10 Problems With The Modern Movie Industry Nobody Ever Admits

10. Nobody Has A Clue How Film Regulation And Certification Works

In an ostentatious piece of protest art, Charlie Lyne recently made a ten hour movie called Paint Drying that is literally, well, paint drying for ten hours. And that's it. It wasn't made for release, but instead as a joke; to make BBFC certificators literally sit and watch paint dry. Ostensibly this was to highlight how ridiculous the costing system for classification is; it's defined entirely by length, with no consideration for release plans, meaning independent or non-theatrical producers are at an immediate disadvantage, but the media reaction reveals another side. Many read it as an attack on film regulation as an institution, showing up how their rigid rulings are broken and that they get in the way of freedom of speech. But all that really tells me is that nobody has a clue how regulation bodies like the BBFC work. The "C" in BBFC stands for "Classification", not "Censorship", and has done since 1999, when the group explicitly altered its direction away from censorship, now simply providing feedback on a movie and a suggested certificate rather than banning or cutting themselves. So when a movie has cuts to make it a 12A, that's the studio pushing for alterations, not the regulator. In fact, independent institutions like the BBFC are there primarily to protect children from harmful material, not push any government mandated agenda. Things are a little different in America with the MPAA, but the point about how regulation and classification is a necessary part of film distribution is the same. But if we continue to treat them like the devils who'll stop us getting our movies, we devalue everything they do. And we kinda already have...