Censorship gone mad?!

Censorship gone mad?!

There are many reports floating round on an almost daily basis concerning political correctness and censorship. Both tend to explore social aspects focusing on today’s culture, often drawing comparison to times of yester year, yet it is rarely mentioned how these confinements can and will affect the media industry. So I thought I’d examine what I thought to be a prime example of these contradictions:

Shane Meadows This is England ’86 and the differences it encountered upon release compared to the film of the same name released in 2006.

I’d like to point out at this point Meadow’s is up there on my list of all time great auteur; and I really think he has proved essential in placing British Cinema on the map, in recent years. I am familiar with all his work and believe his style and storytelling when dealing with socio-realism is second to none. Yet I am a bit baffled as to why the reception of This is England (2006) and This is England ’86 were so very far apart, when essentially one gave rise to the other.

This is England (2006) is the fifth full length feature film from director Shane Meadows, dealing with issues of race during the summer of 1983. Though the subject matter is hard-hitting, the conventions of cinematography and soundtrack oozed the familiar scent of Meadows’ previous work. (Except for perhaps Once upon a Time in The Midlands, 2002, as much as I would hate to speak on behalf of anyone, I’m sure Meadows himself would only be more than happy to distance himself from this production).

When looking at the release and reception of This is England (2006), you don’t have to look very hard to discover a huge emphasis was placed on education.

The pre production of the film text, dealt very much with education- Meadows work during the filming of This is England was done so under the guise that the film would be receiving a 15 certificate, Meadows worked alongside Optimum Releasing to produce an education pack that would accompany the film in schools, ensuring the younger audiences took away the correct reading of the film, and not one promoting racism.

However even with this is mind, the film still received an 18 certificate, and even with such censorship levels in place; was still banned from some cinema complexes in Bristol.

The film was received to acclaimed critic reviews and proved amongst audiences to be Shane’s highest grossing production to date.

No doubt leading to ideas forming around the possibility of a televised series, This is England ’86 was released on 5^th September 2010 to Channel 4 (who had co-funded the film and the 4 episode series). However the reviews it received portrayed differing context; on the one hand people hailed the soundtrack and acting shown- Meadows’ tends to work with the same small number of individuals (with Thomas Turgoose- the latest to join the pack) each actor presenting audiences with a naturalistic snapshot of eighties Britain. The context of the series though was left wide open for debate- the themes tackled by the relatively short series included: rape, child abuse, violence, race and sex; at every given opportunity. Some argued that the comic proportions of the drama, set off the otherwise morbid subject matter, while other were left reeling over the muted rape scene in episode 3.

I as mentioned before am a huge fan of Meadows but upon broadcasting of this scene I’m afraid even I had to look away, however I felt this was more a reaction to the conscious use of silence and not the images shown

I suppose the point of this blog is to question when such scenes became so acceptable. Little over 4 years ago, Meadows’ This is England was met with tough censorship barriers, but here we have a televised series born of the same name, being shown one hour after the watershed, the subject matter in my own opinion was much more graphic than any encountered in any of his previous works. I don’t suppose there will ever be a clear cut answer to any of questions raised here, and I’m sure answers given will rely to the changing socio climates. Yet censorship does seem to have gone a little mad when you consider how much more a wide spread medium television is when compared to the film and cinema industry.