Age Certificates

The bbfc stands for the British Board of Film Classification. The bbfc is important to the film industry as they use strict guidelines that are regularly updated they are made by extensive public consultation, research and accumulated experience over many years by bbfc. The bbfc are extremely vital within the film industry as they classify all films so the audience can be appropriate for the film and they will not be offended by the content of the film.

The age certificate of a U is the lowest of all the age certificates and is appropriate for ages four years old and above. For example Toy Story 3 is classified as a U this is because it has positive message within the film and doesn't have any violence, nudity, drugs etc. The characters are also toys and this appeals to younger children and the plot to toy story 3 is about escaping a children's play group this would be not at all distressing for the children. The plot of this film is about a group of toys who get imprisoned within a children's nursery and get thrown about the children and the toys aren't treated with respect, this is a very simple and child friendly plot that can appeal to any ages and this would appealing to them. Children can watch this film as they could relate as they would enjoy their toys from a young age and the qerky humour within the film will also get them laughing.

A child of any age can go and attend a PG film unaccompanied, a PG film should not disturb any child above 8, PG films are just a little more inappropriate than a U as it may contain some nudity but not references to sexual contact and can refer to illegal drugs or drug use but must be in an innocent way. An example of a PG film is Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets as it still has a positive message within the film but does have some things that younger children may find scary and that is why it's inappropriate to classify it as a U. The characters are all young children around the age of 11/12 this would be appealing to the target audience as they could relate to them as they would be the same age as them but it will also appeal to any ages as well. The plot is about a boy who is searching for lord Voldermort but comes up with some obstacles in his way for example giant spiders trying to attack him, this is where some children may find this film frightening as this may make them scared of spiders as it may scare them and make them think all spiders are not very nice like portrayed within the film and this may exaggerate their phobia.

12 and 12A certificate have the exactly same criteria but only children over the age of 12 can can attend the 12 film but children under the age of 12 can be accompanied by an adult to see a 12A film. The content of a 12 film is suitable for a child over 12 but my be distressing for children under 12. Whereas a 12A can be seen by a child under 12 if accompanied by an adult and the judgement of the adult they may believe their child is at a suitable age to watch the film. An example of a 12A is the first spiderman the directors wanted to release the film as a 12 but so children could attend the film they changed it to a 12A, but this means that they had to cut and change some of the fight scenes they had. The character of spiderman is a well known and loved superhero loved by children and people of any age, but if a child really loves spiderman and they see him getting hurt this may make the child cry and become distressed. An example of a rated 12 film is Avengers: First Assemble this is different to the 12A as there is a lot more fight scenes within the film and so offensive language it could been seen to much more distressing for younger children as their favourite superhero may be getting hurt. Also the plot of the Avengers is too save the world and this may be seen by children that the world will come to an end this way but nobody will be able to save us so it may put false truths within the child's head about what could happen.































The age certificate of 15 means that nobody under the age of 15 can go to the cinema to watch the film or rent an aged 15 DVD. The may film has the same aspects of a 12 film but has much more of them in their for example these films have lots of drug use in them but they cannot promote the misuse of drugs. An example of an 15 film is The Dictator this film is very degrading to Eastern society and that's why bbfc has classed it as a 15. The plot of the Dictator is too show what an eastern society dictator would be like in an American society this is not suitable for children under the age of 15 as it will show a misconception of what it is like in the eastern society and therefore any person above the age of 15 will know that they are not like this but children under the age of 15 may believe that a person from the eastern society acts the way that the dictator does within this film.

An age 18 certificate has very explicit content as the age of 18 is the acceptable age to watch a film and not be distressed by its content. For example Scarface is a very violent and drug based film and it shows the life of being a gangster, this could influence peoples behaviour who are under the age of 18 and this is why it has been given the certificate it has. The plot is about a  Cuban refugee who rose to the top of the drug trade and made a lot of money but then was killed by a fellow drug lord, this would be too violent for children under the age of 18 as they would se many people dying and this may dilute their innocent minds and it may make them think that violence with guns, knives and fists are okay. Also there is a lot of drug taking and selling within this film, the drug selling within this film may affect the children under the age of 18 as they may see how much money that he makes and then try and copy him when they get older as they believe they be the same as him. The drug taking may promote the children to take drugs as they might believe that the 'cool' people in the world take drugs.

An R18 certificate is a special and legally restricted classification primarily for explicit works that are very sexual explicit. These films are only shown in specially licensed cinemas, R18 films cannot be sent through the post and can only be bought in licensed shops.