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pans away to a fixed shot of the warehouse wall. The difference is that this once- controversial sequence is in a film aimed at an older audience and that had been classified 18. The BBFC sticks rigidly
to its guidelines, Die Hard is a 15 because of ‘repeated blows’. At 12A the violence ‘must not dwell on details. There should be no emphasis on blood or injuries’, ‘easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised’, ‘sustained moderate threat and menace are permitted’ and ‘mature themes are acceptable, but their treatment must be suitable for young teenagers.’ There is as yet no category for torture, for the depiction of what McCarthy calls, ‘the twisted delight of inflicting pain’ and the damage that might cause young people. As representations
of violent interrogation become more prevalent in society around us, are we being desensitised to the immorality of torture? Danny Boyle, introducing the screening of Slumdog
Millionaire in National Schools Film Week, said of the opening sequence: We thought of it as comic. In India the scene is not considered offensive. In the West it is greeted with silence. In India there is a lot of censorship you have to obey when filming ... but the police interrogation is fine because nobody above the rank of Inspector is
involved...India is a democracy but you can walk round and see handcuffs and leather whips being used in the prisons. Is torture the latest trick
to sell films? John McCarthy (who was captured by Islamic Jihad in Beirut and imprisoned in solitary for two months and then held in a tiny cell shared with Brian Keenan for four years) certainly thinks so. Torture scenes have become prized ammunition in the battle of the box office and the television ratings war. Film- makers now have a
‘relish for depicting the darker side of human nature’ and ...’ it is becoming increasingly clear that what we enjoy as entertainment shapes the world in which we live. US Army Brigadier
General Patrick Finnegan met the producers of 24 to suggest they tone down the content. One US
soldier admitted he and his colleagues in Iraq copied interrogation techniques learned from television. Whether the depiction
of torture reflects or dictates human behaviour, I think the issue should be assessed in a separate category by the BBFC. It has been 16 years since I regained my freedom, but I still
find it difficult, if not impossible, to witness on screen images of the deliberate infliction of pain by one individual on another.
John McCarthy
And perhaps the 12A classification doesn’t work. As Iain Duncan Smith stated in a letter to The Times on the 5.08.08 about The Dark Knight: There is no way that a parent could have been guided by the classification and realised what they were about to see. Parents now need to
preview 12A films before taking their kids. Or perhaps we should bring back the 12 category for film as well as DVD. If we have a classification system, we need one that parents can trust.
Vanessa Raison is Head of Media Studies, Camden School for Girls.
english and media centre | December 2009 | MediaMagazine 67
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