This document provides an overview of key concepts and case studies to be covered regarding media regulation. It discusses debates around contemporary regulation compared to past practices and arguments for and against regulation. Examples of regulatory bodies like the BBFC and controversial films/games like Grotesque are presented to illustrate effective analysis of issues around censorship and social impacts of media.

1. • For this section you will be looking at areas of debate
surrounding the regulation of Film and Video Game
• You will need to refer to specific case studies, texts, debates and
research.
• The exam question will relate to one or more of these prompts:
• What is the nature of contemporary media regulation compared
with previous practices? (Then vrsNow)
• What are the arguments for and against specific forms of
contemporary media regulation?
• How effective are regulatory practices?
• What are the wider social issues relating to media regulation?

2. Your response will include:
• Own voice: Throughout the topic you will be introduced to and
discover many different opinions and arguments for and against
regulation. In the exam you not only need to construct a debate but also
communicate your own, educated opinion on different issues.
• Past, Present, Future: It is essential that you discuss past
examples that have had an impact on the shaping of regulation,
contemporary contentious examples and intelligently discuss what issues
regulatory bodies face in the future (due to technological advancements
for example)
• Case studies – You will have at least 2 case studies (in depth
examples which you will know a lot about) for each media form, which you
will be expected to discuss and also a number of smaller examples (ones
you know some information about but not necessarily a great deal) you
will need to refer to to back up your arguments also.

3. Your own case study..
• In addition to the films studied in class, in week 3 you will be
asked to present a PowerPoint on a contemporary (last 5
years) film case study of your choosing (in small groups)

4. Concepts we will cover:
•Desensitisation – the reduction of emotional
sensitivity to an image, issue or representation.
•Moral Panic – based on the perception that
some individual or group, frequently a minority or
subculture, is dangerously deviant and poses a threat to society.
Effects theories – theories concerned with the assumption
that representations are harmful and can influence an
audience’s behaviour.
•Regulationas a class-based issue – the idea that censorship is a tool that
enables the higher classes to control the lower classes
•Scapegoat – a person, group, event, product etc that is singled out to bare the
blame of others.
•Catharsis – the notion that watching certain material can provide an emotional
release.

5. Regulatory Bodies, Organisations
and Groups:
• BBFC – British Board of Film Classification are responsible for
classifying every film for cinema release and DVD release. They are also responsible for
deciding whether a film should be censored (banned, cut/re-edited) They also give
classifications to contentious video games.
• MPAA – Motion Picture Association of America. This is the film regulatory
board in the U.S. You will draw comparisons between them and the BBFC.
• PEGI – Pan European Games Information – A self-regulatory
organsisation that give video games age ratings in order to enable consumers or parents
of consumers to make informed choices. Their ratings are not legislative. (not a legal
requirement)
• Local Authorities – These government authorities can overrule the decisions made
by the BBFC. For example they may ban a film from release in their area, which has not
been banned by the BBFC.

6. Pro and Anti-censorship campaigners:
• PRO: Mary Whitehouse – A social activist who campaigned tirelessly against
the British media. She was against liberalism and blamed the media for a decline in social
morality.
• ANTI: Professor Julian Petley– A professor of Journalism and Screen Media
at Brunel university and the chair of the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom. He
argues against censorship and that censorship is a class based issue and therefore immoral.

7. Types of Censorship:
Censorship can be divided into three different
definitions, each relating to the stage at which
material is censored-
• Pre-emptive and punitive-
This is when censorship is undertaken or initiated to deter or prevent an anticipated
outrage, occurrence or reaction to material.
• Direct (legislative)
This is when censorship reacts in defence of the law. E.g. The Obscene Publications
Act
• In-direct (self censorship) censorship
This is when (under pressure) a filmmaker decides to censor their film on the advice of an
institution (like the BBFC) as it will be cut on submission. This can also refer to the rights of
the public to act as censors themselves, i.e., simply switching off the television.

8. Grotesque (2009)
• A Japanese film written and directed by Koji Shraishi
• Torture porn:
• Banned by the BBFC by a refusal to give it an 18 certificate.
• BBFC quote:
"Unlike other recent 'torture' themed horror works, such as the Saw and Hostel series, Grotesque
features minimal narrative or character development and presents the audience with little more
than an unrelenting and escalating scenario of humiliation, brutality and sadism. In spite of a
vestigial attempt to 'explain' the killer's motivations at the very end of the film, the chief pleasure
on offer is not related to understanding the motivations of any of the central characters. Rather,
the chief pleasure on offer seems to be wallowing in the spectacle of sadism (including sexual
sadism) for its own sake”
• Quote from the director in response to the BBFC ban:
Koji Shiraishiresponded that he was "delighted and flattered by this most expected reaction
from the faraway country, since the film is an honest conscientious work, made sure to upset
the so-called moralists."