The document provides guidance for answering an essay question about either censorship/classification/regulation or media effects in relation to the film 'Us'. For censorship/classification, it discusses the different film rating systems in the UK and US and how they relate to scenes in 'Us'. For media effects, it outlines the hypodermic needle and uses and gratifications theories and discusses how scenes in 'Us' could relate to debates around imitative behavior and the effects of violent media. It provides potential discussion points about various scenes and issues raised in the film.

1. The Big Thing About The Essay Question At The End
• You are going to be asked about either
o Censorship and classification – which they might call
‘regulation’
o Media effects
• You are being asked to write about
o The issue – censorship/classification/regulation OR media
effects
o The way that issue relates to ‘a media text you have studied –
‘Us’
• If you can write an outline of the issue and then how that relates to
a few scenes from 'Us’ you should be on course for a Merit mark
• If you can focus clearly on the question and explain how perhaps
three well chosen scenes from ‘Us’ illustrate the points you are
making, using technical language accurately and demonstrating
what you think your evidence means, you should be on course for a
Distinction mark.
• Whatever type of question you are asked, the evidence from the
film is very similar and is used in a very similar way.
Censorship/Classification/Regulation
• I have studied a film, ‘Us’, which is regulated in the UK by the
British Board of Film Classification – the BBFC. I will talk about
the issue in regulation and how they relate to the film.
• The BBFC give certificates to films.
• Some are advisory certificates – U, PG, 12a – which give advice
about how suitable films are for children.
• Some certificates are mandatory – you must be 15 or 18 to watch a
film with those certificates.
• The system in the USA does have a mandatory certificate – NC17 –
but it is hardly ever used. The basis of the system in the USA is
that the purpose of certificates is to give advice to parents, to help
them choose what films their children should see.
• Most of the controversial decisions in the UK are about 12a
certificates – because they are the first ‘advisory’ certificate and
because they tend to provoke debate about whether 12 is just too
young.
• Two scenes and a few overview points to think about the film’s
certificate

2. Media Effects
• This is the question about the effects of media texts on our
behaviour. I have studied a film – Us – and I will talk about the
issues in the media effects debate and how they relate to the film.
• The media effects debate is built around two different opinions
o ‘Hypodermic Needle’ theory says that audiences are passive,
that they receive the messages media texts choose to inject
into them. In simple terms, the film goes ‘bang’ and the
audience jumps. In more complex terms, the film carries the
message that violence is the right response to fear, threat or
injury and the audience takes that message on.
o ‘Uses and Gratifications’ theory says that audiences are
active, that they know what they want out of films and they
make meanings their own individual way depending on their
wants and needs, their prior knowledge and the contexts of
how they consume the text. They question the messages and
values of the text rather than just accepting them.
o The idea that the media has strong effects is rooted in the
hypodermic needle theory. The argument is that people,
especially young people, are at risk of being badly affected by
violence in the media, that there is evidence that people in
the short term become more aggressive after watching
violent material. One person supporting this view was Mary
Whitehouse.
o Other people question this – they say that art and drama
have always been about making audiences confront difficult
ideas in the ‘safe space’ of art, allowing them to experience
and think through difficult ideas. They argue that there is no
evidence of violent media having any lasting effect on
audiences. They also argue that media texts almost always
frame the narrative so audiences sympathise or empathise
with the victims of violence, and that they can have positive
effects. They argue this is just as true for children as for
adults. One person supporting this view about children is
Gauntlett.
o One issue about Us and media effects is imitative behaviour.
Pick two particularly interesting scenes and some general
points:-
▪ There is a more general moral question about media
effects in the film – the end means there is genuine

3. moral ambiguity – if ‘Red’ is actually Adelaide, and was
kidnapped and forced underground, is she seeking
vengeance or justice? Is there a reasonable way of
putting things right (within the world of the film)?
What should happen next in this family?
▪ Do you think any of the ‘defensive’ violence carried out
by the ‘real’ family encourages violence? Is there an
issue about showing that violence can be the only
response to violence? Or does that make it okay.
Remember that the ‘defensive’ violence includes
driving a car into a teenage girl causing fatal injuries
and burning a young boy to death.
▪ Is there an issue about the ways that audiences might
identify with characters? In particular is there an issue
about audience effects in a film where the truth about
the central viewpoint character of the film is concealed
until almost the end of the film?
▪ Is there a question about effects and certificates with
this film – if it’s a 15 then only older teenagers ‘can’
watch it and there is no issue about its possible effects
on younger children – or is this naïve, and in fact we
should pay attention to the fact that younger children
will be watching it? (There is a pretty good argument
that younger people will be drawn to a film with Lupita
Nyong’o and Winston Duke from seeing them in Black
Panther, which is a 12a).