The British Board of Film Classification was very busy. Last year, the group changed the ratings of more than 30 old films to adapt them to current standards. In February, it gave a stricter rating to Mary Poppins due to racist insults.
And last week it began using an updated set of guidelines after surveying thousands of British viewers to gauge changing public attitudes.
Based on that survey, the new guidelines acknowledge that audiences have become more forgiving of depictions of cannabis use but are more concerned about intense violence and, for younger viewers, insulting words. .
“We follow what people tell us and update our standards as society’s attitudes change,” said David Austin, executive director of the Board.
Dick Van Dyke and Julie Andrews in the film that changed its rating “due to racist insults.”
When distributors re-release films in theaters, on streaming services, or on DVD, they may be required to resubmit them to the Classification Board. Many voluntarily choose to do so, according to Austin, in hopes of receiving a lower rating or to ensure that the rating matches the content. What was once considered acceptable on screen may no longer be.
Under the new guidelines, both the film Transformers of 2018, Bumblebeelike the 1963 James Bond classic, From Russia with lovethey would be rated 12A (for ages 12 and up) rather than PG (Parental Guidance: Adult Companion Recommended) if they were resubmitted for updated rating.
Hailee Steinfeld as Charlie and Bumblebee. If the film were rerated today, it would jump from “ATP Parent’s Guide” to PG-12.
The ratings for theatrical releases in Britain are U, for universal; PG, for parental guidance; 12A, 15 and 18, for certain age restrictions; and R18, for pornographic content.
A distributor is legally obliged to apply for a new classification when it re-releases a film that was classified before the introduction of modern classifications in 1982. The BBFC stated that approximately half of the theatrical releases it classified in the last two years were mandatory.
Examples
Rockywhich was released in the United States in 1976 and in Britain the following year, was rated 12A upon its theatrical re-release in 2020 for containing mild violence, strong language, and domestic abuse.
Stallone in “Rocky.” When it was re-released in 2020, it was rated higher in Britain.
Dragon operationa 1973 film starring Bruce Lee, went from an outdated X rating to a 15 as attitudes toward weapons and violence depicted in martial arts films evolved.
Although older films are periodically reclassified in Britain, similar changes rarely occur in the United States, where studios do not have to submit their films for reclassification, even if they were rated before 1984, the year it was introduced. PG-13 category (for ages 13 and up).
The American ratings group, Ratings and Indexes Administration, does not have a systematic process for updating the guidelines for its ratings (G, PG, PG-13, R and NC-17). He gave an example of a film that was re-rated: in 2010, a sung version of grease was rated PG-13, instead of its 1978 original PG.
Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker in “The Empire Strikes Back.” The scene of his hand being cut made me change the rating now.
The group is a division of the Motion Picture Association, a trade organization representing major Hollywood studios. Its board is made up of parents with school-age children, according to a CARA (Ratings and Indexes Administration) spokesperson.
CARA periodically surveys American parents to gauge their attitudes toward violence, nudity and other movie content, and the directory uses that data to rate movies, according to an MPA (Motion Picture Association) spokesperson.
Results from the most recent survey, released in April 2023, show that parents are most concerned about graphic sexual content, nudity, sexual assault, suicide, hard drug use, and racial slurs in movies than children could see.
“Mistreatment of people or cultures”, the reason why Dumbo now has “warnings” before its screening or broadcast.
U.S. movie studios prefer to self-regulate their movies, says Kevin Sandler, an associate professor in the film and media studies program at Arizona State University and author of a book on the classification of Hollywood movies.
“When there is some kind of controversy and it comes to a head, they change it,” Sandler says.
Last year, viewers of Contact in France on Apple TV+ and Amazon realized that a scene with a racial slur for black people had been quietly removed. On Disney’s streaming platform, the company added warnings about “negative depictions” and “mistreatment of people or cultures” to classic animated films such as Dumbo and Peter Pan.
“For Fantastic Violence” they raised the rating of “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.”
The British Board of Film Classification, made up of businessmen, former journalists, a former legislator and a social worker, is non-governmental and not-for-profit, according to its website. But the government designates the board’s leadership with the power to classify video releases.
Their ratings can have a significant effect on which films British parents allow their children to see, said Julian Petley, a professor at Brunel University in London and a senior editor at The Journal of British Cinema and Television.
“They have a massive public consultation process,” Petley said. “They don’t just guess what people think or read newspapers.”
In recent years, the board reconsidered The prince of rabbits (1978), which was rated from U to PG for mild violence, gory images and language, and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), which went from PG to 12A for its fantastic violence. The Empire Strikes Back (1980), originally rated U, received a PG rating for several violent scenes, including one in which Luke Skywalker’s hand is cut off.
The New York Times and Clarion
Translation: Patricia Sar
