Bad Cinema

Bad Cinema

Unfortunately, or fortunately as the case may be I missed the showing of the film 'kids' for this lecture but after discovering the theme and content of the film, i was quite shocked that it was ever shown at all. Apparently there were scenes showing the rape of underage children, this is disgusting and dangerous and I don't think I could have stayed to watch such a scene had I been there. Obviously the fact that I didn't see the film means that my opinion on it is pretty much uninformed except the things that I have heard about it. Instead of commenting any further on this film in particular I will give my view on bad cinema more generally.

Scenes showing bad behaviour are often crucial to the plot of the film such as swearing and violence and in my opinion the ratings system reflects this pretty well, if a film is rated 18 you know what to expect. I think that a film is just as much a work of creation as a novel is, if not more so because it communicates to the viewer on more levels. Some cinema can be offensive, some more so then others but ultimately if a viewer has an objection to a film they simply would not go and see it. Cinema acts the same way as a good book, it offers a release from our daily lives and presents another world for us to imagine. If something is bad and you don't like it, then don't watch it. With this said, freedom of speech and expression is very powerful and measures should be taken to ensure that films are safe for public viewing, greatly offensive work should never be shown, those encouraging racial hatred, or glorifying law breaking, such as rape and peadophillia should never be seen.

This website is for the BBFC, the British Board of Film Classification and it explains how films are rated here in the UK... http://www.bbfc.co.uk/