredi, Sagamore Stévenin and François Berléand. The film features explicit copulation scenes, especially one showing Caroline Ducey's coitus with Rocco Siffredi...
(in 1999) and Patrice Chereau
Patrice Chéreau
Patrice Chéreau is a French opera and theatre director, filmmaker, actor, and producer.-Biography:Patrice Chéreau was born in Lézigné, Maine-et-Loire, and went to school in Paris. At a young age he became well-known to Parisian critics as director, actor, and stage manager of his high-school theatre...
's Intimacy (in 2001). In October 2004, a new precedent appeared to be set when the BBFC granted an 18 certificate for Michael Winterbottom
Michael Winterbottom
Michael Winterbottom is a prolific English filmmaker who has directed seventeen feature films in the past fifteen years. He began his career working in British television before moving into features...
's film 9 Songs, which featured a number of lengthy explicit scenes of unsimulated sex. This was followed by certificates for Shortbus
Shortbus
Shortbus is a 2006 comedy-drama film written and directed by John Cameron Mitchell. The plot revolves around a sexually diverse ensemble of colorful characters trying desperately to connect in New York City. The characters converge in a weekly Brooklyn artistic/sexual salon loosely inspired by...
and Destricted
Destricted
Destricted is an ongoing project of films that explore the line where art and pornography intersect. The UK and US film releases had overlapping but different film lineups...
. In the statement justifying the latter decision, it was stated that there is no limit of the quantity of images that can be considered to be justified.
In 2004 the board was also challenged by pornographic video distributors to award 18 certificates to material otherwise falling under the R18 guidelines. This could have greatly diminished the role of the R18 certificate, but failed. This means there continues to be a form of artistic merit test requiring the work to be judged non-pornographic and the scenes in question "exceptionally justified by context" for a mainstream release.
In their 2009 report (available on their website) the BBFC updated their standards stating that:
"When it comes to sex in films for adults,the Board’s policy is that explicit images of real sex should be confined to the ‘R18’ category, unless such images can be justified by their context. However, contextual justification is irrelevant if the primary purpose of the work is sexual arousal or stimulation (i.e. a sex work). Under the new Guidelines the contextual justification for explicit images of real sex at ‘18’ no longer needs to be ‘exceptional’."
The main difference between this new policy and previous years policies is that contextual justification for images of real sex no longer needs to be "exceptional" in a 18 rated work.
In their 2010 report (available on their website) the BBFC updated their standards again stating that:
"As in previous years, the Board’s policy remains that explicit images of real sex should be confined to the ‘R18’ category unless such images can be justified by their context. Contextual justification, however, has less weight if the primary purpose of the work is sexual arousal or stimulation (i.e. a sex work)."
The main difference between this new policy and previous years policies is that contextual justification for images of real sex is no longer irrelveant if the primary purpose of the
work is sexual arousal or stimulation, instead it merely reduces the amount of justification that context can provide.
In a sex work, any explicit and non-obscured sight of vaginal or anal penetration by any object whatsoever; any contact between the lips or tongue and genital/anal area; and ejaculation usually requires an R18. Any sight of a liquid resembling semen is also usually restricted to R18, even if the ejaculation is not visible: women licking sticky white liquid off a model of the World Cup and similar liquid splashing onto faces, breasts or being swallowed have all been censored from 18 certificate films. The R18 versions contained these images unaltered. Further reasons for R18 as opposed to 18 include vigorous and/or extensive genital touching (brief genital touching may be passed "18"), implied triple penetration, extreme close ups of spread female genitals or anuses (erections are now permissible at 18 however), and certain fetish material- especially urination and potentially dangerous sado-masochistic activities. However under the new 2010 guidelines explicit images of real sex can be passed 18 in a sex work provided there is exceptional justifying context.
Violence, horror, and the 18 certificate
In the past, violence was one of the most problematic aspects when passing a film with an 18 certificate, whether it is sexualised or fantasized violence. Horror films were often the culprits for depicting graphic violence and this often results in a lot of grief to the examiners. Therefore, they must remove the offending scenes before giving it a certificate. With the advent of videotape, this meant that any film that was cut in the cinemas could be released uncut on video. This had led to a moral panic concerning "video nastiesVideo nasty
"Video nasty" was a colloquial term coined in the United Kingdom by 1982 which originally applied to a number of films distributed on video cassette that were criticized for their violent content by the press, commentators such as Mary Whitehouse and various religious organizations.While violence...
