Nice try Proffosaurus, but the thread is actually about the insidious way that the MPAA board of censors control the output of Hollywood films. When these types of sickening censors operate in countries like Russia, Iran or Somewherenothereistan, they are rightly decried as what they are, moral and political censors strangling creative output. Unfortunately, in the UK people are desperate to be told what is and what isn't acceptable to society.
David obviously doesn't want to address my point, so I'll say it again, **** the ratings system and **** the ratings board. **** them rigid. Their only purpose is one of censorship and that of control of output.
I was about to say that you were off topic but looking back at the first post I see the thread is not about reviewing films as I thought - hence my comments on The Mechanic and Santa Vittorio. You are right that it is about ratings and thereby censorship.
Beighton sees the issue in terms of pro and anti gay. Certainly that is much more divisive in America than in Western Europe. I would have thought that race was the biggest censorship problem. The much loved Disney movie Song Of he South is banned in America.
Macky claims that "Unfortunately, in the UK people are desperate to be told what is and what isn't acceptable to society." i would guess that this is true of every society in every age. In 16th century Spain it is noticeable that ordinary people supported the Inquisition - attempts to moderate it came from the rulers not the ruled. In the Second World War the public were generally ahead of the government in demanding censorship.
The thread started over American ratings. It certainly seems to me that few Americans want a total lack of censorship. The right want to censor over sex and religion and the left want to censor over race and gender.
The idea that censorship in the West is as bad as in Iran is unworthy of you Macky. You must know what happens to those who oppose the government in Iran.
The idea that censorship today is worse than it used to be is just plain ridiculous - in 1550 Vienna was mainly Protestant but by 1600 there were no protestants alive in Vienna.
Censorship could reach points where it would be funny if it was not so tragic. In the reign of Edward IV William Walker owned a London inn called The Crown. He was over heard joking that his son was "The heir to the Crown". For that he was hung - that is real censorship.
In the 1630s William Prynne wrote that the idea of bishops was unChristian - for that he had his ears cut off. Cinema censors are rather more restrained.
Some questions.
Would you agree that a ratings system is useful even if it is only a guide so that people know Fritz the Cat is a very different cartoon from Tom and Jerry.?
Would you allow freedom of speech when that involved libel?
Would you allow someone to use their power to broadcast to make nasty attacks on people who have no way back. One example would be the Frankie Boyle verbal attack on swimmer Rebecca Adlington?
It is amazing how tolerant British governments became in the 20th century. In 1940 at the worst moment for Britain in the war there was a by-election in which the Communist candidate campaigned for Britain to make peace with Germany.
In what was Britains biggest crisis certainly since Napoleon Aneurin Bevan made brilliant speeches attacking the way Churchill was running the war. Nobody stopped Bevan making the speeches or stopped newspapers reporting them.
