A plausible way to protect children from extreme film and gaming violence in the home?

Current head of the Irish Film Censor's Office (IFCO) John Kelleher recently replaced the decision to ‘censor’ movies and video games with age-related classification. But what exactly does this mean for parents, their children and a wider audience? There needs to be logical transparency on the issue, which is presently lacking in the public arena.

There is a perfectly safe and suitable solution for protecting children against violent images in relation to violent video gaming and film; that is simple classification and certification. Cinematic exhibition is heavily regulated; Miscreants cannot rewind violent images over and over again in this environment. The same is applicable for children. If that hypothesis is deemed correct, it must also be applicable to other areas such as video gaming. All this was suggested by British film critic Dr. Mark Kermode in 1995*, which he followed by stating that ‘existing obscenity laws should be repealed with new legislation which makes it an offense, punishable by heavy fine, or a prison sentence to distribute, or show obscene material, to children’.

* Kermode, Dr. Mark (1995) Scapegoat The Anti-Censorship Magazine, Stray Cat Publishing LTD, Plymouth


Amendments to Dr. Mark Kermodes Proposals by Conor Flynn

What are the logically viable solutions?

In relation to cinema, the position proposed almost fifteen years ago by Dr. Kermode has not changed. The failure of various democratic governments though-out the world to move on this position is a complete logical fallacy. In the case of video gaming, it is also possible for regulation to be imposed in an environment away from children. Arcades could be set up which regulate certificates (or zones) to play adult video games. This is a feasible solution to take violent video gaming out of the home and placed in highly regulated areas away from children. It also generates a vast infrastructure which creates further jobs for the workforce, which is vital for both the video gaming industry and government. In the case of Arcades, the time is immediate to move on such an issue, as these particular institutions are almost extinct. This might ultimately make adults who do not have children of their own unhappy because it takes extremely violent video games out of their homes. Take the case study of the controversial game Manhunt 2 by Rockstar games. In Britain, this game recently was legally forced through the courts and given a reprieve by the BBFC (mostly against their wishes). The version that will go on general release soon is the same heavily censored version of the game as the one released in the US. This is the correct procedure to protect children in the home, however, if such games were made available in a certificate regulated Arcade, this will feasibly enable such companies as Rock star to release Manhunt 2 uncensored in a controlled environment.

I work in both rental and distribution. My hands are tied in red-tape when distributing adult material such as video games or video movies to minors, for example, if a child presents a product which isn’t suitable for them, I can refuse to sell them the product, however if their parent arrives and complains that their son wasn’t given the product, my hands are tied beyond explaining how violent the product is. What can I do?

Parental guardianship is an adults right under the law of the land. A minority attitude has arisen from sections of society which suggest “It’s only a game or film” or “I watched violent images as a child and was not affected, so therefore my children won’t”. Parental guardians are ultimately correct to judge what is suitable to be seen by their children, however as time moves on, graphical images (and highly graphical sexual simulations in the case of games) are becoming increasingly realistic. The distributors hands’ are very much tied in this area. The BBFC agree that there is a genuine lack of transparency with regards to this area and conclude it needs further investigation. A logical and feasible solution is needed to empower the distributor (Gaming/Video store) in this particular area. This puts the onus on film and gaming publishers to come up with said solution.

A viable solution is feasible by setting up regulated areas within video/gaming stores in which the parental guardian can view selected scenes from potentially offending material. This could be formed as part of a proof copy (DVD) which the film and gaming publishers could then send out to distributors and alternatively stream the media directly to an easily usable database.

Do people remember when films during the late 1980's on video were preceded by an examiner of the BBFC who described exactly the content of U, PG, 15 and 18's certification?

This proof copy will work with the same method but stresses the most potentially offensive material within the individual game or film. This works much like a red band film trailer (see the recent Red Band film trailers for Rambo and Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem to see how this might potentially work). A text based output should also be made available (for quick reference) which states the tone of the specific film/game. It should be made an offense, punishable by heavy fine (or closure) for distributors or developers contravene this. This is a transparent solution which doesn’t infringe on the parents civil liberties and also frees the staff members of video/gaming stores to contextually argue a more deductive, logical and effective store policy. It also is a readily accessible educational tool for parents in video gaming, which currently is lacking at the moment. Gradually as this idea builds momentum, it will further a logical step to removing censorship (in a fictional text etc) from video gaming as children are more effectively removed the equation.

If you remove censorship, doesn’t this open the floodgate to pro-apartheid and pro-Nazi sympathiser’s etcetera to distribute their material, in a fictional context or otherwise?

Filming/Gaming companies should also be held accountable for the material they release (with heavy fines etc); this stops them from deciding to make such material, that is, if it is found to be unacceptable. In some cases documentaries such as Triumph of the Will, they can be seen as acceptable as it can be argued as documented history which ended in failure and doesn’t forward or teach any solutions to avoid failure in future for extremists. In the case of a fictional account of a film such as Birth of a Nation, it also falls under the case of a historical document because it was made prior to civil rights for black people in America. This won’t stop such future produced material being made available (through extremists), but it keeps it underground where it belongs. Film/Gaming companies would benefit from distributing whatever they want without fear of an archaic and draconian board of censors telling them what they should and should not show.

I’m a philosophical Quaker when it comes to exposing my children to any screen violence. I’ve heard of an unbelievable film called Don’t Spit Last Kisses in the Frozen Night and Fight Andy Warhol’s Inferno Orgy Death Island of Killer Manchester Madhouse Massacre Bogeyman Toolbox Demon Maker Yeti Eaters while Absurd Unhinged Holocaust Zombie Women Buried Beyond Nightmare Death make Love by the Cemetery on the Edge of the Park 7 […] If you remove censorship completely, my children will be exposed to unspeakable horrors somewhere from beyond our house and the church!

At this very moment the BBFC are adjusting their policy with the introduction of the CBBFC (Children’s British Board of Film Classification), a body which ultimately could form a two tier system to separate classification and allow censorship for children, but no censorship for adults. Such an institution as the CBBFC needs to be set up in Ireland (if it isn’t in the planning stages already) by the IFC O. This is a viable solution which hypothetically could meet with the concerns of more conservative parents and protecting their children by removing from obscene material from home, cinema and arcade. The vision is bold but the logic is there…

Ok, I'm sold on the idea, but what if it doesn't work in practice?

Ireland is a relatively small country, with a population of just over 4 million people. Outside of America, per capita, it has one of the largest cinema going audiences in the world. It is feasibly situated as an exclusion zone for such a test, the collateral damage (if any) as such, limited...