Writer's Blog: Nudity and Violence in films.

For a while I've been considering posting short pieces about various random things. I don't have a specific game plan here but for today I want to discuss films.

Just a brief not before I start. I live in Wales so I know British film certification. At the moment film certificates are as follows: Universal, PG, 12A, 12, 15, 18, R18. So if I refer to a films rating this is the system I will use. If you need these terms explained there is a great page on wikipedia about it. You can see this page by clinking - BBFC.

If you use you tube then you will know that nudity is not allowed but strangely violence is. I saw this video a while ago...



... and in trying to find this video I found another which had a man stabbing a woman. This was a clip from a film, obviously, but it is still allowed on you tube. I'm not saying it shouldn't be allowed, that's not what this is about, it's just strange that it is. Strange because if someone wanted to do a vlog naked and talking about their love of kittens they wouldn't be able to.

Now this discussion can lead to a lot of silliness. I will admit their are some very attractive you tubers and I could turn this into a 'Who, on you tube, would you most like to see naked?' type thing. I'm not going to do that. I'm simply going to ask a question. Why is it that we, as a society in general, are prepared to have images of violence more accessible than just a nude image?

I'm not talking about porn, or even sex in movies, that's another kettle of fish entierly. I'm just talking about a naked person. That idea without context. Yes if naked blogging became a thing on you tube then those people would be sexualised - however that is in the mind of the viewer.

(In the same way that a father might sit and watch children's TV with his kids becasuse of the presenter's low cut top.)

I think that simply being naked should not be considered as much of a problem as it is.

Of course this may largely be an issue for the western world. In some parts of Africa the women go around topless. If there was a news story their then the presenters would be allowed to show these senses - even before the watershed. However, and admittedly this may not be true, if a female presenter decided to live amongst the tribe, for a documentary, and live like they do I imagine that the camera would have to be kept high.

This has been something of a rambling post. So in closing I just want to break it down simply. Why is it that we feel that showing our children a man getting hacked to pieces by a sword is all right, the film would probably only be a 15; but a film with innuendo, full frontal nudity but no actual sex would be an 18?

I don't have children but when I do I wonder what choices I will make in this regard. I don't believe that watching excessive violence will turn them into a violent person. I also don't believe that nudity is particularly problematic either. What do you think?