BBFC Age rating, Right or Wrong?

What is the BBFC?
The BBFC, or the British board of film classification, is the company that decides what age rating, any film or TV show, is given.
Their goal is to be 'helping children and families choose well by providing them with the guidance they need to help them choose what’s right for them and avoid what’s not.' 


For more information, they talk about it on their BBFC website and their main staff.




This is England - 18+ 

This is England, a classic Warp film, directed by the auteur director Shane Meadows, received an 18+ age rating from the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification). This upset Meadows as not only could the main protagonist not see the film because he was under age, but because the movie was for a primary audience at the ages of 15 - 17, completely killing the message and the preferred reading when the film was released. 

An Image of the reasoning stated on the BBFC website as to why This is England received an 18+ 

This caused a massive outrage from several parties, to the point that even The Guardian added their part to the argument. 

The Guardian article about the argument

On one hand it absolutely kills the target audience of the film, stopping the message it has, get to the people the message was meant for. The film is a film about TEENS trying to find their way and end up going down a dark road, but just like Shaun, people can change the way their heading, and it doesn't matter how far you are down a road. 
So, when that audience is taken away, the reading changes and an audience 18+ will, most likely, be unable to access the preferred reading of the film. 

In an interview with Meadows, he stated this: 
"It's like I've somehow overachieved. By having one piece of violence and one piece of really acute verbal violence I've managed to get an 18 certificate, whereas someone else can slay thousands of people in a single film and that's OK. To be honest I don't understand it because, yes, the film is affecting but I think it's something that someone of 15 can cope with. It's not like it's a film about the 80s that has no value; it's incredibly relevant politically. It's as much about Iraq as it is about the Falklands. It's as much as about England in 2007 as it is about England in 1983."1

This helps show just how important an age rating is, towards a piece of film. It also illustrates how important it is to appeal to a primary audience and, in this scenario, a secondary audience. I think this is a great example to keep in mind in our film opening, as a reminder to keep to the guidelines of the age rating for our primary audience.   


 1Meadows, S (April, 2007 ) At The Guardian, available from https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2007/apr/23/an18forthisisenglandthis (13/12/2019)  


Sweet Sixteen - 18+ 

On the other hand, it can be argued that the BBFC are just following guidelines they have followed.
Further on in the reasoning the BBFC provided as to why This is England received the rating, they state another example

The last line of the explanation of the This is England BBFC explanation 

Sweet Sixteen is a 2002 drama film directed by Ken Loach. Set in Scotland, the film tells the story of a teenage boy from a troubled background, Liam, who dreams of starting afresh with his mother as soon as she has completed her prison term. Liam's attempts to raise money for the two of them are set against the backdrop of the Inverclyde towns of Greenock, Port Glasgow and the coast at Gourock.

The film is often shown with subtitles because, as with many of Loach's films, the dialogue is extensively in a local dialect, in this case the Inverclyde variant of Glaswegian (itself a mix of Scottish English and Scots with Irish and Highland influences). 

Credits to Wikipedia - Sweet Sixteen ( Planning to be updated at a later point) 

In the explanation the BBFC provided about the decision of Sweet Sixteen 's age rating, they provide a very clear reason as to why it was given and equally, if they follow the same guidelines, for This is England.

BBFC's age rating choice for Sweet Sixteen


Now if the BBFC use these guidelines for all films shown in Britain, then it's understandable that This is England got the rating it did, as not only was the language similar to that above, but then it also uses several racial slurs, and it's reasonable for them not to encourage this type of language.

The Worlds End - 15+ 

Goes the other way, even though strong langauge is used :
https://bbfc.co.uk/releases/worlds-end-film
(Going to be Updated later on)