Watchdog cracks down on rape scenes in films
THE film censorship watchdog is to crack down on rape scenes, amid fears they are damaging ‘childhood innocence’.
The British Board of Film Classification said attitudes to depictions of sexual violence have changed in recent years, and that audiences now want them dealt with more strictly.
Both adults and teenagers felt that sexual violence should have more restrictive age ratings, amid concerns over the ‘pornification’ of society.
From the end of next month, any film featuring sexual violence will be handed an age rating of at least 15, instead of 12 or 12A.
And the BBFC will hand out even tougher ratings – 18 and R18 – to films where the sexual violence is especially prolonged or graphic. It has decided to take action after a survey of 10,000 parents, teachers and teenagers found a growing concern over films that normalise sexual violence and make viewers feel vulnerable. According to the report, published yesterday, ‘sexualisation and sexual references were spontaneously mentioned [as] key issues, tapping into deeper concerns about the loss of childhood innocence and general “pornification” of society’.
Films that could be affected by the ruling include the 2008 Keira Knightley movie The Duchess. It was given a 12A rating, despite including a scene in which Miss Knightley’s character, the Duchess, was pinned down on a bed by her husband, played by Ralph Fiennes, with rape implied.
BBFC head of compliance Craig Lapper said there had been a ‘general shift’ in public attitudes to scenes ‘where sex and violence mix’, but that the Me Too movement had had ‘an intensifying effect’.
The BBFC also said that age classifications should apply to programmes on streaming services, in the same way as they do to films on DVDs and in cinemas. At present, Netflix and Amazon ask the BBFC to rate some of their content on a voluntary basis, but they have no legal requirement to do so.