Lately, I have started paying more and more attention to films that some people find inappropriate. I am not seeking these films out in particular because they are extreme but because I’ve been dealing with censorship issues. Each and every time I hear or read about how a small group of people feels they have the right to say what movie goers should be allowed to watch I get annoyed. In January at Sundance an audience member raised a ruckus by demanding that Lucky Mckee’s The Woman (Fangoria News Story) should be burned and banned. Back in March of this year the Sitges Festival Director was charged with child pornography for having the festival screen A Serbian Film (BD Horror News Story). In April, I (Dark Bridges Film Festival) had set up a double screening of Dead Hooker in a Trunk and The Taint. We had people complain to the theatre which we were screening with that the poster for The Taint was offensive so we initially changed it to not include the part from the actual movie poster. They continued to complain and wanted the theatre to cancel the screening because the movie was promotes violence against women. People also complained that the title for Dead Hooker in a Trunk was offensive. No one who complained seemed to really know what the movies were about they just felt that they were offensive and should not be shown. The manager of the chain eventually cancelled our booking and Dark Bridges has moved to a new venue. The screenings eventually happened without any real complaints and those attending had a good time.
Now, news has just come out that the British Board Of Film Classification has effectively banned Tom Six’s sequel The Human Centipede: Full Sequence. I may not be the biggest fan of film classification boards to start off but I do see some value in them. I am a firm believer in providing the audience with as much knowledge as possible about a film. I do not like the G, PG, PG-13, 18A and R ratings that the Canadian boards use but I completely appreciate the need for someone to watch movies and provide a listing of what is contained within a film. These listings should be provided to prospective viewers and then it should be up to them (as long as they are an adult) whether the film is something they wish to view. The only exceptions for me are films that have been made in some illegal way. This could be anything from using child actors in inappropriate ways to a film containing actual violence or being made with coercion.
What really bothers me about the following quote is that film classification boards feel the need to make a call on whether a film is “tasteless” or “disgusting”. This should not be part of their circle of influence. They should be limited to nonjudgmental decisions. By calling a film “tasteless” and “disgusting” they are applying their own personal biases to their decision when it comes to rating the film. This for me is wrong. This whole discussion for me is not based off whether I want to watch the film. That decision is my own and should be influenced by what I read and hear about it. My plea to every film classification board is to simply keep me informed and let me make the decision.
Below is the rather graphic intent and basic synopsis of Human Centipede II which got the dander of the British Board Of Film Classification up:
“The first film dealt with a mad doctor who sews together three kidnapped people in order to produce the ‘human centipede’ of the title. Although the concept of the film was undoubtedly tasteless and disgusting it was a relatively traditional and conventional horror film and the Board concluded that it was not in breach of our Guidelines at ’18′. This new work, The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence), tells the story of a man who becomes sexually obsessed with a DVD recording of the first film and who imagines putting the ‘centipede’ idea into practice. Unlike the first film, the sequel presents graphic images of sexual violence, forced defecation, and mutilation, and the viewer is invited to witness events from the perspective of the protagonist. Whereas in the first film the ‘centipede’ idea is presented as a revolting medical experiment, with the focus on whether the victims will be able to escape, this sequel presents the ‘centipede’ idea as the object of the protagonist’s depraved sexual fantasy.
The principal focus of The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence) is the sexual arousal of the central character at both the idea and the spectacle of the total degradation, humiliation, mutilation, torture, and murder of his naked victims. Examples of this include a scene early in the film in which he masturbates whilst he watches a DVD of the original Human Centipede film, with sandpaper wrapped around his penis, and a sequence later in the film in which he becomes aroused at the sight of the members of the ‘centipede’ being forced to defecate into one another’s mouths, culminating in sight of the man wrapping barbed wire around his penis and raping the woman at the rear of the ‘centipede’. There is little attempt to portray any of the victims in the film as anything other than objects to be brutalised, degraded and mutilated for the amusement and arousal of the central character, as well as for the pleasure of the audience. There is a strong focus throughout on the link between sexual arousal and sexual violence and a clear association between pain, perversity and sexual pleasure. It is the Board’s conclusion that the explicit presentation of the central character’s obsessive sexually violent fantasies is in breach of its Classification Guidelines and poses a real, as opposed to a fanciful, risk that harm is likely to be caused to potential viewers.
David Cooke, Director of the BBFC said: “It is the Board’s carefully considered view that to issue a certificate to this work, even if confined to adults, would be inconsistent with the Board’s Guidelines, would risk potential harm within the terms of the VRA, and would be unacceptable to the public.
“The Board also seeks to avoid classifying material that may be in breach of the Obscene Publications Acts 1959 and 1964 (OPA) or any other relevant legislation. The OPA prohibits the publication of works that have a tendency to deprave or corrupt a significant proportion of those likely to see them. In order to avoid classifying potentially obscene material, the Board engages in regular discussions with the relevant enforcement agencies, including the CPS, the police, and the Ministry of Justice. It is the Board’s view that there is a genuine risk that this video work, The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence), may be considered obscene within the terms of the OPA, for the reasons given above.”
Source (Twitch via Empire)
