Student Reporter Quizzes Board of Film Censors
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
A film classifier and a youth chat one-on-one on classification.
Imagine you are on the edge of your seat in the cinema, lapping up every single moment of a nail-biting scene. The film abruptly jumps cut to another scene. The audience boos.
It won't be any surprise if you think: "The film censors again!"
But as Mr Dinesh Pasrasurum, Associate, Film Classification (English), MDA, reveals, the film classifiers at the Board of Film Censors (BFC) do not edit the films. Speaking to 15-year-old St Andrew's Secondary School student Caleb Leong, Dinesh clears the air about film classification.
Caleb: Why can't my friends and I watch whatever movies we like?
Dinesh: There are family-friendly movies, action or romance flicks that teens like you can enjoy. Then there are other movies that are better suited for mature audiences. So the film classification system categorises movies with age-appropriate ratings. It helps protect the young from unsuitable content while providing more choices for adults. The ratings help your parents know which movies are suitable for you.
Caleb: And that's why BFC cuts out inappropriate scenes in movies?
Dinesh: Actually, it is a common misunderstanding that BFC snips the films. We have long moved from censorship to classification. Now we rate a movie in its entirety according to a set of content guidelines. What you may not realise is that the film distributor can choose to make edits to a film to get a lower rating, so it can rake in more box-office sales.
Caleb: How do you know whether to rate a film NC16, M18 or R21?
Dinesh: We consider many factors, such as theme, content, context and impact. We use a set of content guidelines, which spell out how much or how intense the violence, sex, coarse language, nudity, drug use and/or horror can be at the different ratings. As the age rating increases, the threshold for the various elements widens.
Caleb: So does BFC decide on the ratings on its own?
Dinesh: If within BFC we are divided on a rating, we will consult the Films Consultative Panel (FCP), which is made up of Singaporeans from various professions, races and religions.
Caleb: One final question: If mature content and uncut films are freely available on the Internet, why do we still need classification?
Dinesh: Films are shown in public, and they need to be rated so parents can know which ones are suitable for their children. All types of content are on the Internet, but children usually go online at home. What we do is to help parents guide their children's Internet use through public education on cyber wellness.
This article was reproduced from the Media Development Authority's MediaExchange e-newsletter. For more information about the e-newsletter, click here.
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