CENSORSHIP

British TV censors have given Australian tourism a big boost by banning their ads. The promotional advertising campaign, which features Australian scenery and the words 'Where the bloody hell are you?', has been deemed too offensive by censors. An Australian government minister branded the move comical, and insisted that tourist leaders were delighted with the publicity caused by the ban. They believe the ban will prompt large numbers to go on the internet and have a look for themselves.

Fran Bailey, Australia's tourism minister, said that the decision, taken by Britain’s Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre, meant the offending phrase would not be shown on British television. But it can still appear in cinemas, print advertisements and online across the country. Scott Morrison, the managing director of Tourism Australia, said, "It’s a bit of a PR dream. This is a great opportunity to really promote the campaign. We’ll be driving people to the internet like there’s no tomorrow." (Source: Times Online, Mar/06)

Censorship laws in the UK mean that virtually any media product which is published or broadcast can be inspected to ensure that it does not contain any material which is deemed "immoral", "blasphemous" or "obscene". If it is shown to contain such material, it can be suppressed. Reasons for censorship may be on the grounds of political security, sexual morals, religious or public taste, or "decency". Unfortunately, decency and morality are relative values. It appears that the so-called "moral majority" whose will is purportedly carried out by the censors is, more often than not, made up of those who have a position of power which would be threatened by that which is censored.

Censorship, both self regulated and enforced by the BBFC, the ITC, and whichever other bodies have relevant oars to stick in seems to be becoming more and more prevalent in film and television. 'Home and Away' is regularly censored by ITV for plot, and for individual scenes. Some things would appear to just be not suitable for a teatime audience, mostly scenes with sexual implications. 'The Simpsons' is censored by both the BBC and Sky for, most frequently, sexual suggestion, bad language and violence. Yes kids, Itchy and Scratchy, parodies of cartoon violence, are themselves censored. Sky have removed an entire episode from their showing of Series 9.

'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine' has been censored. So have the Muppets. A film featuring the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers has been banned, in addition to existing censorship of both the series and the spin-off films for violence and various martial arts & weapons which are considered to be just too tempting for Little Johnny not to have a try at. A serious problem with the current state of film and television censorship is that censors approach everything they look at with the view that it is going to be watched by children. It is the assumption that we are not, collectively, responsible and well grounded enough not to be influenced by films which irritates us.

A 1994 amendment to the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act, requires the BBFC to "have special regard ... to any harm that may be caused to potential viewers or, through their behaviour, to society by the manner in which the work deals with: criminal behaviour, illegal drugs, violent behaviour or incidents, horrific behaviour or incidents, or human sexual activity." Films with scenes of that nature are targeted towards adults. We are, in the eyes of the law, assumed to be mature enough to think for ourselves and take responsibility for our actions. At least, as far as voting and paying taxes this is the case. Evidently, going by the BBFC's attitude, when a character in a film does something in a sufficiently glamourous way, we are likely to immediately be compelled to imitate it.

The argument that a few people could be inspired to commit crimes by certain films is an extreme generalisation. There are a great number of films which have scenes which could theoretically inspire crime, and most of them haven't even come close to being banned. As for protecting children, home video systems are a particular stumbling block with this one. No one can really control how much access a parent gives their child to videos which may be unsuitable. Most pornography is largely harmless - a young child is most likely to find it boring, and an adolescent will probably know exactly what is being shown, and is unlikely to suffer anything worse than a temporarily increased libido.

Violence is a more contentious issue, and is more likely to be emulated by children. To be honest, violence of the sort portrayed in a children's series such as the 'Mighty Morphin Power Rangers' is far more likely to be emulated without thought by a child than the most gruesome scene from a horror, martial arts, or gangster film. And if we assume that even the Power Rangers are thoroughly unsuitable to be shown, for the sake of the children, then where do we stop declaring material to be unsuitable on the grounds that a child may get hold of it?

Film is a form of art, and a form of expression. Censorship at the level it is currently enforced in Britain is unsuitable, not to mention patronising, given the maturity of audiences. The laws of marketing will dictate that, should enforced censorship be abolished, all but a minority of specialist films would be deemed perfectly acceptable by the majority of people.

The British government published a new set of guidelines for newspapers calling for a voluntary ban on certain words and the suppression of stories about non-white crimes! While the guidelines are not a legal requirement, Britain has already prosecuted political figures for so-called “hate speech” for speaking out against Islamic immigration. The guidelines call on newspapers and media to voluntarily cease using the following words:

“immigrant,” “illegal immigrant,” “illegal asylum seeker,” “bogus asylum seeker,” “non-white,” “non-Christian,” “mixed race,” “half-caste,” “mulatto.”

Never identify people by race or religion.

The media is told to give racial minorities preferential treatment in hiring to have a more “multi-racial” staff.

The media is told to portray ethnic minorities in a more positive light.

When discussing public opinion always use or include quotes from ethnic minorities.

Pander to the taboos of ethnic minorities. Learn what local ethnic minorities don’t like and then omit these things from your paper.

Encourage whites to embrace elements of 3rd world immigrant cultures. Promote and glorify the holidays, customs, and religious beliefs of non-white immigrant cultures.

Also expose “racists.”

The government document explicitly tells those in the media to portray minorities in a more positive light while holding white “racists” up to ridicule. (Source: COFCC, Jan/10)