" as coined by tabloid newspapers. The Government passed the Video Recordings Act 1984
Video Recordings Act 1984
The Video Recordings Act 1984 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that was passed in 1984. It states that commercial video recordings offered for sale or for hire within the UK must carry a classification that has been agreed upon by an authority designated by the Home Office...
which meant all videos offered for sale must be assigned a classification agreed upon by an authority designated by the Home Office (the BBFC in this case). As a result of this, many films previously cut for cinema (such as The Evil Dead
The Evil Dead
The Evil Dead is a 1981 horror film written and directed by Sam Raimi, starring Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, and Betsy Baker. The film is a story of five college students vacationing in an isolated cabin in a wooded area...
and Dawn of the Dead) had to be cut further in order to get a legal release.
In recent times, the BBFC have been more lenient towards fantasized violence, and so the above-mentioned films have since passed uncut. Current concerns include content such as "any detailed portrayal of violent or dangerous acts which is likely to promote the activity", and sexualised violence. The BBFC also takes into account whether the scenes are considered to glamourise sexual assault. In 2002, the board passed Gaspar Noé
Gaspar Noé
Gaspar Noé is an Argentine filmmaker and the son of Argentine painter and intellectual Luis Felipe Noé. He graduated from Louis Lumière College and is the visiting professor of film at the European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland...
's Irréversible
Irréversible
Irréversible is a 2002 French drama film written and directed by Gaspar Noé, starring Monica Bellucci, Vincent Cassel and Albert Dupontel. The film employs a non-linear narrative and follows two men as they try to avenge a brutally raped girlfriend...
without any cuts. This is because they state that the rape depicted in the film does not contain any explicit sexual images and is not designed to titillate at all. Less than a month later, Takashi Miike
Takashi Miike
is a highly prolific and controversial Japanese filmmaker. He has directed over seventy theatrical, video, and television productions since his debut in 1991. In the years 2001 and 2002 alone, Miike is credited with directing fifteen productions...
's Ichi the Killer
Ichi the Killer
is a 2001 Japanese film directed by Takashi Miike, based on Hideo Yamamoto's manga series of the same name.- Plot : While alone with a prostitute, crime lord Anjo is brutally murdered...
had to be cut by 3.25 minutes due to sexual violence. In this case, it featured scenes of explicit sexual images and is designed to titillate the viewer. Another example is the former video nasty, Cannibal Holocaust
Cannibal Holocaust
Cannibal Holocaust is a 1980 Italian horror film directed by Ruggero Deodato from a screenplay by Gianfranco Clerici. Filmed in the Amazon Rainforest and dealing with indigenous tribes, it was cast mostly with United States actors and filmed in English to achieve wider distribution...
. It had to be cut by 5.44 minutes due to scenes of sexual violence and animal cruelty.
References or scenes of suicide, which can be easily imitated by youth, can lead to a DVD being given an 18 certificate due to that potential. For example: Volume 3 of the anime Paranoia Agent
Paranoia Agent
is a Japanese anime television series created by director Satoshi Kon and produced by Madhouse about a social phenomenon in Musashino, Tokyo caused by a juvenile serial assailant named Lil' Slugger...
is rated 18 because of suicide references and violence, mostly in the episode "Happy Family Planning", which had comic talk of suicide and a scene of a comic hanging (cut by the BBFC). The other volumes were rated 12 and 15.
The Jackass films were also passed 18 due to fear of imitation.
See also
- X certificate
- R18 certificateR18 certificateThe R18 certificate represents a film or video classification given by the British Board of Film Classification . It is intended to provide a classification for works that are within British obscenity laws, but exceed what the BBFC considers acceptable for its 18 certificate...
- Obscene Publications ActObscene Publications ActSince 1857, a series of obscenity laws known as the Obscene Publications Acts have governed what can be published in England and Wales. The classic definition of criminal obscenity is if it "tends to deprave and corrupt," stated in 1868 by John Duke Coleridge, 1st Baron Coleridge.There have been...
- Motion picture rating systemMotion picture rating systemA motion picture rating system is designated to classify films with regard to suitability for audiences in terms of issues such as sex, violence, substance abuse, profanity, impudence or other types of mature content...